Former Klansman Article

The passage recounts the life of a former clansman (Ellis) who describes both his inception into the clan and his resulting actions in the Klan but also the process that began to reform his ideas and led to his leaving the Klan. Ellis first began to feel the need to join the Klan when he was forced to become the man of the house after his father’s death. He worked hard to try and improve his position but he never could, leading to a hatred of those he made into scapegoats (Catholics, Jews and Blacks). After awhile in the Klan, he began to realize that the people in power were constantly using the Klan to help them achieve their goals, which Ellis did not like. Ellis is also then asked to be a part of a committee designed to improve the areas schools. During this time he is forced to work with those he had hated and came to realize that they too were in fact people.
Though the method of forced interaction with people he hated worked with Ellis, it would probably not work well on a larger scale. In larger groups, people would become more obstinate about their beliefs and would be even less open to change when they feel that people are trying to forcefully change their beliefs.