Artist-provided text for Taryn Simon work

The following artist-provided text accompanies the work Imperial Office of the World Knights of Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Sharpsburg, Maryland, 2007, from An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, by Taryn Simon (American, b. 1975), George Eastman Museum, gift of the Leeds Art Foundation, 2020. On view in Selections from the Collection.

Imperial Office of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Sharpsburg, Maryland

(L to R)
Youth Director, recruiter and Kleagle (age 18); Klansman (age 19); David De Hart, Imperial Knighthawk; and the Revered Gordon Young, Imperial Wizard preparing to visit the local mall to pass out flyers.

The World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is a Maryland based, self-proclaimed, neo-Nazi organization committed to recruiting youths to further the KKK movement. They advocate 10 Steps to a Better America, which include: 1. Stop Immigration 2. End Free Trade 3. End White Discrimination 4. Stop Interracial Marriage 5. Stop Foreign Aid 6. Stop Homosexuality 7. Stronger Law & Order 8. Support Small Business 9. Defend Gun Rights 10. Live by the 14 Words: "We must secure the existence of our race and a future for our white children." Their motto is, "Be a man, join the Klan."