Taken from wiki not WaPo
"As a secret
vigilante group, the Klan targeted
freedmen and their allies; it sought to restore white supremacy by threats and violence, including murder,
against black and white Republicans."
"Historian
Eric Foner observed: "I
n effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party, the planter class, and all those who desired restoration of white supremacy. Its purposes were political, but political in the broadest sense, for it sought to affect power relations, both public and private, throughout Southern society. It aimed to reverse the interlocking changes sweeping over the South during Reconstruction: to destroy the Republican party's infrastructure, undermine the Reconstruction state, reestablish control of the black labor force, and restore racial subordination in every aspect of Southern life.
[60]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
