Editing Ku Klux Klan (section)

==== Goals ====
[[File:Ku Klux Klan Virginia 1922 Parade.jpg|thumb|Three Ku Klux Klan members at a 1922 parade]]
[[File:KKK - St Patricks Day (cr).jpg|thumb|In this 1926 cartoon, the Ku Klux Klan chases the Catholic Church, personified by [[St. Patrick]], from the shores of America. Among the "snakes" are various supposed negative attributes of the Church, including superstition, the union of church and state, control of public schools, and intolerance.]]

The first and third Klans were primarily Southeastern groups aimed against Black people. The second Klan, in contrast, broadened the scope of the organization to appeal to people in the Midwestern and Western states who considered Catholics, Jews, and foreign-born minorities to be anti-American.<ref name="HCUA" />

The Second Klan saw threats from every direction. According to historian Brian R. Farmer, "two-thirds of the national Klan lecturers were Protestant ministers".<ref>Brian R. Farmer, ''American Conservatism: History, Theory and Practice'' (2005), p. 208.{{ISBN?}}</ref> Much of the Klan's energy went into guarding the home, and historian Kathleen Blee says that its members wanted to protect "the interests of white womanhood".{{sfn|Blee|1991|p=47}} Joseph Simmons published the pamphlet ''ABC of the Invisible Empire'' in Atlanta in 1917; in it, he identified the Klan's goals as "to shield the sanctity of the home and the chastity of womanhood; to maintain white supremacy; to teach and faithfully inculcate a high spiritual philosophy through an exalted ritualism; and by a practical devotedness to conserve, protect and maintain the distinctive institutions, rights, privileges, principles and ideals of a pure Americanism".<ref>{{cite book|last=McWhirter|first=Cameron|title=Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America|date=2011|publisher=Henry Holt and Company, LLC| location=New York|isbn=978-0805089066|page=65}}</ref> Such moral-sounding purpose underlay its appeal as a fraternal organization, recruiting members with a promise of aid for settling into the new urban societies of rapidly growing cities such as Dallas and Detroit.{{sfn|Jackson|1967}}{{Specify|reason=need specific pages|date=August 2024}} During the 1930s, particularly after [[James A. Colescott]] of Indiana took over as imperial wizard, opposition to [[Communism]] became another primary aim of the Klan.<ref name="HCUA" />