Reflections on Power and Authority - Essay Example

1. what did C.P. Ellis initially assume about power, ity and those who held it Why did he have those assumptions When Ellis joined the Klan, he received respect that was unprecedented to what he had received otherwise. He would have municipal council members calling up in the evening and speaking to them which gave Ellis a sense of importance and therefore Ellis assumed that the people who held the authority were in favor of the Klan and representing them against the black who were the not so good kind of a people. He also understood that people in prominent position like the police officers, the doctors, the lawyers etc. supported them because they were all whites and they had to fight against the black. 2. Why did C.P. Ellis join the Klan What was he assuming Ellis was deeply dissatisfied with his present state because he had been working very hard since long but there seemed to be no improvement in his financial conditions. He worked day in and day out and even worked in the week ends in order to gain some extra money but ended up being angry, annoyed and frustrated as he saw little success. With all these efforts that he had been putting, he was not even able to break even, that is to say, he was not even able generate enough income to sustain himself. With all this building up inside him, he did not know who to blame for all that was happening and who should be held responsible for his failures, one after the other. He wanted to vent out the anger and frustration upon something. Blaming the situation or the country could not help because it can not be personified. With this at his background, he joined the Klan which was meant for the anti black movement in order to 'hate' them in a formalized manner. The fact that his father was also a member of the Klan once upon a time and that his initial mental makeup was done up by his father, he was more inclined towards joining the Klan. While doing this, he assumed that this would solve his problems that he was seeing at personal level. Many members of the klan were of lower income and education and they joined it because it gave them a platform for hating and opposing the blacks, which they could not do in an equally efficient manner when they were individuals. Also, the Klan gave Ellis a certain kind of respect and recognition that he was deeply longing for, and which he had not received till date. When Ellis took the oath in the presence of more than four hundred Klan members, he felt certain kind of satisfaction for being respected and honored. 3. How did C.P. Ellis's assumptions about the Klan and those who were in power change Why did they change Ellis took great honor himself with the fact that the municipal council members would call him up from their side in late hours and spoke to him in person. He had a certain sense of importance felt with this and thus felt good about that because he had never received any such treatment when he had not joined the Klan. However, at one instance, he realized that the behavior of the municipal council men was not the same in public as it is in the private. He felt that the people in the power would avoid him in public so their associations are not revealed. This was the first instance when Ellis found that something was wrong with the people in power. He felt that the people who were in power were using the groups of black and the white by dividing them and then with their support they would be in power. Both the groups were being used against each other in order to achieve their motive. By keeping them engaged in fighting the council men made it sure that none came up to a level where they would have to share the power with them because they were unwilling to part from the wealth and the power that they were enjoying. When he tried to put this point through in the Klan meetings, he was unable to make people convince and think the way he was. Fellow members of the Klan would no believe that the people in the council were not really working fro the whites but were using them. This make Ellis rethink about his perceptions of the Klan and gradually he found that his thinking was greatly dissimilar to the beliefs of their body of whites and therefore his thinking regarding the Klan and regarding the people who had assumed important positions, changed. 4. What was the role of the dialogue that C.P. and Anne had Why were they both willing to examine their assumptions Dialogue was the first step that Ellis and Anne took to break the ice and to reduce the distance that was between the. Both of them had their prejudices for the other but none spoke it out clearly until when Ellis called Anne and revealed what he thought should be done. Since both of them were working towards a common goal as a team, it was imperative for them to check their differences in order to see success and for them this was the most important thing. Both of them were ready to recheck their assumptions and move on positively to make a success in whatever they were doing. With these disclosures, discussions and encounters with the black in the course of his work Ellis realized that all those were similar to what he himself was and then it made no sense to hold prejudice against one another and pass on the hate to the next generation. Up till then, both of them hated and cussed each other without realizing that both of them have similar problems and were going through similar situations. They were very much alike in that aspect apart from the fact that they had dissimilar colors. With this, Ellis had a lot of self examination and mind wrestling because along with these new ideas and experiences he also had a molded set of ideas within himself which prevented him to mix up with the blacks, because that is what he had been taught from childhood by his father. He did not know whether what he was doing was right or wrong but with dialogues and discussions with his fellow black men, he was able to distinguish between the two. 5. How did C.P. Ellis's life change as a result of his ability to critically examine his assumptions and their origin and the evidence he thought he had for them With the critical examination of his own beliefs for the blacks and with the dialogues and interactions that he had with Anne and other fellow blacks, Ellis was now able to accept people as they are and as individual rather than thinking of them as blacks and whites. He was able to understand the other person and relate to him. He found that his views regarding the blacks were changing and that his level of acceptance for the blacks considerably changed. He was able to socialize with them as he would do with his fellow whites. The prejudices that he had held since so long as being a part of the Klan, no longer existed. Rather he had learnt the art of dealing with people about how to stir them up for doing tasks and how to organize to forms constructive groups. Now he did not need to be a part of a hate group to vent out his frustrations but rather he had more creative and constructive things to do. Because of his ability to critically examine his assumptions, he was able to find out that what he thought was not all correct. He had been molded to think that the whites who had assumed the positions of power were his friends and that he would be supported by them when in need. At the same time, he used to think of blacks as opponents and therefore entered into frequent confrontations and many times carrying weapons with himself anticipating violent fights. With self examination and the ability to understand the situation from the perspective of others, as well as with the ability to think independently and not getting carried away by the ideas of other individuals or groups, Ellis was able to bring about transformations within his thoughts and ultimately the understanding of society. 6. Do you think it is good to reflect as Acuna and Ellis did How does one do it It is indeed good to reflect upon our own beliefs just like Anne and Ellis did. It is important because many a times we are molded to think in a certain manner by the society and by our upbringing, without we realizing what we are doing or without knowing what we are being used for. At such instances it is necessary to reflect and rationalize our belief system and our ideas to allow fresh and original thinking to flow from within, and to establish an identity that one can really call one's own and not what has been thrust upon them by someone else or by the society. It is important to become self aware and check ones own pattern of thinking and behavior and only then one can truly bring about change. Honesty with one's self is of great importance because in such thinking and process of mental transition, one is faced with self confrontation and it is very difficult for one to realize whether what he or she is doing is correct or not. Ellis faced the same problem when he started socializing and mixing up with the blacks. This calls for a lot of honest thinking and then a lot of courage to stick to what one is thinking and believing because in the initial part there are various kind of voices that come from within that are bipolar different and demand us to do different things. For this, one requires to develop sensitivity in ones thought and work towards the realization of larger goals for the betterment of not an individual or a group but rather the society in general. Read More