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

by Eli Saslow

“You may be correct that ostracizing Derek won’t change his mind,” he wrote. “But it will let me go about my daily business without having as much of an urge to vomit all over myself.”

Derek was twenty-two, an adult and not a child, and he was now the one doing the indoctrinating. He was a public figure with a radio show and a long history of white nationalist activism. He had spent his young adulthood demeaning and excluding minorities and encouraging others to do the same. Why should his classmates be so worried about including him?

Can anyone give me an example of any radical (and yes, white supremacy—the notion not the movement—no longer being the ruling ideology would be a radical change) social change that was primarily the result of “cooler heads prevailing”? Do you really think Women’s Suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement happened via “calm heads,” via sterile debate and civil discourse? Because they didn’t. They happened by putting blood, sweat and tears and rage into a social movement through a diverse range of tactics both “violent” and nonviolent. You cannot just chime in with “civil discourse” without understanding that “civil discourse” has historically been the arena of the ruling classes and a defense mechanism against listening to the “uncivilized.” I am not arguing for violent tactics. I’m arguing against this fantasy that “calm, cool-headed arguments” through “legitimate” means can achieve radical change.