"Rising Out of Hatred: the Awakening of a Former White Nationalist

Derek Black

   What a riveting biography!  The research behind this book is amazing!  The author spent hundreds of hours with Derek Black, the young man who was expected to lead the White Nationalist movement.
  Derek was immersed in this movement from his birth, groomed by his father and also mentored by David Duke.  Both of these older men had been involved in the Ku Klux Klan.
   Derek never believed in violence, but did follow the ideology of white superiority.
     The book begins with Obama's inauguration.  There was an increase in white racist activity and Obama was receiving 30 death threats a day!  Gun sales had skyrocketed!  The white supremacists were working non-stop with speeches, literature and a 24-hour online radio network.  Derek was deeply involved.  He had been home-schooled and programmed in white supremacy.  However, at 19, he was away from home for the first time and influenced by the outside world.  He was attending university and made some good friends.  He became very conflicted and felt that he was living two lives.  So he 'outed' himself. When the news of his affiliation spread, many fellow students pulled away, but one Jewish friend invited him to Shabbat dinner each Friday.  An interesting group gathered there- gay, Hispanic, black, Jewish - male and female.  These friends caused Derek to question much of his upbringing.  But how do you distance yourself, when you are the 'leading light of the white nationalist movement'?

Author- Eli Saslow

  This author, Eli Saslow, described Derek's struggle in such intimate detail!  I love the way he gave interesting backstories of each character, helping the reader understand all the issues involved.