Most men joined it as a men's group. You weren't cool or connected in your city or town unless you were a member. You'd be surprised how many famous people from the 20s and 30s who were members, but never did anything that we associate with the KKK.

I do not know much about the Klan..except that now they seem to be a bunch of racist nuts. But I don't really think they started out that way. I remember a story my mom told a long time ago: There was a man who drank a lot, and when he did, he would beat his wife. He made her do ALL the work, right down to chopping wood for the fire and plowing the field (with a mule, no less), while he lay around getting drunk all day every day. The Klan got wind of this and paid him a visit late one night. The sheets and late night visits were more to intimidate than anything else. Anyway, they hauled his ass out of bed, hooked him up to a slide (which was a wooden device with runners pulled by a horse or mule used to pull loads of wood out of the forest) and made him cut a load of wood, pull it back and then split it into "stove" lenghts. When he was finished he was put in the barn with a ration of corn. The man treated his wife MUCH better after that, and though he was not hurt, he was sufficiently scared enough that he did not want another visit. I do not know how true this story is but most people who were around when the Klan first started out said that this was mostly the kinds of things they did.

The KKK is really not tolerated where I live. They are among us, but they are a "secret society", and don't expose themselves much. I'm a fat old dumba$$ redneck, and I gotta tell you, when some of these blathering fools start spewing their beliefs on the news in an unintelligable manner, it makes me look bad. Because unfortunately, there are hateful people that look and talk like me. I have been accused of being racist just because of my accent. I hate hateful people. Does that make me prejudiced?

It wasn't simply tolerated in it's heyday...it was in some areas, a force to be reconked with. It invoked fear in many, many people. It became so powerful because of fear, even people who didn't agree with them did not speak out because of the fear of what could happen to them or their families.

Unfortunately, racism was so prevalent, that groups like the KKK were formed, accepted by many, and joined by many. Fortunately, there were people even back when the KKK was first formed that recognized how awful groups like that were and some fought against that kind of thought and behavior. I thank God that racism is gradually becoming less acceptable in society.

It was tolerated because it was run by the very people who had power to stop it. The Klan of the 40's and 50's consisted of police officers, town officials and even politicians. It was a gentlemen's club. Of course, it was also much more than that. America was divided by an Us against Them mentality and when laws couldn't keep black people from gaining equality, white men and women took it into their own hands through terroristic efforts. It was tolerated because it kept their worlds a little whiter. Fortunately, that kind of behavior isn't nearly as condoned and has become censured over time, but the attitude of Us against Them still rears its ugly head from time to time. You can see it in the arguments for a border wall, official languages and other racially charged discussions.

the klan didnt start of as a racist group, it actually started at a gentelmans club in a time where it wasnt seen as normal for black men to join a white mans club. they didnt stop black men joining because they were racist. not sure exactly how it happened but eventually the club turned into what the klan is best known for today. so i guess you could say it was tolerated for along time because at first they were not doing anything wrong, as for why it was tolerated after they became a racist gang then i dont know, probably fear of reprocussions for anyone that dissagreed with them.

It has never been tolerated except where the majority of the people want it in their area. But what do you expect people to do about it? Hang them up by their thumbs and ask them to stop? It's free speech and as long as they abide by the law, they are allowed to profess how they feel, without it invading directly someone else's rights. It's the price Americans pay for their rights and freedoms.

When fear is used against you, you'll tolerate just about anything.

In a free society people are permitted to belive what they want and belong to any association they want. However wrong you may feel that organization is, it is none of your business.

You have good answers here. I would only add that in America it is not a crime to dislike people because of their race, religion, ethnicity. The vast majority of us consider it morally wrong but not a crime. Crimes are actions and the KKK did commit many crimes. You could ask why were the Nazi's tolerated, the inquisition and the IRA and Islamic extremists.

I am not, or will I ever take up for the Ku Klux Klan, but at the risk of being raked over the coals I will contribute something. The KKK became warped by those who hated black people. That was not the original intent. My grandmother told me that when she as a little girl the KKK was a group of men in her community,where there were no black people, who kind of "policed" things. She told me they met once a month and talked about what was known to be going on in the communinty. She knew of one instance where it became known that a man was beating his wife. They went and paid this man a visit and told him in no uncertain terms that if he ever struck his wife again he would feel the same tenfold. It goes to show that labels and the intentions of people should be separated.

What they said used to make a lot of sense to a lot of people, and it still does in some places. Of course, I can't really speak up about what I think outside the internet, 'cause there's a Klan rally near where I live every year...they are tolerated plenty well enough here. One kid in my school who wanted to write a paper on how evil the KKK was was actually encouraged to pick another topic....ya know, for her safety. It all depends on where you go.

There have been two groups called the Ku Klux Klan in U.S. history. The first was started after the Civil War. The blacks of the South were freed. The former slave owners saw everything they worked for fall apart. The south seemed to be falling apart. The KKK was started to help the white population get their life back by not allowing blacks to do certain things. It was wrong, it was illegal, but they thought it was right at the time. The first group disbanded after about 35 years. The second group called the KKK was mainly interested in stopping Roman Catholics from becoming involved in governmental politics. The NAACP had very little to do with any of this. With or without them, the KKK would still exist.

Believe it or not, some folk don't believe in racial equality. The KKK organized to fight civil rights and the oppression of the White race.

Why is the NAACP tolerated? We do the same thing but while they fight to take your rights and freedom of speech and place them in the hands of vagrants and uneducated blacks simply cause of skin color. We were originally formed for the protection of whites rights and to keep freed slaves from violating our families and freedoms. Blacks were given every opportunity to be an independent race for when they were freed each and every adult which back then was 15 yrs. old was anointed 40 acres and a mule with plow. Most blacks like today took what the government gave them for free and abused it or sold it to get money to go elsewhere. So before you call the Ku Klux Klan ignorant racist rednecks maybe you should do some research as to why we are really here. We are not Aryan or Neo Nazis we are the Ku Klux Klan and we take care of OUR own.

Because the KKK was racist and was highly accepted in the predominantly white society.