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The name
The Klan was started in 1866 by six ex-Confederate soldiers, created as a social club called \"Kuklos\". They named the group \"Kuklos Klan,\" a mixture of Greek word kuklos, meaning circle, wheel, or band and clan the Scottish meaning \"family circle.\"
In the Klan's information you can read that this name was chosen because it contains some of the unique characteristics of the White (or Aryan) race. The wheel is the best symbol of creativity (the creativity of the White race) and the circle is the oldest model of unity. Kuklos in this context means White Racial Brotherhood. In other words Ku Klux was simply taken from the word kuklos and Klan was added.
Since 1866 the Ku Klux Klan has had several names: they have called themselves the White Patriot Party, the National Association of White People, the White Aryan Resistance Party, the Order of Pale Faces, the Knights of the Rising Sun, the Knights of White Camilia and even the Black Calvary of Alabama.
Groups
Some groups working today
The Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Formed in 1985 by Virgil Griffin and based in Mount Holly, North Carolina. The Christian Knights are active in North and South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Barry Black founded the Keystone Knights in 1992 and they are based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Keystone Knights publish an anti-Jewish, anti-Black newsletter called The Keystone American.
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (Arkansas Faction): Led by Thom Robb, is the largest and most active Klan group operating in the nation today. The Knights today have about 500 members in seven states. Thom Robb has also a Klan Web.
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (Michigan Faction): A splinter group in Thom Robb\'s Knights was formed in August 1994 because three Klan officers in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois claimed the Knights\' name for themselves. So they fired Robb as national director. Robb responded by expelling the three from the Knights
Federation of Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: The Federation of Klans was formed in April 1994 by Chicagoan Ed Novak (né Ed Melkonian) following his defection from the Knights of the KKK. Today there are no more than 50 people across five states.
Knights of the White Camellia Ku Klux Klan: Led by Charles Lee, this group has been linked to a number of incidents of racial intimidation and harassment in Vidor, Texas.
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