By: Kendall Wheeler
In the book, Rising Out of Hatred by Eli Saslow, we follow the story of Derek Black and his journey to disavow his white nationalist beliefs. Derek Black is the son of Don Black, an infamous white supremacist, who shared these beliefs with his son by having him homeschooled - his education mostly made up of white nationalist and supremacist beliefs - and constantly taking him to conferences. The father and son even had a radio show together - The Derek Black Show. It was not until Derek went to college in Sarasota, Florida that he started to doubt and eventually change his views. At New College, Derek befriended many minorities and dated a Jewish girl, all while keeping his white nationalist life a secret from his peers until one of them eventually found out about his double life. This caused many of the students to be hostile or afraid for their safety, and many protested his enrollment by dropping classes. However, on the other side, there were a handful of students who would befriend Derek - mostly thanks to Matthew inviting Derek over to Shabbat dinners. When another student took Derek out on a boat ride, he met Allison. In the future, these two were able to have “civil and productive” conversations and debates with him about his beliefs. Mostly due to Allison, Derek would be able to renounce his white nationalist views even at the cost of hurting his family.
Throughout Saslow's retelling of Derek’s journey of redemption, the important things to learn are that people can change and they are able to do so thanks to the compassion shown by other people in their life. Since birth, Derek was surrounded by white nationalists and was never really given a chance to think critically about alternative views. Yes, he interacted with strangers and others he wasn’t close to about why being a white nationalist is wrong but they were simply strangers. The important thing to understand is that change can’t come from random strangers, but rather it has to be built through repeated and established interactions that cause one to doubt their beliefs.
For Derek, this doubt starts with his feelings towards Rose. Rose was one of the first of many people Derek spent time with who the white nationalists considered inferior. This doubt began when Derek recalled his antisemitic thoughts and how he himself called Jewish people “smart, calculating, and possibly evil” and how he thought of Rose as someone who was “sweet and unassuming.” Entering a relationship with Rose was something Derek’s white nationalist views disagreed with, as he considered Jewish people not white and that interracial dating - or race mixing in general - was “not only a bad idea, but a traitorous act.” Not even a year before, he called another white nationalist, who was dating a girl with Native American roots, “a bastard” and now he found himself in the same situation. Derek’s whole relationship with Rose started this doubt as she acted nothing like the abstract, stereotypical, hate-filled idea that he and other white nationalists contrived of Jewish people. Despite their romantic relationship coming to an end, and Rose wanting nothing to do with him after his beliefs were revealed, she still played an important role in initiating his change by interacting with him in a positive way.
After Derek’s outing and the subsequent ostracization from his fellow peers, this typically would mark a point in which one would cement further into their beliefs. Yet, thanks to people like Juan, who still was his friend and supported him, and Moshe and Matthew, who invited him to their weekly Friday Shabbat dinners, he wasn’t truly alone. These three people still had faith in Derek and the fact that change is possible for him. Even at the weekly Shabbat dinners Moshe and Matthew hosted, Matthew told the others to not be assholes, as he wanted Derek to return. Matthew’s entire foundation of inviting Derek is that exclusion would only make Derek’s ideals remain, so a non-judgmental inclusion approach should work and allow Derek to see more humanity in the people he discriminated against. His strategy worked out for the long run, as Derek kept coming to these Shabbat dinners.
This strategy of exposure and befriending does genuinely work as former white supremacists have pointed out. In Christian Picciolini’s case, he was a white supremacist in the 80’s and 90’s, and even produced music for white supremacist bands. His change came from the fact that in his record store - that he originally created to sell white supremacist music - he met plenty of people of color, and LGBT+ people. Due to this exposure, Picciolini had to confront the fact that his ideals were dehumanizing and that ultimately, these people are humans. He states that one of the most impactful relationships he had while owning the store was with a black teenager, whose mother had breast cancer, and that Picciolini’s own mother was diagnosed with the same cancer. After Picciolini’s experience, he denounced his supremacist beliefs. Now, Picciolini is the founder of the Free Radicals Project, which is a global platform that uses “intervention strategies, and outreach work to help young, predominantly white men leave racist and violence-based groups — both in real life and on online chat boards.” Picciolini states that he still holds them accountable for their actions and doesn’t make excuses, but still makes the effort to fill the voids in their lives and help them identify their actions so they can leave their group. While not exactly befriending, he’s engaging with white supremacists in a positive way to help them change.
Picciolini isn’t the only former white supremacist doing this, as the duo of Tony McAleer and Robert Orell have similar stories. Both McAleer and Orell were violent white supremaciststs, but now are “experts and advocates for those leaving extremist groups.” Like Picciolini, Orell is someone who engages in deradicalization and intervention. Orell is a part of the European Commission’s Radicalization Awareness Network and a director of Exit Sweden. Exit Sweden is similar to the Free Radicals Projects that help people leave racist and violent groups. In McAleer’s case, he was forced to confront his own humanity after his daughter was born, which forced him to recognize the humanity in others. McAleer says that “confronting ideology or telling people they're wrong doesn't work.” He stated that since the extremist groups thrive off conflict and attention, the solution would be to “starve them of conflict and attention." What Orell means by starving them of conflict and attention is to not engage directly in their debates nor further them. While that wasn’t the case for Derek, as Allison (when she felt comfortable enough) did engage with him in debates, plenty of other people who encouraged his growth did not.
The main thing about this book that helps understand the present is that most people who have supremacist views, especially young ones, can change with help. A lot of predominantly white places in the world are facing far-right groups rising in part due to white supremacy rising in online spaces and groups. It’s important to remember that these views are established during important developmental years in one’s life. Picciolini said it best himself that “Nobody is born racist. [...] In my work I have to believe that at some point that person was pure and maybe couldn't find their way.”
Sources:
Eli Saslow, Rising out of Hatred: the Awakening of a Former White Nationalist. Anchor Books (2019)
Tonya Mosley, “Former White Supremacist Explains Why Young White Men Join Extremist Groups.” Former White Supremacist Explains Why Young White Men Join Extremist Groups, Here & Now, WBUR (August 9, 2019) https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/08/09/why-young-men-join-white-supremacist-groups.
Bianca Hall, “Meet the Former Violent Nazis Who Now Preach Compassion,”The Sydney Morning Herald (March 14, 2020) https://www.smh.com.au/national/meet-the-former-violent-nazis-who-now-preach-compassion-20200310-p548m5.html.
About the Author: Kendall Wheeler is a sophomore History Major at Adrian College
