, 9 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
This is a terrific idea, and I would love to see more work done on this
In terms of what we might call organizational memory, the Klan is a fascinating example in ostensibly paying homage to earlier white supremacists, but almost always mangling that tradition
The example that always jumps out is that of the blood drop on the uniform
In the 1920s iteration, the patch on a Klansman's chest made for an x because it was meant to represent four Ks - Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
You can see Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans modeling it here
But when we look at the Klan robes in the David Duke revival of the 1970s, that patch is now a + rather than an x
As the Klan had so heavily emphasized its identity as a Protestant organization, the memory of the original patch had been lost - and later iterations of the Klan imagined it had been designed as a Christian cross instead
This is leaving out the fact the 1920s robes themselves are misfits of memory, largely lifted from the film Birth of a Nation rather than the more patchwork creations of the real Reconstruction Klans
And so it goes, as each Klan reworks and reimagines the history of those who have come before them, even as generation after generation clings to the same bigoted ideals
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