Yet politicians still defended and abetted lynchers. In , Georgia governor Hugh M. It was in this context of bald-faced violence and injustice that Thomas Dixon recirculated the myth of the black rapist, pursued by vengeful robed vigilantes, for his novel and play, The Clansman.
For the first edition of the book, the president of the Society of Illustrators, Arthur I. Keller, depicted the Reconstruction-era Klansmen in an anachronistic uniform of white, shoulder-length, face-concealing hoods beneath spiked caps. Together they reintroduced pantomime, fantasy, and nostalgia to what had become a horribly commonplace spectacle for white crowds of murderers.
Then Hollywood took charge. In , director D. Griffith adapted The Clansman as The Birth of a Nation , one of the very first feature-length films and the first to screen in the White House. Among the variety of Klansman costumes in the film, there appeared a new one: the one-piece, full-face-masking, pointed white hood with eyeholes, which would come to represent the modern Klan.
Maybe it was Griffith who brought those pieces of fabric together in their soon-to-be iconic form; after all, his mother had sewn costumes for his Klansman father.
Or, given the heterogeneity of Reconstruction Klan costumes, maybe Griffith got the idea from another source altogether: Freemason regalia. What we do know is that the blockbuster popularity of The Birth of a Nation gave free advertising to a traveling fraternal order organizer, former Methodist minister, and garter salesman, William J.
The lynching of Leo Frank had inspired Simmons to form a new anti-Semitic, nativist fraternity. Clarke and Elizabeth Tyler to launch a massive campaign that attracted , new members in 16 months. Klan groups may also use a variety of stripes in different colors and numbers , sashes, and emblems on their robes. Some Klan groups require that members wear robes at all Klan events, while other Klan groups mandate robes only at certain ceremonial functions.
Some Klan groups may not use robes any more, preferring instead military-style uniforms or simple casual wear. Skip Navigation. Expand search Search. General Hate Symbols. Ku Klux Klan Symbols. Additional Images:. But photos circulating in the media this week from Seville, Spain, serve as a reminder of the multifarious meanings of even the most seemingly singular and inimitable of cultural symbols.
La Borriquita brotherhood hide their identities with pointy hooded hats in a ritual that dates back as far as the Inquisition Credit: Getty Images. Historically, the capirote was intended as a mark of humiliation and was worn by those publicly punished by Church officials for doctrinal violations.
In time, the cap was adopted by Catholic brotherhoods as a voluntary guise for their flagellants those flogging themselves as penance for their sins. Between and , the Spanish Romantic painter Francisco Goya vividly documented a more brutal rehearsal of such a procession - one in which excruciating physical penance was publicly observed by the pious participants, whose backs were whipped until bloody.
Removed from their religious context, penitents wearing the capirote might easily have been mistaken instead for members of the US white-supremacist organization, the KKK, which adopted an unsettlingly similar disguise for use in its terrorising campaigns throughout the 20th Century.
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
0コメント