KKK recruit murdered for changing her mind

KKK recruit murdered for changing her mind

--.com

Raymond Foster was planning to initiate a newly recruited woman into the KKK in a ceremony at a remote campsite in Louisiana; instead he ended up fatally shooting her.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the name of several past and present secret domestic militant organizations in the United States, generally in the southern states, that are best known for advocating white supremacy and acting as vigilantes while hidden behind conical masks and white robes. The KKK has a record of terrorism[2], violence, and lynching to intimidate and oppress African Americans, Jews, Roman Catholics and labor unions during periods of turmoil.

The first Klan was founded in 1865 by veterans of the Confederate Army. Its purpose was to restore white supremacy in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The Klan resisted Reconstruction by intimidating "carpetbaggers", "scalawags" and freedmen. The KKK quickly adopted violent methods. The increase in murders finally resulted in a backlash among Southern elites who viewed the Klan's excesses as an excuse for federal troops to continue occupation. The organization declined from 1868 to 1870 and was destroyed by President Ulysses S. Grant's prosecution and enforcement under the Civil Rights Act of 1871.

In 1915, the second Klan was founded. It grew rapidly in another period of postwar social tensions. After World War I, many Americans coped with booming growth rates in major cities, where numerous waves of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and the Great Migration of Southern blacks and whites were being absorbed. After World War I, labor tensions rose as veterans tried to reenter the work force. In reaction to these new groups of immigrants and migrants, the second KKK preached racism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Communism, nativism, and anti-Semitism. Some local groups took part in lynchings, attacks on private houses and public property, and other violent activities. Members used ceremonial cross burning to intimidate victims and demonstrate its power. Murders and violence by the Klan were most numerous in the South, which had a tradition of lawlessness.
My take-these people claim to be motivated by their love for their own kind not hate for others-yet acts like these show their true colors.


--.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 11-11-2008 by stewartw2]

reply to post by stewartw2


That's a good run down of the history but what's your take on the story?

I guess just don't get cold feet if you commit to the kkk?

I think the election of Obama was driving Raymond Foster nuts, and her getting cold feet pushed him over the edge.

KKK is big up here. ya guessed it, no blacks live up here, one of the head guys of kkk lives about 11 miles from my house.

It seems like to me that all this really is, is nothing more than the heat of the moment issue. Maybe even a crime of passion. One motivated by zealotry.

Of course, because of the nature and history of the group involved, it's resulting controversy will be more substantial than the resulting controversy of a similar crime not involving a hate group.

[edit on 11/11/2008 by prototism]

I say its good for her. She obviously wanted to be down with a hate group. Thats what their all about 'violence'.

reply to post by Scramjet76


My take-these people claim to have compelling argument for their cause, and high and mighty motivations-yet time and time again we are shown by actions that the white power movement simply attracts drunks, psychopaths and the like-if their ideas are so compelling why does the movement attract trash and do they think that furthers their cause?

The Ku Klux Klan has been active in my neck of the woods for a very long time. I'm moderately familiar with it, as I have known several individuals in the Klan and was invited to join twice (both times I turned them down cold with the words "I don't need help to hate folks. You wanna join me?").

What happened was that apparently the victim started the initiation, which is a closely guarded secret. Divulgance of the secrets of the Klan is punishable by death within the organization. I'm a bit amazed that it went down this way, as usually Klan members are a bit more covert about their deeds (or used to be, anyway). Maybe she stated that she was going to expose something they deemed secret? The moral of the story is, don't mess around these people. They're not playing.

I have to give a little 'common-knowledge' history amendment as well. While the first Klan officially organized may have been in the aftermath of the Civil War (yes, in an attempt to protect people from the carpetbaggers, and also to keep the ex-slaves oppressed), the actual organization goes back much farther. Before the Civil War, the Klan was a vigilante group organized to 'take care of' wife-beaters, bums, and general ne'er-do-wells. They were usually composed of the local men, and outside the organization no one knew who was and was not a member. Membership was by invitation only and once in, you were always a member of the KKK.

