American History X

1) American history X is a flm that centers around the subject of racism

and hate. The main character, Derek, becomes involved in a eo a!i
"an" due to the in#uence of his father, $ho $as mildly racist. %hen his
father $as murdered by a black man, Derek&s an"er and confusion
manifested themselves in his fathers bi"otry ideolo"ies. Derek soon
rose to a 'rominent leader in the eo a!i "an", bein" a close number
( to )ameron Ale*ander,, the mastermind of the $hite su'remacy
movement in the area.
+ne day, ( armed black men attem't to rob Derek&s car because of a
'revious altercation, Derek ends u' killin" both men very cruelly, and
because of this does , years in 'rison. -n that time, he reali!es the
$ron" of his hateful $ays, is hurt by the other eo.a!is in 'rison, and
becomes a friend to a black man. %hen he fnishes his sentence, he
'rom'tly /uits the %hite 0u'remacy "an", and convinces his brother
to do the same, sho$in" him ho$ $ron" racism and hate $as. Danny,
Derek&s brother, is then shot at the end of the flm by a black student,
sho$in" that it is near im'ossible to outrun hate.
() Derek 1inyard is the main character in the flm. At the start of the
movie he is full of hate, a racist to the core. He com'letely believed
that $hite 'eo'le $here better and more deservin" of o''ortunity than
any other race in America. He even killed for his beliefs, and $as
im'risoned for doin" so. Durin" his time in jail he learnt that hate and
racism "ot him no$here, he $as no ha''ier $hen he hated others. He
$as abused by his o$n race, befriended a black man, and took to heart
Dr. 0$eeny&s advice of lettin" "o of the an"er and hate. %hen he came
out to$ards the end of the flm, he $as a chan"ed man, believin" that
'eo'le $ere e/ual, racism and hate $ere $ron", and 2life $as too
short to be 'issed o3 all of the time.4 He became a family man, a "ood
role model, and a 'erson $ho $as tryin" their best to do the ri"ht
thin".
Danny 1inyard is Derek&s brother in the flm. At the start of the flm he
is also a eo a!i, lookin" u' to his brother and follo$in" in his
footste's every $ay. %hen Derek is sent to jail for , years, Danny "ets
dee'ly involved $ith the $hite su'remacy movement , $antin" his
brother to be 'roud of him $hen he "ets out, but $hen Derek is
eventually released he is the o''osite, and convinces his brother to
thro$ a$ay the a!i lifestyle and all the hate associated $ith it. This
chan"e ha''ened 'artly due to Dr. 0$eeny&s 'ushin" of academics on
Danny, but mostly because of his brothers in#uence, he just $anted to
make his brother 'roud.
Dr. 0$eeny is Danny&s teacher as $ell as Derek&s in the 'ast. At the
start of the flm, he believed that hate $as $ron", and it could be
reversed if someone tried hard enou"h. At the end of the flm Dr.
0$eeny 'rimarily remained the same, kee'in" his beliefs intact.
,) The 'rimary messa"e of the flm is that racism and hate are 'ointless
thin"s that hel' no one. -t is e3ectively conveyed by sho$in" the
e*treme violence 5the curb stom'in" of the black man, the shootin" of
Danny) and ho$ it ended u' only ended u' hurtin" 'eo'le, yet hel'in"
no one.
6) There are many causes of hatred, one is misunderstandin". This
ha''ens in the flm $hen Derek constantly bashes immi"rants, not
understandin" $hat they have had to "o throu"h to come to America,
and $hy they need that o''ortunity. Another cause is an"er and
confusion, $hich is sho$n $hen Derek&s father dies, he does not kno$
$here to 'lace those feelin"s and as a result ends u' "ettin" involved
$ith a bad "rou' of 'eo'le. The conse/uences of hatred are endless,
'ain, "uilt, su3erin", any bad thin", you name it, it&s there.
7) +ne characteristic of a hate crime that ha''ens in the flm is the eo
a!is, s'ecifcally Derek, committin" violent acts a"ainst minority
"rou's strictly for the reason that they are minorities. The best
e*am'le of this is $hen they "o and trash the "rocery store because it
$as ne$ly o$ned by immi"rants, they attacked the em'loyees and
ruined their $ork 'lace all because they $ere $hite Americans.
8) The solution to overcome racism and hatred o3ered in the flm is
for"iveness, and the understandin" that hatin" someone else $ill not
make you feel any better, that only love can hel' con/uer hate. There
can be no $ar if one side sto's f"htin" and starts tryin" to f* the
situation in an understandin", 'ositive $ay.
9) :es, there is value in $atchin" the flm American History X, it teaches a
valuable lesson in a very hard to $atch, but realistic vie$. +n a
'ersonal level - "ot many thin"s out of the flm, it u'set me for about
an hour or t$o after $atchin" it, just di"estin" $hat ha''ened. -t
sho$ed me, like the rest of this course, to al$ays look at both sides,
and ho$ these thin"s became the $ay they are. The flm sho$ed that
'eo'le $ho do evil thin"s are not al$ays evil, that in Derek&s case,
many bad e*'eriences made him that $ay, and to hate him because of
that $ould be unfair. The flm sho$ed also, that nothin" is irreversible,
even beliefs that are so en"rained into us, $hen someone is $illin" to
chan"e, it can ha''en.
;arshall <acklin