09/10/2012

My group’s research topic is over Xenophobia which is the unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is strange. From that we want to be more specific or narrower. Instead of all fears or hate we wanted to focus on racism which is a form of xenophobia and the KKK and how they expressed their fears. We chose the Ku Klux Klan who is a group of people who are fearful of African Americans.

So my research question is…

How did or in what ways did the Ku Klux Klan show their xenophobia of African American’s during the Civil Rights Movement?

With a combination of this class and a few of my other Criminology courses I have learned that the Ku Klux Klan and other groups that are hate groups or racists can show their fear of groups or other races in the ways they act. By that I mean though they exhibit hatred in their actions even by means of violence but that they are acting out of fear.

        What specific aspect of my topic do I want to research further?

This may seem odd but I am curious about what exactly the Ku Klux Klan did to people. I know of lynch mobs and the burning of crosses in people’s yards but what else did they do? Were their actions all violent? Were the majority of attacks just strictly to put fear in others? (the mental/psychological effects of fear on people can be just as harmful as physical harm) Or were the acts of the KKK meant to physically harm all African Americans?  

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