Inside the Ku Klux Klan

Inside the Ku Klux Klan

Henry County, United States
22 images
Advertisement

Cross burnings have come to symbolise the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group also known as the KKK. Some 150 years after the end of the Civil War, it’s a culture that still exists on the margins in America today.

That subculture is the subject of an arresting series of photographs provided to Reuters by freelancer Johnny Milano.

A tattoo on the knuckles of a Klansman reads “Love” as he participates with members of the Nordic Order Knights and the Rebel Brigade Knights, groups that both claim affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan, in a ceremony on a fellow member's property.

. CARTER COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano
A Confederate flag hangs from a barn where members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights prepare for a cross-burning ceremony.

A Klan group plans to hold a pro-Confederate flag rally at South Carolina's capitol on July 18, where a statue of a former state governor who championed white supremacy was vandalised last month amid scrutiny of symbols associated with slavery.

The Civil War-era flag and related monuments have become flashpoints after nine black men and women were gunned down at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina.

The suspected shooter, Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white man, had posed with a Confederate battle flag in photos posted on a website that displayed a racist manifesto attributed to him.

South Carolina removed the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds on July 10, relegating a divisive symbol of the South’s pro-slavery legacy to a museum.

. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano
Members of the Rebel Brigade Knights and the Nordic Order Knights take part in a cross-burning ceremony.

The Loyal White Knights chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, based in Pelham, North Carolina, said it will rally at the South Carolina State House on July 18.

"We’re standing up for the Confederacy," James Spears, the chapter's "great titan," said on June 30.

He said speakers would address slavery, then the Klan will hold a cross-lighting, or cross-burning, ceremony on private property.

. HUNT COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano
Members of the Adirondack Fraternity White Knights display their tattoos and salute during a cross and swastika lighting.

The Ku Klux Klan, which had about 6 million members in the 1920s, now has some 2,000 to 3,000 members nationally in about 72 chapters, or klaverns, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre, an organisation that monitors extremist groups.

The Klan is known for its history of violence toward African-Americans.

1 / 18

Slideshow

After holding a public rally, members of the Nordic Order Knights and Rebel Brigade Knights gather to raise a cross.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

After holding a public rally, members of the Nordic Order Knights and Rebel Brigade Knights gather to raise a cross.

Eric, a Nighthawk for the Nordic Order Knights, smokes a cigarette.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Eric, a Nighthawk for the Nordic Order Knights, smokes a cigarette.

Members of the Nordic Order Knights and the Rebel Brigade Knights gather before a cross-burning ceremony.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Members of the Nordic Order Knights and the Rebel Brigade Knights gather before a cross-burning ceremony.

Members of the Nordic Order Knights and the Rebel Brigade Knights raise their torches while shouting “For God, for family, for country, for the Klan”.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Members of the Nordic Order Knights and the Rebel Brigade Knights raise their torches while shouting “For God, for family, for country, for the Klan”.

Members hold their lit torches.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Members hold their lit torches.

Klansmen gather for a group photograph.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Klansmen gather for a group photograph.

Members of the National Socialist Movement and the Adirondack Fraternity White Knights take part in a cross and swastika lighting ceremony.
. HUNT COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Members of the National Socialist Movement and the Adirondack Fraternity White Knights take part in a cross and swastika lighting ceremony.

A banner with the image of Adolf Hitler hangs inside a home where members affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement were gathering for a joint rally.
. Hunt County, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

A banner with the image of Adolf Hitler hangs inside a home where members affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement were gathering for a joint rally.

Tom, a member of the Nordic Order Knights, displays his collection of KKK memorabilia in a fellow member's home.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Tom, a member of the Nordic Order Knights, displays his collection of KKK memorabilia in a fellow member's home.

A Confederate flag hangs in the bedroom of a Ku Klux Klan member.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

A Confederate flag hangs in the bedroom of a Ku Klux Klan member.

Jim, a member of the Nordic Order Knights, displays a KKK emblem tattoo.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Jim, a member of the Nordic Order Knights, displays a KKK emblem tattoo.

Eric, a member of the Virgil Griffin White Knights, shows off a noose that hangs in the barn of a private farm.
. CARTER COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Eric, a member of the Virgil Griffin White Knights, shows off a noose that hangs in the barn of a private farm.

Members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights hold a ceremony for new members at a private farm house.
. CARTER COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights hold a ceremony for new members at a private farm house.

Inductees of the Virgil Griffin White Knights kneel during a ceremony for new members.
. Carter County, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Inductees of the Virgil Griffin White Knights kneel during a ceremony for new members.

A member of the Nordic Order Knights tries on his hood.
. HENRY COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

A member of the Nordic Order Knights tries on his hood.

Female members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights pose for a photograph.
. CARTER COUNTY, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Female members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights pose for a photograph.

Jim, a member of the Nordic Order Knights, speaks at a public rally outside a courthouse.
. Stuart, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Jim, a member of the Nordic Order Knights, speaks at a public rally outside a courthouse.

Men and women protest against a rally by members affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement outside a courthouse.
. Rockwall, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

Men and women protest against a rally by members affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement outside a courthouse.

"His photographs of white supremacists in candid settings provide an intimate look."
Adrees Latif, Reuters Photographer

The issue of race relations has risen to the forefront of American society in the past few years - and even more so in the past month.

After the horrific church shooting last month in Charleston, South Carolina, my attention was drawn to a group of images I recently reviewed by freelance photojournalist Johnny Milano.

His photographs of white supremacists in candid settings provide an intimate and behind-the-scenes look at a culture that – 150 years after the end of the Civil War - still exists on the margins in America today.

As part of a yearlong photojournalism and documentary program in 2012, Milano started a long-term documentary project on white supremacists in the United States.

To take his project further, Milano started to research white power groups and the rise of their ranks, particularly after the terrorist attacks in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

To pursue his goals he reached out to the regional head of the National Socialist Movement, a white supremacist group. After gaining access, Milano was invited to photograph meetings and events where he came to encounter Ku Klux Klan members.

Months into his project, Milano travelled by a car from state to state to cover rallies and "cross lighting" ceremonies, which have come to symbolise the Ku Klux Klan.

"The KKK is still a hard organisation to make more intimate photographs of," he said.

While photographing the gatherings Milano said he wasn’t scared but describes a recent incident where a Klansman said he would "break my neck" if Milano photographed him or any of his members. In the end, no altercation took place.

The 26-year-old photographer said he plans to carry on documenting white supremacists. In doing so, Milano would like to "remind them (you) that history doesn't go away so easily."

More Stories

Back to Top