Final answer:
Forrest Gump was named after General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist organization founded in 1866.
Step-by-step explanation:
Forrest Gump said that he was named after Civil War General Nathan Bedford Forrest who was one of the founding members of the Ku Klux Klan. This organization, also referred to as the "Invisible Empire of the South", was established in 1866 as a fraternal order of Confederate veterans in Tennessee. Under Forrest's leadership, it evolved into a notorious vigilante terrorist group. The Ku Klux Klan engaged in acts of intimidation and violence, especially during Reconstruction, venting southern White people's frustration over the loss of the Civil War and the changes during Radical Reconstruction.