These Are The 10 Cities In Illinois With The Most KKK Members

Do you live in one of the most racist cities in Illinois?

We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a hate crime that happens not that far away from us. Whether it’s the ‘white vs. black’ hate crime that we are so used to being part of America’s culture, or today’s hate crime (gay bashing), it never seems to end.

Hate groups can be hard to measure, because typically, there’s no record of where they exist. But there is data on where there were distinct Klaverns of the Ku Klux Klan in each state. We wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the data in order to identify the most racist cities in Illinois.

The result is the following list of the most racist cities in the Prairie State:

1. Stanford
2. Shabbona
3. Mount Pulaski
4. Assumption
5. Erie
6. Winchester
7. Venice
8. Farmer City
9. Lexington
10. Nokomis

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how Stanford end up as the most racist place in Illinois.

Or check out the most ghetto cities and the most dangerous cities in Illinois.

How we calculated the most racist cities in Illinois

While there are surveys and public polls on what places might be the most racist, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from where KKK organizations have existed.

Specifically, we analyzed research out of Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped the Klans in each area and gave a history of their recruitment from 1915-1940.

This report is an analysis of the locations of historic KKK organizations divided by the number of people who currently live there.

There were a total of 57 cities with at least 1 Klavern in Illinois during the time period of reference.

A quick history lesson on the KKK

What is the KKK? In a nutshell, the KKK was formed back in 1865, and there have been three separate movements, all three of which were supposedly ‘purification movements’ in America. The 1865-1870s movement sought to overthrow Republican state governments.

The second movement (1915 – 1944) saw millions of members of the KKK form, which was opposed to immigration into America, especially against Catholics and Jews.

The most memorable movement of the KKK started in the 1950s, which was involved in the Civil Rights movement, and which targeted the black population in America.

The number of active members of the KKK is much smaller these days.

At the Klan’s height, there were 94 active Kalverns in Illinois.

The cities below are the places where there were Klans back in the day, and where the number of Klans per the current population is high. Meaning, the number of racist members of the community has historically been the highest, according to the math.

1. Stanford

Population: 603
Klaverns: 1

2. Shabbona

Population: 877
Klaverns: 1

3. Mount Pulaski

Population: 1,257
Klaverns: 1

4. Assumption

Population: 1,266
Klaverns: 1

5. Erie

Population: 1,594
Klaverns: 1

6. Winchester

Population: 1,644
Klaverns: 1

7. Venice

Population: 1,751
Klaverns: 1

8. Farmer City

Population: 2,054
Klaverns: 1

9. Lexington

Population: 2,213
Klaverns: 1

10. Nokomis

Population: 2,358
Klaverns: 1

There You Have It

When you’re looking at the places in Illinois with the highest number of KKK Klaverns per capita back in the day, this is an accurate list.

Below is a chart which lists all cities in Illinois with KKK organizations from 1915-1940.
For more Illinois reading , check out:

• These Are The 10 Best Places To Live In Illinois
• These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In Illinois
• These Are The 10 Snobbiest Places In Illinois

Detailed List Of The Most Racist Cities In Illinois