THE KLAN

by Patsy Sims ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 1978

This is not an analysis of the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, Patsy Sims doesn't look behind her subject at all, taking the Klan members instead at face value, and presenting them to us in an interminable series of portraits--everyone from local honchos to the better-known leaders like Robert Shelton and David Duke. One Klansman explains that the Civil War was fought by European Jewish bankers to gain control of American money, and another says of the cross under his white robe, ""I feel like anyone who believes in Christ should wear a cross."" This book is a veritable catalogue of racial and religious hatred, without any sense of remorse among the practitioners. The Klan seemed to fade in the late Sixties, but it has recently been ""popping up like crabgrass."" The B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League, which estimates that membership rose from 6500 in 1975 to over 8000 in 1977, gives the credit to David Duke, ""articulate, charming, sexy"" leader of one of the Klan's numerous factions, because he has actively recruited new members. But this hardly seems an adequate answer and a more searching look at Klan resurgence would have been appropriate. But Sims is not heavy on scholarship. She tells an involved story of a Russian spy who may have been involved in the Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinations--with possible Klan connections as well--and who claims that the KGB knew about John Kennedy's assassination ahead of time, but the source of all this is ""a provocative article"" from Inside Detective Magazine. A rogue's gallery, useful if it keeps the rest of us on our toes.

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1978

ISBN: 081310887X

Page Count: -

Publisher: Stein & Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1978

Categories: NONFICTION