Ellis

I do think that Ellis’ story gives a credible way of overcoming misunderstandings between the races. I think that his story is a prefect example of how this can be done.
A tried and true Klan member convinced of his own race’s superiority over all others does a complete 180 and ends up working with a black woman at the detriment to his own reputation.
However, I do not think that this would be a viable solution for the problem as a whole. This situation was unique in a couple of ways. For one, the only reason that he was exposed to the intrinsic humanity of the people he used to loath was through a rather odd school board situation. Without this personal contact, I think even someone as open as Ellis wouldn’t have changed his beliefs.
Second, it does take someone with a rather open set of beliefs to change like he did. He allowed himself to be open to change, and I think that the average Joe in the Black panthers or the Klan would have serious issues doing the same. Also, Ellis loses a lot of standing with he friends and associates and I doubt that many others would be willing to lose so much of their standing.
While I applaud Ellis for his shift in beliefs, I highly doubt that his situation is replicable. Good for him, but not for many others.