The KKK’s goal was to maintain white supremacy by intimidating and attacking Black Americans and other minority groups, especially during Reconstruction and later civil-rights eras.

What that meant

  • Using threats, violence, and terror to stop Black political and social progress.
  • Opposing Reconstruction, civil rights, desegregation, and later immigration or religious minorities in some eras.
  • Promoting a racist, exclusionary vision of American society.

In plain language

The KKK was not a normal civic group; it was a hate organization built around racism and terror.