Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Rising Out of Hatred, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ostracism vs. Open Dialogue
White Supremacy and Racism
Family, Community, and Values
Redemption
Rhetoric and Language
Summary
Analysis
At the Derek Black Memorial conference, Don is now the sole director—his first time in years leading one without Derek. Don’s friends sense that Don needs some inspiring, and Duke in particular is angry at the pain that Derek caused Don. Duke assures Don that the movement is still strong in its numbers, and that being positive can help advance their cause and win the fight to make white nationalism mainstream. Duke expresses his admiration for Don, and Don feels a bit better.
Duke’s reaction to Derek’s renunciation of white nationalism illustrates how Derek has pushed away not only his father, but another close figure who mentored him throughout his life. Just like Don, Duke views Derek’s change of heart as a major betrayal of the values that they have always shared and a criticism of the family.
Themes
Indeed, it appears that white nationalists are finding unlikely allies. A few weeks earlier, the Supreme Court overturned a key part of the Voting Rights Act, allowing for a new wave of voting restrictions throughout the South and erasing one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s signature achievements. The Tea Party Caucus stalled Obama’s attempts at immigration reform, and congressmen were talking about the “war on whites.” By the end of the conference, Don feels reassured about the future of white nationalism, particularly as the attendees are younger than ever before.
Even though Derek has turned away from white nationalism, the movement is far from going away, as what was once white nationalist rhetoric is now becoming policy. For example, voting restrictions have historically been framed as protecting against voter fraud (though voter fraud was and remains incredibly rare), but they also disenfranchise many voters, especially people of color.
Themes
One such person is Matthew Heimbach, who graduated just months before, like Derek. He went from a Mitt Romney supporter to a Tea Party organizer and then a registered Stormfront user. At college, he found promising new leaders on the radical right, many of whom traced their views back to Stormfront. An entire generation of white power advocates came of age listening to Derek’s interviews and playing his white pride video game on Stormfront’s children’s page. He tells Don that they are “primed for revolution” after Stormfront “planted the seeds in his mind.”
Matthew Heimbach’s story highlights how significant of an impact Derek had on the white nationalist movement. The material he posted on Stormfront has now indoctrinated a generation of people. Michael’s language of being “primed for revolution” also suggests that he has also been radicalized and has a tendency toward violence, once again confirming how dangerous these movements can be even when they don’t advocate for violence outright.
Themes
Meanwhile, Derek is uprooting those seeds, trying to prevent himself from interpreting the world through the lens of white nationalism, like distrusting the government, ignoring sports, and avoiding most music and movies. He feels like he is just starting to find his way into American culture. In many ways, it feels liberating to start over—to be free from his history, to trust people, and to act without prejudice or judgment.
On a personal level, Derek understands how white nationalism has colored the way he views many aspects of life and cut him off from communities built around things like art or sports as a result. Describing his new phase of life as “liberating” suggests that white supremacist movements don’t just hurt the people they target—such movements also hurt their members by limiting what they can experience and who they can form relationships with.
Themes
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Derek spends his first year in Michigan engaging with American multiculturalism: movies, music, and The New York Times, for example. He studies a little Arabic and explores Muslim neighborhoods, briefly tutoring an Iraqi immigrant in English. He finds himself liking President Obama and trusting the U.S. government. He drinks tap water for the first time (Don always feared possible contaminants).
As Derek explores new aspects of culture, new neighborhoods, and new political leanings, his discoveries confirm how entrenched in white supremacy conspiracies he was at a young age, and how much this prevented him from engaging with the world. Removing himself from the white nationalist community enables him to change his values even more, again showing how communities are often built around shared values.
Themes
Derek saves money for trips with Allison, and they travel to Nicaragua, the Caribbean, and Morocco. He thinks about how connected the world is, and he is again ashamed of how he acted. He apologizes to close friends, but he doesn’t know how to make amends for the damage he did. At the same time, he completely cuts himself off from anyone associated with white nationalism, not wanting to be drawn in again.
