Violence The Forms of the Ku Klux Klan’s Racist Action towards the Black People and TheirDefenders

Long way before Cobb’s—the redneck—generation, the Klans had more than enough members. In the old south, the Klans violated the Blacks to show their power. They thought they hold power, so they were able to do everything to the black people. The Klan lynched people and hung them under big trees, so everyone in the county could see that. They also burnt down the house and raped the black women. This is reflected in Grisham 1989: 47. Cobbs grandfather had been in the Klan long before his death, the cousin explained, and when he and Billy Ray were kids the old man would tell stories about hanging niggers in Ford and Tyler counties. Another Klan’s violence is reflected through the quotation below. They didnt wait long. From his vantage point somewhere deep in the shrubs in front of the house, Ozzie saw him first: a lone figure walking casually down the street from the direction opposite the square. He had in his hand a small box or case of some sort. When he was two houses away, he left the street and cut through the front lawns of the neighbors. Ozzie pulled his revolver and nightstick and watched the man walk directly toward him. Jake had him in the scope of his deer rifle. Pirtle crawled like a snake across the porch and into the shrubs, ready to strike. Suddenly, the figure darted across the front lawn next door and to the side of Jakes house. He carefully laid the small suitcase under Jakes bedroom window. As he turned to run, a huge black nightstick crashed across the side of his head, ripping his right ear in two places, each barely hanging to his head. He screamed and fell to the ground. Grisham, 1989: 147 Based on the quotation above, he Klans start the violence by making bombs as their terror to the society. The Klans’ bombing action is a part of violence surely. This bombing is aimed to the Blacks’ defender. Jack Brigance’s house, once, was tried to blow up by the Klan by setting a bomb in his garden.

2. Intimidation

Another way to show their superiority is to intimidate society. Basically, the target of the Klan’s intimidation is the Blacks. As far as the conflict goes, the Klan also takes action to everyone who defends the Blacks. The Klan’s intimidation is objected to create a situation of fear. The Klan’s action is a real threat to the society. Klansmen want a piece of action, and it is for real in order to influence the society about the idea of their superiority. They want to show that by doing this kind of action that the Blacks deserve to be unsupported and they do not belong in the society. Influenced by the White Supremacy’s idea, the Klans are blinded by their ambition.Grisham 1989: 96 portrays the Klans’ intimidation in his novel below. Its a warnin. Means stop what youre doin, or the next time well do more than burn a little wood. They used these things for years to intimidate whites who were sympathetic to niggers and all that civil rights crap. If the whites didnt stop their nigger lovin, then violence followed. Bombs, dynamite, beatings, even murder. But that was a long time ago, I thought. In your case, its their way of tellin Jake to stay away from Hailey. But since he aint Haileys lawyer no more, I dont know what it means. One of the ways to intimidate people is by burning cross. This is aimed as a warning for the people to stay away from particular issue that the Klan trying to get in. The warning was not only for the blacks but also for the whiteswho try to help the blacks. This burning cross is commonly placed near the house of the intimidation target. Burning cross is actually one of the identical characteristics of the Klan’s intimidation. As they are influenced by the Protestant Christian, the burning cross refers to the light of Christ. Light is white, and white means holy. Another example of the cross burning is found in Grisham’s A Time to Kill 1989: 74 below. They could make speeches to a captive audience and parade in front of the cameras. The press would love it-hate them, but love the