Claiborne Paul Ellis (January 8, 1927 – November 3, 2005) was an American segregationist turned civil rights activist and trade union organizer. Ellis was at one time Exalted Cyclops, local leader, of a Ku Klux Klan group in Durham, North Carolina, the city where he was born. Early life Ellis was born on January 8, 1927, and was raised in Durham, North Carolina, as the son of a mill worker. He was deeply influenced by his father, who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. In his recorded memoir, he described his impoverished childhood and the worn clothes that he would wear to school. He would often feel embarrassed about how he and his father looked in public. Although his father drank, Ellis described the close relationship the two shared by going to ball games and fishing. Klan career As he grew older, Ellis became disillusioned with the notion of the American dream. He worked for several years at a gas station before he got married and had four children. The financial strain of taking care of his wife and children (one of whom was blind and non-verbal) led him to what he described as the need to blame somebody. To him, it was natural to hate blacks because his father had participated in the Ku Klux Klan. He was invited by men he met while working at the gas station to join a local Klan group. He quickly became a very active member, climbing the ranks of leadership until his final pronouncement as Exalted Cyclops. Ellis attributed the elation of this period to the feelings of self-worth and the importance of being a respected member of this group. Ellis began a youth group for children to indoctrinate them with the teachings of the Klan. He also felt that it would not be inappropriate for the Klan to become more politically active, as blacks were also openly demonstrating. He began to receive calls from city councilmen to show up at political events in order to combat the black presence. C. P. described a moment of clarity when a city councilman, whom he had spoken with on the phone the night before, crossed the street in order not to pass him on the sidewalk. At this point, he felt that the council neither respected the view of the Klan nor the blacks and that their interest had been only for