The Character Of Ellis From American Dreams: Lost And Found By Studs Terkel
In the book, American Dreams: Lost and Found, 1980 Studs Terkel who is one oral historian interviewed the C. P Ellis, a former president (Exalted Cyclops) of the Durman chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Based on the interviewed, Terkel learned that Ellis had been born in poor family in Durham, North Carolina. Terkel interviewed Ellis because he was different from other member in KKK group and he quit the KKK. Ellis was born in 1927 and he was 53 the years old at the time of this interview. He had struggled all his life to feed his family and had joined the Klan to feel like somebody. Ellis had faced many obstacle his life for example poverty, racism, and school. Ellis father passed away at age forty eight because of cotton dust. Ellis dropped out of school at the age of 17 to support his mom and sister after his father passed. He married and had 4 kids, one with disabilities. He resented his father for not being able to buy decent clothes for the family. His father would work every day, but on weekends he drunk too much. Even Though he has worked hard every week and at the end his bills are larger than his paycheck. He worked very hard as much as he can but there seemed to be no hope.
In the book, American Dreams: Lost and Found, 1980 Ellis stated in an interview ‘Finally you just say: “The heck with it. I’ll just get drunk and forget it. ” The only thing he would do is drunk and forget everything. Ellis also over worked himself and ended up having a heart attack. WhenEllis got older he worked hard in hopes of supporting his own family. Things did not go very well for Ellis; he started to have a lot of hate in him.
Ellis joined the group Ku Klux Klan because he was unhappy with his life and the economic status. He figured out joining the Klansmen would help him against African American. His father also was a part of Ku Klux Klan. He was mad at his life and decided to take it out on black people Because his father was part of the Klan he felt the same way his father did, like "it was the savior of the white people". Joining to Klan meant a lot because to C. P. it meant being a part of something and many men in the Klan felt the same way. As a state organizer of the rights party Ellis taught kids the principle of the Klan. Ellis's Life Changed when he start joining the school committee and working with Ann Atwater's. After a tough beginning the two of them were able to agree on thing and work together. At the school board he realized that everyone was against him so he decided to run for the school board but he didn't have a stable support system his family began to stop supporting him. He lost the campaign but began to see black people as people and not as something lower than him. In Khan 4 “Remind yourself that difficulty — and struggle — are a natural part of pushing yourself to grow as a learner”. After that he got his high school diploma. Ran for business man of the union and his black friends supported him.
In conclusion, Ellis learned a lot through his life. His father has a huge impact on him, Ellis says “I didn't want to associate with them Blacks, Jews, or Catholics. My father said “Don’t have anything do with em”. Throughout the story Ellis is talking about being part of something. In the beginning he is happy to be a part of Klan he wants to tell the world but as time goes on you can see that it hurt him being in the Klan more than it helped him. He eventually began to realize that all people are equal through the struggle.
