The Ku Klux Klan, commonly referred to as the KKK, is an American terrorist group. The Ku Klux Klan promotes white supremacy and far-right extremism. The first historical Klan was founded in 1865 by officers of the Confederate army in the United States. Over time, the group developed into a fraternal organization promoting white supremacy through violence and political scheming. At its height in 1925, it had 4 million members (“Ku Klux Klan,” Southern Poverty Law Center). A third wave of Klan violence erupted in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. Along with Black Americans, the KKK also targets Catholic and Jewish people, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people. The Ku Klux Klan continues to have small chapters across the United States. In 2015, 190 chapters were reported.

Lynching describes the public killing of a person outside of the process of the law. Individuals killed by lynching are not afforded an investigation or a trial. During the 19th and 20th centuries, lynchings were common in the American South. Black citizens were tortured and killed; the methods were brutal and varied, though victims were often hanged from trees. White mobs were most often responsible for enacting a lynching, and spectators—including women and children—observed the killings as entertainment.