Since they were enforcing 'moral' statutes that the laws could not touch, they adopted the cross as their symbol. The burning cross would be set up in front of someone's home as a warning - change your ways or we'll change you. If the warning was not heeded, the targeted individual would most likely disappear quietly, sometimes found later hanging from a noose... sometimes not found. At this time there were no KKK actions against blacks, unless a freed slave were to violate one of the things I mentioned above (or admittedly, a runaway slave of a member might have been a target).

The white robes and hoods were to hide their identity during public events. The KKK was looked upon as heroes by the locals, in a similar light as the Guardian Angels are looked upon as heroes in NYC today, and they did attend local events incognito behind those hoods. It wasn't until after the Civil War (which was about states rights, not slavery) that they became infamous, mostly out of anger and resentment at the war crimes committed against their homeland.

History can sometimes be stranger than fiction, I know. But I wanted to set the record straight. As far as I know, the KKK today is a mere shadow of its former self, with few members in scattered Klans. It is no longer in any way about morality or right and wrong, but about hate.

I should also state I know absolutely nothing about their activities or ceremonies. I am not and never have been a member, as stated above. Anyone I knew who was a member was prohibited against telling me anything, and to be honest I didn't want them to. I valued their lives.

TheRedneck


[edit on 11-11-2008 by TheRedneck]

I guess the KKK doesn't handle rejection very well. Kind of ironic, isn't it?

reply to post by TheRedneck


That was great information, and I appreciate that-thanks. I cant help thinking but that these good ole boys tried something sexual and then killed herto stop her talking. Just a theory.

reply to post by stewartw2

Because we just elected the first African American as the POTUS, I expect to see a resurgence in the ranks of the KKK. Given what I saw on many of the recent youtube videos of McCain/Palin rallies, the KKK will have no problem recruiting from the ranks of disillusioned right wingers. I don't want you to think that I believe all right wingers are like the ones featured on these videos, just that literally 10s of thousands of them are. If 1/3 of these people choose to join the KKK, it will see its largest membership increase in decades. I hope I am wrong.

reply to post by TheRedneck


I'm not sure how closely guarded a secret it is when a 30 second Google search reveals this...

archive.lib.msu.edu...

MSU.EDU... go figure.

I've always been... curious... about the Klan since the day I learned Albert Pike wrote some of the original (pre-1915) ritual and is repudiated to be one of the founders of the KKK.

[edit on 12-11-2008 by cogburn]

reply to post by stewartw2

My pleasure. It is really amazing what is not written down in books, especially when it comes to tender subjects like the KKK. I have had several people suggest I write a book about the things I have seen 'changed' over my lifetime, but I doubt I'll ever do so. Just pass it down word of mouth, like my grandfathers and father did to me.

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reply to post by BluegrassRevolutionary

I doubt you have much to worry about, barring something like the old 'reparations' argument resurfacing again. The Klan is defeated and mostly defunct now, and racism is for the most part melting away into oblivion. Only two centuries to accomplish that as a nation, too.

May we as a people learn from those two centuries and be a bit faster in the future.

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reply to post by cogburn

That is definitely something I did not expect to see on-line!

My first thought is that different Klans may have different ceremonies and this may be from a defunct one. Knowing the reputation of the KKK and their seriousness when it comes to their secrete, I can't imagine an active Klan allowing this to be made public.

In any case, there are still pockets of KKK activity around, and please don't allow your curiosity to get you involved with them. It's really no different than joining the old Chicago mobs: once in, you're in for life. Which makes saying 'I quit' a dangerous thing to do.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


Sounds fascinating and rather frightening, I suspect with Obama having become president recruiting for the KKK might increase.

All these secret groups suck. Especially unenlightened ****'s like the KKK protecting some worthless secrets.

WHAT WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO?

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[edit on 12-11-2008 by king Pop!p]

[edit on 12-11-2008 by king Pop!p]