Serious answer: it was the fashion at the time. A lot of fraternal organizations have goofy ass titles and a lot of Klansmen were also Elks or Rotarians or whatever. It’s dudes being bros but instead of appropriating Muslim/Ottoman/Turkish aesthetics and supporting children’s hospitals like the Shriners, the reincarnated KKK went with nativist spectacle instead.
Serious answer: it was the fashion at the time. A lot of fraternal organizations have goofy ass titles and a lot of Klansmen were also Elks or Rotarians or whatever. It’s dudes being bros but instead of appropriating Muslim/Ottoman/Turkish aesthetics and supporting children’s hospitals like the Shriners, the reincarnated KKK went with nativist spectacle instead.