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David Cunningham , Klansville, U.S.A.: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights-Era Ku Klux Klan (New York : Oxford University Press , 2013, $29.95). Pp. 360. isbn 978 0 1997 5202 7 .
Reviews
In this richly detailed study, sociologist David Cunningham of Brandeis University provides a thorough look inside the modern civil rights-era KKK in North Carolina. The book is written in a lively and accessible style and is based on a solid array of archival sources and personal interviews, including with Klan leaders and members.
The paradox that makes the book interesting is that the Klan - in the form of Imperial Wizard Bobby Shelton's dominant United Klans of America (UKA) - flourished most in the relatively progressive southern state of North Carolina. In fact, during the classic civil rights period that Cunningham adheres to (1954-68), North Carolina had the largest UKA membership of any state - larger in fact than that of the rest of the southern states put together.
The answer to this puzzle (why did the Klan flourish more strongly in an Upper South State with a progressive reputation?) is that the group apparently enjoyed more success organizing in states and sections where southern whites perceived moderate accommodation to civil rights from political elites to be the largest threat to the continuing dominance of white supremacy. The author maintains that areas where more obvious and vicious hostility...