Derek Black was born and bred on white nationalism. His father, Don, was a former Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan. His godfather was David Duke, the infamous white supremist. Derek spent his youth at conferences spouting racist and separatist jargon and by high school he had created WN websites and was well on his way to becoming the next bright hope of the White Nationalist Movement.
Then he went away to a liberal college, hoping to infiltrate and understand the enemy, happy to keep his view to himself for the time being. But then he made friends with some people who weren't (shocking!) white and American born, and those people were beyond upset once they realized who Derek Black really was. And the more he had to defend himself, the more he was shown facts and had to talk with people who had been wronged by WN, the more he began to question the foundations that his whole worldview was built on.
Until one day, he was done.
I wasn't anxious to read this story, it just didn't super appeal to me, but it wasn't long before I was hooked and talking about this book to people I really care about. It sickened me, it made me mad, it made me think and feel. It makes me scared about where our country is and where it's going. I appreciated Derek's honesty and the narrative, while sometimes repetitive, flows well and delves into both the minutiae of the movement as well as Derek's own journey to renounce not just his beliefs but essentially his entire family and upbringing. I have three major takeaways. One, that it wasn't fighting and arguing that changed the mind of this white nationalist - it was patience, time, and yes, friendship - it was investing in him as a person and being willing to hash it out, with backup statistics and science, over and over again until he was ready to make his own conclusions. Two, I do wonder if writing op ed pieces for big newspapers is enough reparation for the harm he's done. Don't get me wrong - it's HUGE, but if I was a BIPOC, would I feel like he'd gotten off pretty easy for the number of white people he'd gotten to join the WN cause? For the amount of pain and anguish he'd caused? I think I would. And three? This movement is terrifying. It's real. It's in my country and it's people who look like me. There really are people out there with a very specific agenda to spread this vitriol and hate and although I did know that on some level, this just took it home for me in a way that was really upsetting. Is still upsetting.
I think that as important as it is to make sure we read about white privilege and racism from the mouths of the people who suffer because of it (and it REALLY REALLY IS), it's also worthwhile to truly understand the enemy and what we're up against. This one will be in my brain for a long time, I think.
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