Violence, The Ku Klux Klan and the Struggle for Equality.

This paper provides teachers with information about the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and makes available instructional procedures and resources for teaching about the Klan. First, some ideas are presented for dealing with the unusual emotional climate that can arise when the KKK is discussed in a classroom. Next, a brief history of the KKK is provided, along with an analysis of why the KKK may be currently growing in size. Next, eleven lesson plans for classroom use are presented on these topics: (1) the Ku Klux Klan today; (2) the birth of the Ku Klux Klan; (3) the death of Reconstruction; (4) the beginnings of White supremacy; (5) the Klan in the 1920's; (6) the civil rights era; (7) the struggle for racial equality; (8) thoughts of an ex-Klansman; (9) myth vs. reality: social perceptions; (10) myth vs. reality: the process of scapegoating; and (11) countering the Klan. Primary materials such as newspaper articles and photographs are included. This booklet concludes with a glossary of key terms and a selected and annotated bibliography on the KKK. (KH)