"The Myth of the Melting Pot" ; C.P. Ellis

"Why I Quit the Klan" (excerpt from Studs Terkel's American Dreams: Lost and Found)

C.P. Ellis is currently the business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers in Durham, North Carolina but at one point in his life he had been a part of the Ku Klux Klan, from member to president (aka Cyclops)

The article/interview begins by C.P. Ellis telling readers about his father, who was a huge influence in his life. He tells the audience that;

"I loved my father. He would go with me to ball games. We'd go fishin' together I was really ashamed of the way he'd dress. He would take his money and give it to me instead of putting it on himself. I always had the feeling about somebody looking at him and makin' fun of him and makin' fun of me. I think it had to do somethin' with my life...My father never seemed to be happy. It was a constant struggle with him just like it was for me..."

C.P. Ellis' father died at the age of 48 leaving Ellis to take on the responsibility of his father; he quit school and began to take care of his mother and sister and later, his wife and four children. He thought the nation was a great one and was hopeful in the church and law, but hardship soon hit him and everything seemed to get worse. With life beginning to spiral out of control and with an added heart attack, his whole mindset began to change. At this moment in the essay we are taken to a pathological appeal that brings audience members closer to understanding the basis of his hatred. This moment in his life is where it all began. 

"I really began to get bitter. I didn't know who to blame. I tried to find somebody. I began to blame it on black people. I had to hate somebody. Hatin' America is hard to do because you can't see to hate it. You gotta have somethin' to look at to hate. The natural person for me to hate would be black people, because my father before me was a member of the Klan."

He goes on to explain that he joined the Klan from being a chaplain, to vice-president, then eventually president (better known as Cyclops). He promised to live by upholding the "purity of the white race" and the other values of the Klan. Klan members had the ultimate mindset of, "here are white people who are supposed to be superior to them [black people], and we're shut out". This was their logic; they formed this group because no one would listen. He began to publicly speak about how he felt and realized others felt the same way too despite their race, but no matter how much he voiced his opinions he was still ignored because he was a part of the low income society. 

At this point readers begin to sense a change in the articles, C.P. Ellis begins to question his position in the clan; it wasn't the blacks or Jews, it was our "city fathers" so he called it that were the problem. As this feeling grows, his statements become more clear to the audience that he wanted out of the clan and no longer wanted to "fight" against other groups because, underneath it all we are the same. He finally threw himself into city politics, campaigning and union efforts with his counterparts and started to be recognized (something he didn't have before). 

In a sense we find that what changed in C.P. Ellis' case is perspective. He gained it by experiencing the reality of life and as he continued to educate himself not only scholarly; he saw that race wasn't what caused his hatred, it was the fact that his economic standing wasn't "good enough" to be heard. 

C.P. Ellis took action, changed for the better to benefit not only himself but others in his same situation. This proves to me that things do change and that one should take the time to gain a new perspective before they pass judgment. 

Underneath We Are All the Same

*Perspective- n. is a deep understanding of people, things, events or situations, empowering the ability to choose or act to consistently produce the optimum results with a minimum of time and energy.