Inside the Klan - USA

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The KKK has had a surge in popularity, mostly because of the US's first black president. The Klan claim to have softened, but can an organisation racist to its core really be as benign as they make out?

"This is a new deal. It's nothing like that. I mean it's totally different," Michael Carlton, who runs KKK security for the Northern Mississippi branch tells us. He's at a Klan barbecue, where conversation ranges from good ol' Southern cooking to why white women shouldn't hang around black men. With the organisation's membership growing, apparently in connection with the US having its first ever black president, it seems to be trying to re-invent itself to appeal to a wider audience. But however much they try to look like nice, reasonable sorts, there is always a reminder of where they're coming from. "I'm just not a big fan of blacks in general. To me they're just a thieving race, just a low, low race." And while they continually protest that they're not looking for violence and have left their lynching days behind them, under the guise of helping enforce rule of law there's a chilling reminder of the KKK's past. "I don't kill people but I have no problem saying this on this camera: I have no problem with taking somebody, tying them to a tree and whipping them. Giving them an old fashioned whoopin."