The Ku Klux Klan Welcomes… Jews?

Image by Getty Images
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.
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.
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. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Opinion Is this new documentary giving voice to American Jewish anguish — or simply stoking fear?
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee said there’s ‘no such thing as a Palestinian.’ It’s worth thinking about what that means
In Case You Missed It
-
Books So much to say about Israeli violence, so little to say about violence against Jews
-
Opinion Think every Palestinian in Gaza is Hamas? This week’s protests prove you’re wrong
-
Opinion A Palestinian Oscar-winner’s arrest shocked the world. For these Jewish activists, it was terrifyingly normal
-
Opinion In the Trump administration and Israel, a grotesque display of virility coupled with a loss of humanity
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.