C. P. Ellis: A Man Lost in the Realm of Misconception and Mismatch - Essay Example

The extreme negativism toward people of different identity just because the things go constantly wrong is madness which comes to being quite natural for those who let such feelings fulfill them. The theoretical approach by Parillo is taken to find out and analyze the exact points of juxtaposition in the Ellis’s story. Based on the three theories by Parillo, Ellis conforms to all of them since the very start of joining Ku Klux Klan until leaving it. First, Parillo outlines the theory of socialization lying as the prerequisite for prejudices among people evident through the “values, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of culture or subculture” individuals acquire within the society (Parillo 1).

Looking at the way in which Elis started to behave differently from how he felt earlier is when he gets annoyed with his situation and needs somebody to hate. Thereupon, Ellis highlights the way it started: “I did not know who to blame…I tried to find somebody…I began to blame it on black people…I had to hate somebody” (Terkel 3). . It is economic instability which made Ellis so hateful toward African Americans at his site. To say more, it was the last drop for him to realize that he wanted to become a Klansman.

He ruminates on that matter in the following way: “To be part of something…I joined the Klan, went from member to chaplain, from chaplain to vice-president, from vice-president to president” (Terkel 3). Thus, he got through a career ladder within the Klan and got succeeded in this field of activities. Third, Parillo points out the social norms to be the final theoretical approach discovering causes of prejudices. In this respect he outlines that the majority follows the construct of social behavior and social norms favorable only for the representatives of the major part within the society (Parrillo 16).

It relies mainly on the overall social atmosphere at the time. It is somewhat a case to distinguish between the colors of people living within the borders of one city, one state: “Black and white…When it comes to money, the green, the other colors make no difference” (Terkel 7). This is it. In this vein, C. P. Ellis inherited the wrong postulates based on the social norms. His vision of reality has become largely deviated in accordance with the color of skin people around him possessed.

All in all, three theories by Parillo match the person of C. P. Ellis to a high degree. Starting from the process of socialization through the theory of social norms, Ellis performed his way toward capability of discriminating people based on the racial attributes. It was his rage that drove him to become a Klansman. Given that, he followed and brought to masses the words which his father told him, namely: “Blacks, Jews, Catholics…Do not have anything to