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

by Eli Saslow

The frenzy over Trump’s campaign made “white nationalism” and “alt-right” two of the most popular search terms on Google; a group of white nationalists led by Jared Taylor recorded a robo-call for primary voters in Iowa that said, “We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. Vote Trump.”

Frnzy over Trump

Duke, once again a fixture in the news media, announced that he was exploring a run for the U.S. Senate. “Americans are embracing the core issues I’ve fought for my entire life,” Duke said.

Duke feeling comfortable

storm building, and its power terrified him. Late that summer, he watched on TV as Clinton gave a speech in Reno that sounded to Derek as if it were about his childhood. She talked about how the Klan had evolved and spread across internet hate sites like Stormfront. She quoted from Duke’s radio show and explained the concept of white genocide. “From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia,” she said. “He is taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over the Republican Party. The names may have changed. Racists now call themselves ‘racialists.’ White supremacists now call themselves ‘white nationalists.’ But the hate burns just as bright. And this is part of a broader story about the rising tide of hard-line, right-wing nationalism around the world.”

Hilary Clinton

“I’m a part of all of this, and it makes me ill,” he told Allison that summer. “I wish there was some way to not think about that.”

Derrick's thoughts on Clinton's corncern on racism

Derek would write another opinion piece for The New York Times to say that Trump’s “frightening statement” had “legitimized” a racist ideology. Don would watch Stormfront’s traffic triple overnight, spiking to 300,000 daily page views, signifying what he called the “full awakening of our people.” Derek and Don would both become more certain of their beliefs and more public in their advocacy, rising in opposition to each other, until the divide between father and son sometimes felt unbridgeable.

Racist America