Before this lesson, I had a general idea of the KKK but I never knew how the details on how they used religion (specifically Protestantism) for their benefit. I always assumed they somehow used religion because of the burning crosses and how slavery in America also manipulated the bible to work for their beliefs. One thing the readings did clarify for me was the act of burning a cross, if these people were so religious why would they damage a holy symbol? Well, to them, it was to signify a new beginning that would make God proud. I find it funny how these same KKK members would burn a sacred symbol but wonder how they would react to seeing an American flag being burned. Baker’s excerpt highlights how the KKK’s stance on religion began to be overpowered by their stance on race and nationalism. One thing that stood out to me in Kelly J. Baker’s excerpt was that one of the leaders of the Klan was a dentist, and it made me wonder if that person refused to work on people from groups he hated or did he work on them and give them bad service that could affect their health in the long run.
When thinking of Antisemitism, I think of Hitler and Nazi Germany, I don’t think about the American Christians that were shaped by white nationalism ideals. There are multiple reasons why Americans feel hatred towards Jews. One being, Christian Americans blame them for the death of Jesus, which even led to one person committing a mass shooting at a Tree of Life synagogue. Another reason was mass immigration from 1890–1914 lead to a lot of the negative views on immigrants, with 10% of those immigrants being Jewish. I have not done a lot of research/reading on Jewish history throughout America, so I was little blind coming into this topic. I would like to know more so I can understand why they received more hate compared to Catholic immigrants, who made up most of the immigrant population during that time.
