Each comprised local chapters with little or no central direction.

Three separate Klans have existed in three non-overlapping time periods. The Klan was 'the first organized terror movement in American history.' 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.