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Actually, for the last third of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, membership in the Klan was almost a prerequisite to win local political office in the South. It was like belonging to the Rotary Club. Belonging to it didn't mean you went out and lynched people.
Ironically, when I was living in NY, there was a big brouhaha involving a local volunteer FD, in a town with a very large percentage of black and Latino residents, that had a trophy donated by the local Klan chapter in it's trophy case. The trophy was awarded back in the 1920s. This was on Long Island. Imagine how it was in the South. The Klan was actually considered to be a civic minded organization.
It's also a historical fact that the Republican party was founded by abolitionists in the 1850s, and the elimination of slavery was one of their issues. Unfortunately, it's also a historical fact that Lincoln himself was probably as bigoted as old Jeff Davis. He supported the elimination of slavery, but his hope was that after emancipation, most blacks would return to Africa.
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