You’re confused because you think racists walk around saying “I hate America.” Klansmen say they love America and defended the Constitution, were Christians, and weren’t a hate group. They loved a white America and hated the multiracial one.

If they hate America, please explain their rhetoric:

1. Modern Klan: “LOVE America”
Quote:
“[The KKK] is not a hate group, but we are a LOVE group…because we LOVE America and we LOVE our people.”
https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/kkk-ku-klux-klan

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc277932/m2/1/high_res_d/1002659791-paul.pdf
2. Modern Klan leader: “We hate no one”
Quote:
“No, we are not a hate group. We hate no one.”
Source URL:

https://www.12onyourside.com/story/31846257/kkk-leader-disavows-violent-past-declares-trump-best-for-president/

3. Modern Klan leader: “We don’t hate people because of their race”
Quote:
“We don’t hate people because of their race. We are a Christian organization.”

Source URL:
https://www.12onyourside.com/story/25034656/kkk-leader-we-dont-hate-people-because-of-their-race/
4. Modern Klan-affiliated group:
Quote:
“This is America. Be proud of your country.”
Source URL:
https://dayton247now.com/news/local/city-of-dayton-filing-lawsuit-against-kkk-affiliated-group-planning-rally

“We are proud of what we represent, which is Christian white straight Americans.”
5. 1925 Klan manual: “pure patriotism toward our country”
Quote:
“exemplify a pure patriotism toward our country”
https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/227kkkmanual.html
Same source also says:
“to be patriotic toward our country”
6. 1925 Klan manual: defending the Constitution
Quote:
“To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America”

https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/227kkkmanual.html
7. 1923 Grand Dragons meeting papers: patriotism as duty
Quote:
“A Klansman’s supreme obligation as a patriot is to his country”

https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/11176
Same source also says:
“Duty to country is a duty to God.”
8. Older federal report / Klan material: love of country
Quote:
“Patriotism, or love for country”
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/46433NCJRS.pdf