A&E is about to blow the lid off the KKK with a new docuseries that will follow members of the organization who want out, family members who want nothing to do with the KKK and anti-hate activists. Details about the show inside…
For those who like to say there's no racism in 2016, here’s the perfect example that racism is still alive and well today.
A&E got unprecedented access to film prominent Klan families to give viewers an inside look at what goes on behind the scenes of the KKK.
“Generation KKK” is an eight-part documentary series (with footage from over a year and a half) that will follow members of the Ku Klux Klan and those who wish to leave the hate group. It will center around the children who are being lured into the ways of the KKK and family members of Klansmen who are fighting to stop the vicious cycle, according to executive producer Aengus James.
In the new trailer, Steven Howard, the Imperial Wizard of the North Mississippi White Knights, is shown teaching his children how to be come future Klansmen. Steven wishes for his daughter Maggie to become the first female Imperial Wizard, but Maggie wants no parts of it. In fact, she has black friends that she considers to be her closest friends, unbeknownst to her father.
In another clip, Steven is seen gifting three of his daughters with Klan hoodies. It’s reported that the KKK is growing in numbers. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of independent Klan chapters in the United States (there is no national organization) grew from 72 to 190 between 2014 and 2015. The Anti-Defamation League estimates membership at 3,000, while the law center places the figure at between 5,000 and 8,000.
The series will also follow anti-hate activists who are fighting against the KKK. Daryle Lamont Jenkins is the founder of One Peoples Project. The organization monitors and publishes information about alleged racist and far right groups and individuals. It will also introduce anti-hate activist Arno Michaelis and Bryon Widner, both former white supremacists.
While A+E tends to focus on educational aspects of America history and entertainment, social media has been on fire about whether or not this series is necessary. And, if it's actually giving credence and a platform to hate. Some combat that argument saying that America needs to see and feel exactly WHY we are not in a post-racial society like many think we are. This series could serve as that educational wake up call.
Peep the new trailer below:
“Generation KKK” will premiere January 10th at 10/9c on A&E. Will you be tuning in?
Photos: A&E
