Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist

As he ages, Derek’s father Don notices mistakes he has made in his quest for a white-only United States. He believes he was too confrontational, made too many enemies, and should have worked more from within the system. He sees a better approach in Derek, who is the embodiment of the approachable, political class of white supremacist.

Don discovered white nationalism as a teenager in the 1960s after reading Our Nordic Race, which states, “[t]he line of conflict is found wherever our civilization comes into contact with the belligerent and aggressive nations of the colored world” (101). The book spoke to Don and he continued reading white supremacist writings. After writing to several far-right organizations, he received copies of a newspaper called White Power and dozens of buttons from the National Socialist White People’s Party. He used the materials to organize at his high school and attracted the attention of the FBI, who visited Don’s house. Don’s parents were concerned, not because they disagreed with his racial opinions, but they believed “just because the ‘colored’ sign had come off one of the water fountains at Gilbert’s Drug Store on the downtown square didn’t mean the white race was beginning its slow march toward extinction” (102). Don’s parents sent him to a psychiatrist.

Don secured his future in the white supremacist movement when he drove with Duke and another young white supremacist, Joseph Paul Franklin, to a gathering of Nazis and white supremacists in Arlington, Virginia. Saslow writes, “Together they would come to define the white supremacy movement for the next several decades, but now they were three teenagers in Duke’s family car” (103). During the car ride, they discussed their racial theories, traded book recommendations, and bonded. When they arrived in Arlington, “Don no longer felt like a lone extremist searching for answers. He was part of a movement, a soldier for a cause” (105). Duke returned to Louisiana State University and began his political rise; Franklin returned home and began planning what would be 15 murders in an attempt to start a race war; Don went back to Alabama and found his future in the pages of Our Nordic Race, which states white supremacy is “[a] problem to be solved by the cold process of intellect” (106).

Don went on to work on the gubernatorial campaign of a segregationist Ku Klux Klan member who once bombed a black church, then became the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and later tried to overthrow the sovereign government of Dominica to establish a whites-only colony. Don was convicted of a crime for the attempted overthrow and sentenced to federal prison, where he learned computer science, which he would subsequently use to help Duke in his gubernatorial campaign and to create Stormfront, the most sophisticated white supremacist organizing tool in history. 

Matthew’s roommate Allison no longer locks herself in her room during Shabbat dinner, but she still won’t speak to Derek directly. However, she can’t help but engage with Derek when they find themselves on a small sailboat together with few other passengers. To her dismay, Allison enjoys talking to Derek. A psychology major, people fascinate Allison. She tells a friend, “I’m wicked curious about the kid” (118). Allison and Derek continue seeing each other—having discussions, going on adventures, going to dances, and bonding emotionally. Like Derek’s other relationships at New College, there is a mutual implicit agreement not to discuss white nationalism. Allison questions herself though, as she falls for Derek. She explains to her mother, “I’m really conflicted […] Even if I could have some direct, positive impact, I’m not sure it is morally okay to befriend someone like this” (123). She asks herself why she is making Derek’s life more pleasant instead of challenging his beliefs.

Derek is infatuated with Allison and increasingly conflicted about white nationalism. On Allison’s insistence, they discuss white nationalism. They prioritize making the discussions noncombative and civil, and Allison begins “to unspool some of the questions that had been mounting in her head over the past months” (128). Derek’s ideology has developed since attending New College. He now believes in the Holocaust, to some degree; he doesn’t use racial slurs; he now likes and accepts Jews, even considers them white; he no longer considers himself “a white supremacist, because he no longer believed whites were necessarily better than other people. He was simply a white nationalist, which meant he thought whites needed to be protected within their own border, like an endangered species” (129). However, he is still against mixed-race marriage and biracial children; he still believes white Europeans have higher IQ scores than other races; he still believes black men have higher levels of testosterone, which he believes leads to “a greater propensity for violence” (129); he still believes in the threat of white genocide. Allison is hopeful because Derek “based his prejudice not on an intractable gut feeling but on what he thought to be a logical theory” (129). There is a possibility that she can dismantle his logic and show him scientifically that his theories are incorrect.

Allison and Derek debate throughout the summer, sometimes all day. They have bitter disagreements and some arguments end in tears, but the debates persist. By the end of the summer, Derek has softened his beliefs further, but has not abandoned them. He shows his confusion in the convoluted explanations and rationalizations he offers to maintain his white nationalist identity while ceding the ideology’s underlying rationale. He still will not abandon his claims of white genocide. He invites Allison to attend his second annual Stormfront conference.