Throughout history, our society has undergone many social and economic changes. Over the years, new ways of thinking have taken over our society. The general public was unhappy with the progressive way of thinking and wanted to reform everything they had set forth. Even President Harding called for a "return to normalcy." During the 1920s, people were filled with apprehension and intolerance. But at the same time, they perused the decadent lifestyle and liberal ways of thinking that steadily gained support by the populace. .
Two extremely polar movements that existed in the 1920s were the uprising of the Ku Klux Klan and the Harlem Renaissance. The Ku Klux Klan, or KKK, was a social reaction toward what was happening in the American culture. The KKK were the ultra conservatives who were anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-foreign, anti-Catholic, anti-pacifist, anti-Communist, anti-evolutionist, anti-bootlegger, anti-gambling, and anti-Internationalist . They basically were rising up against diversity or modernity of any kind. Also, they were very intolerant and did not approve of the popular behavior at the time, such as speakeasies and women's rights, or the rising impact of jazz music on the American public. One important event in the development of jazz was the tightening of the Jim Crow laws. Experienced musicians of mixed race were no longer allowed to work with whites so that forced them to find work in black blues and folk bands. This combination helped shape the jazz that was played during the 1920s. Dancing became more popular as the music became more "groovable." Public dance halls and clubs opened in the cities, and the white people, especially the flappers, adopted black dances such as the cakewalk and the shimmy. The Harlem Renaissance spread outside of Harlem to most major cities and therefore influenced popular culture to what the black people started. The KKK was opposed to the spreading of the black culture to mainstream America.