I thought C.P. Ellis's story of his change from hating black people to working with them later in his life was interesting because it showed how important it is for people to realize that as time changes, the ways in which people think about people change too. C.P. Ellis felt anger towards black people because of the lack of success in his life. He was bothered that as he continued to work hard and not move anywhere, blacks were just starting to have success and have jobs. It frustrated him that other people around him were making something of their lives and he wasn't. The easiest group to blame for him being unsuccessful were blacks. "I always left school late afternoon with a sense of inferiority. The other kids had nice clothes, and I just had what Daddy could buy. I still got some of those inferiority feelin's now that I have to overcome once in a while" (Terkel 63). C.P. Ellis's childhood is what lead him to join the KKK. Since he had feelings of inferiority due to his economic class, he had built up aggression that he saw an opportunity to take out on black people. The KKK was the first thing that welcomed him in and made him feel equal and powerful despite the amount of money he had. By C.P. Ellis being able to look back at his life, he realized that the reasons for his hatred were unjust. C.P. Ellis was caught by the American Dream. He wanted to have something he could take pride in and feel powerful and successful. These strong desires lead him to joining the KKK, but after achieving these feelings, he realized what was right and wrong.
Vine Deloria's story about how generations have changed in the way they think directly relates to how mnay people percieve the American Dream. Deloria states that the American Dream changes meaning from generation to generation. "The further down you move, the worse it gets. The younger people have taken the rat race as the real thing. It's a thing in their heads. In my generation, it was a thing in the heart" (Terkel 37). I think Deloria means that for people in the younger generations, the American Dream is about how far one can get in life and what they can achieve. People lose sight of their history and values in hopes of having the American dream. In older generations, the American dream is being successful, but also knowing where the success of the country came from. He views people in generations below him as being more individualistic, while the older the generations are, the more they understand the importance of success for the country.
I'm really intrigued by someone being "caught by the American Dream." That's a powerful image, because it suggests something about how one's pursuit of it might blind him/her to other things. For example, Ellis was trying to find somewhere he'd be accepted, important. The Klan gave him that, and so he didn't question his partication. Once he began questioning, once he began to see others as part of his world, his notion of the American Dream changed. Truly, lost and found. What does that suggest about the nature of the dreams we live with?
ReplyDeleteI think you made a great point about how Ellis felt that he had never done anything with his life. It is interesting that he felt like he was inferior when in reality, he was a powerful white man due to the fact that he was in a southern town where being white meant you were superior regardless of the amount of money one had. Do you think he took that into account as he mad assumptions about his life? I really like how you interpret the way people can get "caught" by the American Dream. To respond to Ms. Crowley, I think that everyone has their own views regarding the American Dream. I think people create this image by putting a step in front of what they already have. When I say this, I mean people wish they could have just a little more then they already have. But the question is, what happens when you get everything you want?
ReplyDeleteI think that the nature of people caught by the American Dream is that they are never fully satisfied with what they have. People are always striving to have more and to be better. I think that once people get everything they want, they find new goals to focus on and never stop the feeling of wanting more. People are driven by the idea of being successful and that one can never have too much success in their life. I think this strong driving force within people was one thing that lead to the stock market crash.People were never fully satisfied with what they had leading people to make poor investments in hopes of making more money. People invested in the stock market believing that they would get lucky and make more money.
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