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

by Eli Saslow

I’m now convinced that any successful white revolution in this country will come largely from inside politics.”

“It’s not just that you’re wrong,” she told him. “It’s that you’re actually hurting people.”

—Attacking a person, especially a person who is not fighting back and has never fought back, is not productive to anybody. What is productive is engaging in meaningful dialogue about how to change these oppressive structures here and elsewhere. Participate in diversity talks, be upset and give a damn, but in a positive way, not in a hostile way.

Talk about it, shed apathy, get involved, but do it constructively.

The concept of civil discourse was the creation of a privileged class that didn’t want their lives disrupted by protests or emotional arguments.

“American history is so fundamentally based on white supremacy that it’s still the basis for most of our culture and our politics.”

It was easy for whites to be humane and benevolent when they were still securely in place at the top of the social hierarchy—when the economy was booming, and everyone had jobs, and a disproportionate share of the wealth and power was still going to white families.

But in the most racially polarized election in American history, whites had voted for Trump en masse and asserted their supremacy.

Our country is susceptible to some of our worst instincts when the message is packaged correctly.