The Ku Klux Klan (/ˌkuː klʌks ˈklæn, ˌkjuː-/),[c] commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist terrorist and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Catholics, Native Americans[26][27] as well as immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Muslims, and atheists.[28][29][30]

The Klan has existed in three distinct eras. Each has advocated extremist reactionary positions such as white nationalism, anti-immigration and—especially in later iterations—Nordicism,[31][32] antisemitism, anti-Catholicism, Prohibition, right-wing populism, anti-communism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Anti-Progressivism and anti-atheism. Historically, the first Klan used terrorism—both physical assault and murder—against politically active blacks and their allies in the Southern United States in the late 1860s. All three movements have called for the “purification” of American society, and are all considered right-wing extremist organizations.[33][34][35][36] In each era, membership was secret and estimates of the total were highly exaggerated by both friends and enemies.