The Black Klansman

During the civil rights movement, a light-skinned African-American man, Jerry Ellsworth Richard Gilden is a Los Angeles jazz musician with a white girlfriend, Andrea Rima Kutner. Meanwhile, in Turnersville, Alabama, a young black man, Delbert Madison, attempts to exercise his newly federal rights by sitting at a local diner, an act observed by members of the Ku Klux Klan, including Exalted Cyclops William Talmadge Rook Harry Lovejoy. By night and in Klan robes, they shoot Delbert and firebomb a church, killing Jerry’s daughter by his deceased wife. By way of revenge, Jerry moves to Alabama to infiltrate the group responsible for his daughter’s death. Andrea and their saxophonist, Lonnie James McEachin, go to Turnersville out of concern for Jerry, who, after learning of his daughter’s death, struggles with his emotions and even tries to choke Andrea. Jerry dons his disguise and becomes a member of the inner circle, befriending the local leader and his daughter, Carole Ann Maureen Gaffney, and soon exacts his revenge.

When Andrea and Lonnie arrive, Farley Madison Jakie Deslonde, Delbert’s older brother, hires two Harlem hitmen, Raymond Estes Max Julien and his burly assistant, Barnaby, to avenge his brother’s death despite protests from the reverend and Alex Whitman Mayo, owner of the only black tavern and inn where Lonnie and Andrea stay. Infiltrating the Klan, Jerry and Carole Ann make love in her car. Raymond and Barnaby attack and bind Lonnie to make it look like he is in an interracial relationship with Andrea in order to set them up as lynch bait for the Klansmen, but end up getting lynched themselves in the climax, when Jerry reveals himself to Rook, who kneels down and begs for mercy as a trap. Rook, after pulling away the truck on which noosed Raymond and Barnaby are standing, runs over Jerry’s hand and tries repeatedly to mow him down until Jerry shoots him. In the end, Jerry meets Farley and decides to stay in Turnersville and help out. Mayor Buckley Byrd Holland tells Jerry that he wishes he had done something earlier about the racial hatred in his town.

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 12:08