From a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, the powerful story of how a prominent white supremacist changed his heart and mind. This is a book to help us understand the American moment and to help us better understand one another.Derek Black grew up at the epicenter of white nationalism. His father founded Stormfront, the largest racist community on the Internet. His godfather, David Duke, was a KKK … David Duke, was a KKK Grand Wizard. By the time Derek turned nineteen, he had become an elected politician with his own daily radio show—already regarded as the “the leading light” of the burgeoning white nationalist movement. “We can infiltrate,” Derek once told a crowd of white nationalists. “We can take the country back.”
Then he went to college. At New College of Florida, he continued to broadcast his radio show in secret each morning, living a double life until a classmate uncovered his identity and sent an email to the entire school. “Derek Black … white supremacist, radio host … New College student???” The ensuing uproar overtook one of the most liberal colleges in the country. Some students protested Derek’s presence on campus, forcing him to reconcile for the first time with the ugliness of his beliefs. Other students found the courage to reach out to him, including an Orthodox Jew who invited Derek to attend weekly Shabbat dinners. It was because of those dinners—and the wide-ranging relationships formed at that table—that Derek started to question the science, history, and prejudices behind his worldview. As white nationalism infiltrated the political mainstream, Derek decided to confront the damage he had done.
Rising Out of Hatred tells the story of how white-supremacist ideas migrated from the far-right fringe to the White House through the intensely personal saga of one man who eventually disavowed everything he was taught to believe, at tremendous personal cost. With great empathy and narrative verve, Eli Saslow asks what Derek Black’s story can tell us about America’s increasingly divided nature.
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I don’t usually read non-fiction, but this was recommended to me. It’s EXCEPTIONAL. I really did find it a page turner. Read it in a weekend. Really easy prose and fascinating. I highly recommend it.
This book addresses why Donald Trump still maintains his base. A terrifying look at racism in America.
This book should be a must read for all high schoolers! As a women of color, I have always been awed by the logic of white supremacists.
This book follows the life of a reformed white supremacists, Don Black. I laughed at how the author described Don as hard to find!?! So as to persuade him to tell his story, which we all can understand (not the most popular guy?, right?) In order for him to function with his new found “freedom” of mind, he had to cut ties with everyone he knew. In all honesty that is where I sympathize but I will NEVER condone the ABSOLUTE absurdity of white supremacists!
I feel that this novel should be read by high schoolers to show them that education and exposure to other cultures benefits their growth and experience as a human! For example, Don was pulled out of public school, at an early age and homeschooled. By parents that lacked education about the real contribution of other cultures. It would be easy to label his parents racists, which they clearly are. But how their fear dictated and destroyed their lives!
I rated this book a 5/5 , for its ability to make the reader become more self-aware of how actuons based out of fear destroy. And how learning to embrace a new way of thinking & doing leads to freedom!
Thank you to Netgalley and Eli Saslow for the ARC of Rising Out of Hatred.
No one can match Eli Saslow’s skill at telling the most improbable, humane, and riveting tales of our time. Anyone despairing at the hate that has fueled so much of America’s politics ought to read this unforgettable story.
I received an electronic copy of Eli Saslow’s RISING out of Hatred fro NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I remember hearing about Derek Black but did not remember his story. How does the son of the white nationalist leader of Stormfront and the God son of David Duke change his views about the ideology in which he was raised. This book explores how Derek went from being a leader at the age of 19 with an online radio program. After being home schooled, Derek attended college in Florida. Through conversation with other students, rather than being shunned, the reader learns how Derek changed his beliefs. Kudos to Eli Saslow for this well-written book.
Imagine being born into a terrible ideology, to parents who are not just believers but leaders of the movement, and being surrounded by nothing but believers for your entire life. Now imagine having the courage to walk away. That is the story of Derek Black, told here by Eli Saslow: Derek’s father, Don, created Stormfront. His godfather (and his mother’s ex-husband) is David Duke. He was pulled out of school and isolated from “outsiders” when he was a child. He grew up as the heir-apparent to the White Nationalist movement, speaking at conventions, hosting a radio show, and giving calm and terrifying interviews to major media outlets as a child and teenager. And then, he moved away to college. Through his interactions and conversations with friends at his college that decided to engage with him rather than ostracize him, Derek had a gradual awakening not only to how his beliefs were wrong, but also to the incredible damage they have done.
This was a very interesting book and it included views from a variety of vantage points: Derek’s, his friends, his family. I’m not sure I always agreed with the lengths his friends went to in order to “understand” his beliefs, but ultimately they did succeed in changing his mind, so maybe they were right. I also felt that the writing was pretty “flat” (is that the word I’m looking for?) or clinical, and it sapped some of the power out of the story: we’re TOLD often about the emotions of everyone, but rarely SHOWN.
Ultimately, the last few chapters were the most terrifying (and yet the most unsurprising): describing how the rise of the Tea Party and the election of Donald Trump dovetail alarmingly with the White Nationalist agenda, beliefs and talking points, and the sheer elation of racists at this turn of events. While Derek’s story is interesting and important on its own, it’s this environment which makes Rising Out of Hatred a must-read for all.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Think everyone should read it!
This is an amazingly informative book, by an author who is an amazing researcher and writer! It is a very important book that should be read by all Americans who want, or need, to be informed about the radicalization of extremist groups in the Middle East and the U.S. I am very glad I read this book — it has expanded my knowledge and understanding of the Middle East and our own Intelligence Service.
Rising out of Hatred tells the story of a white nationalist who goes to a liberal college, befriends and is befriended by people of different backgrounds, faiths and ethnic groups and slowly comes to change his views. There is no aha !! moment just the persistent support and challenge from his friends.
A must read
This is a true story of a very brave man who struggled mightily against his upbringing and dedication to White Nationalism to ultimately seek the truth, recognize the wrong direction in which he and his family were going and, against all odds, to reject his former beliefs and apologize for all the people he had hurt over the years.
Excellent book and an amazing story.
Reads like a novel.
Rising Out of Hatred is an unforgettable story — fair, humane, unflinching, and brimming with insights about American racism and the white nationalist movement. Saslow has given us an instant classic of narrative writing and reporting.
The story of Derek Black is the human being at his gutsy, self-reflecting, revolutionary best, told by one of America’s best storytellers at his very best. Rising Out of Hatred proclaims if the successor to the white nationalist movement can forsake his ideological upbringing, can rebirth himself in antiracism, then we can too no matter the personal cost. This book is an inspiration.
This is a double portrait: of a worse America, and of a better one. Neither of them has yet come to pass, but each of them might. Thanks to reporting that is both truthful and humane, we see in one young man’s decision a guide to the choices that face a generation and a country.