The 1920s saw a rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). After the 1915 release of the blockbuster film The Birth of a Nation, which promoted the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy, the KKK saw a surge in membership. The organization was still centered on white supremacy, but a second wave expanded its hatred and violence beyond African Americans to include Catholics and Jews. Unlike the KKK of Reconstruction, this second KKK found its way into mainstream culture, sponsoring such events as local festivals, beauty pageants, concerts, and community baseball games. Its membership expanded nationwide, with sizable support in the Midwest and in major cities. It encouraged middle-class, white, native-born Protestant Americans to believe that bigotry and violence were patriotic and promised to promote a “true Americanism” that would fight back against a new, modern culture. Under a veil of brotherhood, the KKK encouraged violence and lynched, beat, and bullied anyone who threatened its white supremacist ideals.