Black men who were lynched by the KKK.
November 13, 1870
Today I have never been more afraid before in my life. There is a solemn feeling in my house and in my school. My skin crawls and my head aches. I can feel the pain of these poor people again, all because of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK, is a group of white supremacists who torture innocent blacks to establish dominance. I believe this is more cowardice than dominance. They wear masks to conceal their identity from the public. They take blacks from their homes and beat them senselessly. Many freedmen have been lynched during these attacks. The attacks last night have silenced my children at breakfast. Robert, uncharacteristically, says nothing. We silently and solemnly eat our stew before leaving for work. On my way to the school, I shiver with the feeling of death, hatred, and anger. Then I feel shocked once I arrive at the schoolhouse.
I see all of my students gathering around quietly. Some are quietly sniffling and others have a grim look on their faces. I gasp quietly. Last night, the KKK attacked a few freedmen. Some of them must have been students of mine. I look around, trying to see who we have lost. They tell me we lost Mary and James, the most innocent people I knew. They were young and had more in their life to live for. I could not believe it. Who would murder children? Who would want to cause this destruction? Who could be fueled by this much hatred?
Today’s school lesson was taught in anger but also in sadness. I could barely talk as I read. The Ku Klux Klan is an organization that used fear and intimidation to attack blacks and anyone close to blacks. This meant I could be attacked by the Klan. If any African American came close to any form of racial equality, he would be targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. If he ran for a political position, he would be targeted. If he decided to step out of line, he would be targeted. It is a tactic used to transmit fear and terror. The violence was used to send a message to blacks. The murders and the beatings would take away hope from these freedmen’s hearts and replace it with fear. The Ku Klux Klan wants to scare blacks back in their place.
My journey home was terrifying. It was starting to get dark and I was alone in the old wagon as Robert took the carriage. It was an open wagon, with only one horse and one torch. I could not carry a gun. I was on the road alone, with no other wagons in sight. The thought of death and pain terrorized my mind. The Ku Klux Klan and its spread of hate and violence plagued my thoughts. I was paranoid until I had reached my home. I quickly ran inside my home. Emma and Theodore were startled by my abrupt arrival. I rushed away from the door and into the seating room to think. If the Ku Klux Klan planned to spread terror and fear in everyone, then they definitely achieved their goal. The lynching of innocent blacks is enough to scare anyone, but the lynching of innocent blacks that you knew closely is enough to drive you mad.
P.A. Moore
Today I have never been more afraid before in my life. There is a solemn feeling in my house and in my school. My skin crawls and my head aches. I can feel the pain of these poor people again, all because of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK, is a group of white supremacists who torture innocent blacks to establish dominance. I believe this is more cowardice than dominance. They wear masks to conceal their identity from the public. They take blacks from their homes and beat them senselessly. Many freedmen have been lynched during these attacks. The attacks last night have silenced my children at breakfast. Robert, uncharacteristically, says nothing. We silently and solemnly eat our stew before leaving for work. On my way to the school, I shiver with the feeling of death, hatred, and anger. Then I feel shocked once I arrive at the schoolhouse.
I see all of my students gathering around quietly. Some are quietly sniffling and others have a grim look on their faces. I gasp quietly. Last night, the KKK attacked a few freedmen. Some of them must have been students of mine. I look around, trying to see who we have lost. They tell me we lost Mary and James, the most innocent people I knew. They were young and had more in their life to live for. I could not believe it. Who would murder children? Who would want to cause this destruction? Who could be fueled by this much hatred?
Today’s school lesson was taught in anger but also in sadness. I could barely talk as I read. The Ku Klux Klan is an organization that used fear and intimidation to attack blacks and anyone close to blacks. This meant I could be attacked by the Klan. If any African American came close to any form of racial equality, he would be targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. If he ran for a political position, he would be targeted. If he decided to step out of line, he would be targeted. It is a tactic used to transmit fear and terror. The violence was used to send a message to blacks. The murders and the beatings would take away hope from these freedmen’s hearts and replace it with fear. The Ku Klux Klan wants to scare blacks back in their place.
My journey home was terrifying. It was starting to get dark and I was alone in the old wagon as Robert took the carriage. It was an open wagon, with only one horse and one torch. I could not carry a gun. I was on the road alone, with no other wagons in sight. The thought of death and pain terrorized my mind. The Ku Klux Klan and its spread of hate and violence plagued my thoughts. I was paranoid until I had reached my home. I quickly ran inside my home. Emma and Theodore were startled by my abrupt arrival. I rushed away from the door and into the seating room to think. If the Ku Klux Klan planned to spread terror and fear in everyone, then they definitely achieved their goal. The lynching of innocent blacks is enough to scare anyone, but the lynching of innocent blacks that you knew closely is enough to drive you mad.
P.A. Moore
Ku Klux Klan members
several members of the KKK ready to beat, what it appears to be, a white man who had possibly affiliated himself with blacks