The Return of the KKK? |
KKK rally near Chicago in the 1920s – Public Domain
Pres. Donald Trump is imposing a right-wing political ideology and practice that increasingly resembles what Christ Hedges has dubbed “Christian fascism.” Hedges’ book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, was published in 2007. In it, he warned that the incipient rightwing movement resembled the early fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and ’30s.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Donald Trump posted the following rant on his Truth Social website:
For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in the country today.
Trump and Kirk endorsed the “great replacement” theory, the rightwing idea that nonwhite immigrants will soon displace white Americans. In March 2024, Kirk stated: “The great replacement strategy, which is well underway every single day in our southern border, is a strategy to replace white rural America with something different.”
Now, nearly two decades after Hedges published American Fascists, the Christian right is moving toward becoming an explicitly fascist movement. It is driven by white Christian nationalism and neo-Nazis — and the long-dormant Klan or KKK (formally the Ku Klux Klan) may be finding renewed life.
As the Southern Poverty Law Center reports, “The United Klan Nation notably co-hosted events with the Aryan Freedom Network, while antisemitic Christian Identity and Klan-affiliated networks, including the Church of the Keystone Knights and Kingdom Identity Ministries, overlapped through shared leadership.” It adds:
The Maryland White Knights appear to have formed from the remnants of the Old Glory Knights, while the Sacred White Knights seem to have risen from the dissolution of the Loyal White Knights. Meanwhile, the Ku Klux Knights have resurfaced, and the Silent Knights are actively recruiting. Another key connection has been between the United Klan Nation and the Aryan Freedom Network, evident through shared events and mutual promotion.
We are living through the third incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Today’s Klan is but a sad ghost of yesteryear’s fearful organizations. Up ‘til the Kirk........