The true story behind the doctored photo of KKK women holding a Democrat Party sign that has gone viral
A viral photo has been doing rounds on the Internet since early 2019 that shows a group of women in Ku Klux Klan robes holding a sign that says, “Women of the Democrat Party”. Recently, Republican Party's Angela Stanton King, who is running for election to the US House to represent Georgia's 5th Congressional District, tweeted the photo with the caption: "Since we’re erasing racism don’t forget about the Democrat Party."
King's post grabbed many eyeballs starting a massive debate on the Republican and Democrat party and collected over 23,000 retweets and 44,000 likes in no time. However, soon several people pointed out how it was a digitally-altered photograph. "That was a doctored photograph. Please check your facts before you go off like this," one Twitter user wrote and another said, "That terrible picture’s been floating around for a long time. This version is photoshopped. Incredibly Iazy not to check. I hope you have the integrity to deIete this."
The original version of this photo actually had the women holding a placard reading “Lancaster County” rather than “Women of the Democrat Party” and it is available on Getty, where it's captioned: "K.K.K. Arrive at Washington. Photo shows women members of the Klan from Lancaster County Pa."
The fake photo has been debunked several times earlier and according to a Snopes report, it was captured in circa 1925 when the KKK from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, arrived in Washington, DC, for a white supremacist parade. It is available via Getty Images, where it is captioned: “K.K.K. Arrive at Washington.
Back in 1925, more than 50,000 members of the KKK marched in lines as wide as 20 abreast, creating formations of the letter K and a Christian cross. While some rode on horsebacks, others waved flags and carried banners emblazoned with the names of their home states or local chapters. It seems like the picture was a part of that procession which lasted for more than three hours.
However, people were still of the opinion that the Democrats were involved. "Doesn’t change that the Democrats started the KKK," one tweet read and another said, "It’s still factual, the KKK was founded by the Democratic Party." However, one said, "The Klan wasn’t founded by a political party, it was founded by a group of ex-confederate soldiers in Tennessee."
Nevertheless, people couldn't stop pointing out how the doctored photo shouldn't have been used. "Republicans don't care about truth, just how it looks on social media," one said and another posted, "This photo is edited to change the sign. It originally didn’t say “Democrat Party” A good clue is the dumb insistence on saying “Democrat” instead of “Democratic”." One tweet read: "Imagine a verified account tweeting doctored media to make a point ... oh wait ... @realDonaldTrump this is awkward!"