Each has advocated extremist reactionary positions such as white nationalism, anti-immigration and-especially in later iterations- Nordicism, antisemitism, anti-Catholicism, Prohibition, right-wing populism, anti-communism, homophobia, anti-atheism, and Islamophobia. Each comprised local chapters with little or no central direction. Three separate Klans have existed in three non-overlapping time periods. Their primary targets are African Americans, Hispanics, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and Catholics, as well as immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Muslims, atheists, and abortion providers.
The Ku Klux Klan ( / ˌ k uː k l ʌ k s ˈ k l æ n, ˌ k j uː-/), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan is the name of several historical and current American white supremacist, far-right terrorist organizations and hate groups.