I agree there are many instances of organized terror that the dominant order at the time has inflicted (and, arguably, continues to inflict) upon those not part or aligned with the said order. But, of course, I had to exclude those or the argument as a whole falls apart.

Thanks for commenting!

You’re actually pointing at another reason the system needs patching. The current system actively punishes those who attempt to admit and correct mistakes, for fear that doing so might lead to a big payout in a malpractice lawsuit. This is aside from how much money malpractice insurance siphons from the system.

“New research shows more than 250,000 people died from medical mistakes in the two years between 2004 and 2006.”

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/09/ltm.03.html

More than twice as many deaths as from the lack of care.

They used bombs
Their motivation was to cause social or political change (well… it was more to prevent change)
Their targets were civilians (both african-american and whites)

I’ve been thinking about this and I’m going to agree that the KKK is properly excluded. I’ve always thought of the following 3 requirements for terrorism:

1. Use of the violence against civilians
This important to ensure a distinction between a terrorist and revolutionary.

I don’t think there is any dispute the KKK fits this description so far.

2. With a goal of causing a specific social or political change.
We have to draw a distinction between self serving crime and terrorism. I don’t care how much firepower you rob a bank with, if it is for your own wealth then its not terrorism.

In many cases the KKK was targeting civl rights workers and those who attempted to excersize their civil rights. Ensuring that a specific chunk of the population is incapable of excersizing their rights qualifies. So the KKK still fits.

3. By a group that is not part of a government
I think its important to draw this distinction that a government does have a right to conduct warfare and police its territory. Misuse of these rights falls under different labels than terrorism. For example, use of a military to delibrately attack civilians is a war crime. (I personally believe that the concept of ‘State sponsored terrorism’ is a contradiction in terms)

I think the fact that the KKK was so deeply ingrained in political bodies of certain regions means that they were a part of the government. If you look at some of the more important federal laws enacted you see a distinct pattern emerge. Many of them really exist to move the cases out of the hands of the KKK influenced local jurisdiction and into federal jurisdiction.

So the KKK draws a very fine line here and its very likely that they are on both sides of it depending on where you are in their history.

Why do we not have healthcare, and why is the government is not launching a war on cigarette manufacturers? (440,000 die per year from smoking in the US). Why is there not rioting in the streets over these issues? Because the media has trained us to look at deaths in context A differently than deaths in context B, because those at the top are not concerned with lives, whether they know it or not.