Members of the Rebel Brigade Knights and the Nordic Order Knights hold their lit torches during a cross lighting ceremony at a private residence in Henry County, Virginia. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Members of the Rebel Brigade Knights and the Nordic Order Knights hold their lit torches during a cross lighting ceremony at a private residence in Henry County, Virginia. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
A tattoo on the knuckles of a Klansman reads "Love" as he participates with members of the Nordic Order Knights and the Rebel Brigade Knights in a cross lighting ceremony. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
A banner with the image of Adolf Hitler hangs inside a home where members affiliated with the KKK and the National Socialist Movement were gathering for a joint rally in Hunt County, Texas. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Members of the Nordic Order Knights and the Rebel Brigade Knights raise their torches while shouting "For God, for family, for country, for the Klan." Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Members of the Rebel Brigade Knights and the Nordic Order Knights hold their lit torches during a cross lighting ceremony at a private residence in Henry County, Virginia. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Men and women shout and gesture while protesting a rally by members affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement outside a courthouse in Texas. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
A confederate flag hangs in the bedroom of a Ku Klux Klan member in Henry County, Virginia. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Jim, (C), a member of the Nordic Order Knights speaks at a public rally outside a courthouse in Stuart, Virginia. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Eric, a member of the Virgil Griffin White Knights shows off a noose that hangs in the barn of a private farm in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights wrap a cross with canvas ahead of a cross lighting ceremony on a private farm in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
New inductees of the Virgil Griffin White Knights kneel during a ceremony for new members at a private farm house in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
A female and male member of the Virgil Griffin White Knights pose for a photograph in their robes ahead of a cross lighting ceremony at a private farm house in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights encircle a cross lighting ceremony at a private farm house in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights hold a ceremony for new members at a private farm house in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
A confederate flag hangs from a barn where members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights prepare a cross with canvas ahead of a cross lighting ceremony at a private farm in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
Female members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights pose for a photograph in their robes ahead of a cross lighting ceremony at a private farmhouse in Carter County, Tennessee. Photo: Johnny Milano/Reuters
A member of the Ku Klux Klan displays a ring with the confederate flag. Photo: Spencer Platt/AFP
Published Jul 17, 2015
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As white supremacists prepare to gather in South Carolina to protest against the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds, this series of photographs show the reality of life inside the Ku Klux Klan - or what is left of it - across the United States.
They provide a fascinating insight to the white supremacist subculture that lives on some 150 years after the end of the Civil War, existing on the margins of modern society in all corners of America, including Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Klan members can be seen dressed in traditional robes as they stand alongside affiliate groups and members of the National Socialist Movement to hold the cross burning ceremonies which have come to symbolise the Ku Klux Klan.
Photographer Johnny Milano has gained unique access to white supremecist groups in the US and takes us inside the secret rituals of an organisation which keeps racial prejudice alive.
