I was prepared to defend them for dressing as a ghost by wearing a sheet.
But the photos are pretty damning. A pillowcase with the corner pointing up?? Pretty dumb guys. Pretty darn dumb.
My recollection is that the intent of the KKK in wearing sheets was so that they would look like ghosts. The point was to scare blacks away from voting by both violence and superstition. Their sheets were intended to convey the impression of "ghosts."
Well, I've met few late teens/early twenties folks these days who have much in the way of brains, but the significant difference to me is that the KKK wore robes, presumably over other clothing, not short-sleeved shirts, pants, and sneakers with white gloves. The hoods are stylized a bit to try to make them look whispy (kinda like one of Casper's (the friendly ghost) uncles. They do not look like klan hoods. Those were specifically shaped and were more like fancy hats with masks on them.
Ok, time for my one KKK story. Early 1972, Chanute AFB, IL. I enlisted in the AF right out of high school and was in tech school headed to Korea. Racial tensions were high including race riots at a few bases. I had made friends with a black guy and we were talking about plans for the weekend. Big basketball game on TV. He was going to watch it with a bunch of guys. I wanted to come but he said it was for “brothers only”. I thought “WTF?”. Got one of my white buddies to wear a sheet and pillow case. I went to the barracks room where the party was on, knocked on the door and asked “Is this where tonight’s secret KKK meeting is being held?” They pull me in and start “beating on me” at the same time everyone has broke out in laughter. They pull off my sheet and see who it is. Still laughing, they “got it” and invited me and my buddy in. Became an open event. Good time was had by all. Wish it was always so easy that pointed humor could solve our problems.
A sheet with the corner pointing up has always been the way
we did it. That’s how real ghosts really look! Sheesh!
No sombreros; Mexicans might not like it. No grass skirts;
Hawaiian hula girls might not like it. No sunglasses;
blind people might not like it. No Eskimo outfits; Eskimos
might not like it. Sheesh!!