Klansville, U.S.A.

“Klansville U.S.A.” is a documentary about the Ku Klux Klan, a fraternal social club established in 1856 after the Civil War. The film discusses the beginning of the Klan and the extreme violent nature it becomes during the 1960s. Specifically, it’s about the North Carolina Klan, which grew to nearly 10,000 members in just two years.

The group had already begun to dissolve in 1871, under pressure from the federal government. However, in 1915, D.W. Griffith's film, "The Birth of a Nation" glamorized the Klan. This made their violent actions towards African Americans justifiable and necessary to restore order in the chaotic South. Subsequent this, the film sparked a Klan revival in the 1920s, and by 1925, four million Americans claimed membership. Although later on, bad press tore the group apart in the 1930s. After the Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, segregation was claimed unconstitutional. However, this allowed the Ku Klux Klan to reunite as the Civil Rights Movement grew.

In 1963, North Carolina had become the largest Klan group in the country, giving the state a new name, "Klansville, U.S.A."