Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen November 12, 2014

Members of the Ku Klux Klan, circa 1930 // Getty Images

Have you been harboring a deep, dark, hidden desire to join the Ku Klux Klan? Well, now’s your chance. Apparently, the Klan, bastion of White Supremacy, is looking to “diversify and increase its membership to include Jews, black people, homosexuals and those of Hispanic origin with a re-branding as ‘the new Klan’,” the Daily Mail reports.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The new and improved organization, re-dubbed the Rocky Mountain Knights, claim to have traded in their old standby — hate — in favor of “a strong America.” Prospective members must be 18 and live in the Pacific Northwest.

‘White supremacy is the old Klan. This is the new Klan. The KKK is for a strong America,’ founder John Abarr told the Great Falls Tribune.

But if white’s not your color, don’t bother. Members will still have to do that whole sheet-and-cone-shaped-mask-thing, and take part in all the rituals.

Abarr also reportedly met with leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, adding: “I thought it was a really good organization. I don’t feel we need to be separate.”

Right.

As you can imagine, the mainstream Klan isn’t too happy with these new hug-a-world wannabees. Wizard Brad Jenkins has accused Abarr of using these new inclusive policies to further his own political plans.

First founded in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee by six former confederate soldiers, the Klan is deemed a hate group by both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Maybe I’m just being dim here, but what is the point of being part of the Klan if you just want to get along with everyone? If that’s the case, can’t you just be a regular human?

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount