C.P. Ellis Response

After I read C.P. Ellis's story, I realized what a tough life he had. His dad was an alcoholic and could barely make ends meet. His dad worked at a cotton field and died in his forties because he thinks it was from all the cotton. He had a bad  and very intense/tough job. He borrowed money to the buy the service station, which was where he worked then. He worked very hard, but still could barely make ends meet. He was led into the KKK and became the head of the KKK in his area. He at first hated blacks, Jews, and catholics. He at first loved the klansmen of the KKK and fell in love with it because he could finally be part of something (a group) that he liked. He ahd all of the same views as they did. He then realized that blacks are very similar to whites. They also have raggy clothes, like C.P. Ellis and they have trouble making ends meet. He couldn't sleep at night because he couldn't stand being part of the KKK when he didn't believe in what they did. He then finally stopped being part of the KKK because he regrets everything about it. He started associating himself with blacks and became business manager of the Union with a black lady, who at first didn't get along with him at all. Later, they put apart their differences and made dramstic progress and started to like each other. "Why are these dudes comin' out every Monday? They said they were with the Klan and have meetings close by. Would I be interested? Boy, that was an opporunity I really looked forward to! To be part of somethin'. I joined the Klan...became president." (65). This shows that at that point in Ellis's life, he was very depressed and wasn't apart of everything; he had no friends. He needed something to be a aprt of, something he felt good about. The Klan was perfect for him because it didn't matter what it was, all that mattered was that he was apart of something. It followed is beliefs at the time because at that point in his story, he hated blacks because he needed someone to blame for his hatred towards life. This story brings me to question,  why did Ellis follow his father's beliefs in hating blacks, Jews, and catholics? Also, why did Terkel not fight harder for more money for his job? This story connects to US history because it connects to the great depression, post-roaring twenties. During that time period workers were barely getting paid anything for their terrible and tremendously long working hours. Also, it relates to US history because the KKK relates to the Klan that we learned about during this time period that hated and murdered innocent blacks because they blamed all of their hatred towards life/bad economic times on black. They had to blame it on someone just like Ellis had to blame his hatred of life on blacks because he needed someone to blame. This story reveals that being an American doesn't only include glory. It includes bad economic times, hatred of races, religions, etc. The American lifestyle isn't only peace, freedom, and equal rights because those barely existed in this time period. There was a large hatred for blacks during this time, especially because the KKK was a huge and well known group back then. Everyone in society knew about it and they either hated it inside/kept their hatred to themselves, supported it secretly, or supported it publicly. This was a major problem back then, but Ellis "...ran for business manager of the union....and won" (74-75). He worked with a black woman, which shows how he was trying to make change to the country and provide freedom and equality for all. He set aside his old feelings of hatred towards blacks and now supports and likes blacks/is trying to help them. This is because the black lady and him didn't use to get along and then they set aside their differences and started to like each other and made political progress in helping blacks.