There is an idea that night riding, lynching, cross burning, and such things were acts of ignorant bigots who were acting out anger about their own poverty. The realities, to such degree that we understand them, were very different.

It may be true that these acts were frequently carried out by poor and perhaps illiterate white men, but they were approved, directed, and often led by the influential and important men in the community. The kind of people who were thought of as benevolent citizens. They were educated and religious. Most disturbing, and difficult to believe, these people thought that they were doing the right thing---