Nobody Wins


The movie American History X is a very loaded movie, there is a lot of deeper meaning and a lot of ways to interpret it. However one theme that this movie is very clear about is the idea that hate is a very destructive thing, and when you act on it, hate will lead to nothing but sorrow.

We see that when Derek was younger he was a very bright person with excellent grades and an open mind. However, the toxic influence of his dad’s racism eventually led him down a dark path and to a massive waste of potential and life. It’s amazing how that simple “it’s bulls**t” from his father led to the destruction of not just Derek’s life but the destruction of his entire family. This scene also shows the responsibility that parents have to lead their children in the right direction, because hate starts at home, but so can tolerance.

Unfortunately Derek and Danny’s dad chose hate, and this, along with the murder of their father led to full blown hate, thuggery and eventually landed Derek in prison for the murder of two people. This murder wasn’t entirely unprovoked though, it was caused by a group of black people trying to steal his car, though this doesn’t justify the murder at all. It does, however lead to the point that needless violence and hate came from people and gangs of all races. These gangs and hate groups aren’t just white people’s problem, or black people’s problem, but everyone’s problem, and as a society it is our responsibility to be aware of things like this and do what we can to stop it. However, society failed Derek and he went from being a bright young student with a lot of potential to being in prison.

While prison was a changing experience for Derek and he appeared to see the error of his ways, the destruction wrought by his misguided hate would still go on. His younger brother, Danny seemed to be following in the footsteps of his older brother until Derek got out of prison, however Danny never got the chance to really change his ways because he was gunned down in a bathroom by a black person. That stupid, mindless hate destroyed at least two more young lives. Danny was killed and the black man will be thrown into the revolving-door justice system where he will probably be sucked into a gang and he will have that hate reinforced again and again.


Throughout this entire movie we never really see an example of where hate actually improves someone’s life, though we see many examples of it destroying peoples lives and families. This is also true of life and it worries me when we look at the media and see a lot of rhetoric that is bitter, angry and has a holier-than-thou, us versus them mentality. These kinds of thoughts can only lead to divisiveness and divisiveness can only lead to hate. It is much harder to hate a group of people when you interact with them, when you laugh with them and when you cry with them. Because when you do that it is impossible to see them as anything other than what they actually are, people just like you and me. You can’t hate someone out of existence, but you can reconcile your differences, and once you do that you might even find that you like the person. But when you let hate take over, nobody wins.

Many people have said this better than I have and in the spirit of the movie I want to end the paper with a quote.
“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all...It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.