Derek tries to rectify some of the damage he’s done by reaching out to specific people to apologize. This is another important step in his redemption, because he knows he needs to admit his mistakes and confront the past in order to make amends for the harm his beliefs caused others.
Themes
Derek does try to reconnect with Don and Chloe, sending them money to repair their roof; in return, they send Allison a gift certificate for her birthday. Meanwhile, Don messages Derek with little taunts about the rise of white nationalism as race becomes the center of the country’s most divisive debates. Anti-refugee sentiment rises during the Syrian crisis, and the Black Lives Matter movement spurs the All Lives Matter and White Lives Matter countermovements. Don thinks that the U.S. isn’t far from a racial civil war.
Though Derek tries to repair his relationship with his parents, it’s clear that white nationalism continues to be a major dividing point in their relationship; not having shared values still creates major conflict in their family. Alongside this, the book provides different examples of how white nationalist ideology is creating social conflict in the U.S.
Themes
Derek mostly ignores these kinds of messages, disagreeing with Don wholeheartedly now. He confides his guilt to Allison, who visits him every few months. A year into Derek’s graduate program, Allison graduates from New College and starts a doctoral program in Lansing, Michigan, less than two hours away from Derek. They spend every weekend together, happy and solid in their relationship.
Whereas Derek and his family members’ different ideologies divide them, Derek feels more and more solid in his relationship with Allison because of their shared values. This illustrates that although it can be difficult to leave behind an ideology because it means leaving a community, at the same time, adopting new beliefs can open the door to new relationship.
Themes
Derek is doing well at Western Michigan, focusing his energy on schoolwork rather than white nationalism. But no matter how hard he tries, there is no way for him to avoid it. In summer 2015, Dylann Roof becomes radicalized by white nationalism on Stormfront. He signed up in spring 2015 under the name “LilAryan” and became frustrated that people only seemed to be talking and not acting. So, in June 2015, he attends a Bible study at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, before pulling out a handgun and killing nine people.
Dylann Roof’s mass shooting again demonstrates how the boundaries between white nationalism and more extreme forms of white supremacy are often blurry, as one can often feed into another. Roof was radicalized on Stormfront, so even though Don and Derek didn’t explicitly condone violence, their forum still influenced Roof to commit murder.
Themes
The shooting brings Stormfront back into the news, and later, Roof’s defense attorney blames the “racist internet” for radicalizing him and causing the shooting. Derek wonders if anything he posted or said had led Roof to extremism and violence, but Derek tries to distance himself from the incident.
The fact that Roof’s attorney blames the “racist internet” for what happened illustrates how damaging the white nationalist rhetoric on Stormfront can be, as it leads people like Roof to violent action.
Themes
During the same week, however, another story breaks: Donald Trump has just announced his candidacy for president of the United States. Derek thinks that Trump has always been driven more by his desire for popularity than actual beliefs, but he knows that Trump could back the establishment into a corner. In 2011, he claimed that Obama was not born in the United States until Obama had to release his birth certificate. Now, listening to Trump’s announcement, it seems like something directly out of his white nationalist past.
The book suggests that Donald Trump also uses white nationalist rhetoric to manipulate people. Implying that Obama was not born in the United States is a racist tactic used to drum up white people’s anxiety, as it’s implied that the reason Obama is not American is because he is half Black. This rhetoric was effective at manipulating people, as this rumor was so widespread that Obama had to prove that he was American.
Themes
Trump becomes popular by using racist rhetoric and railing against immigrants. Don hears echoes of things he and Duke used to say about securing the border so they can protect the U.S.’s culture and economy. He knows that Trump is banking on support from white people who are fed up and angry. Trump wants to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., and he positions himself as the “law and order candidate” in the age of Black Lives Matter. He cites statistics about crime that prove to be blatantly false, but people ignore the fact-checking and instead see the appeal in his call to make the U.S. “great again” by reinforcing structures of white supremacy.
Trump’s painting himself as a “law and order candidate” alludes to being against Black Lives Matter; he also plays up xenophobia and anti-immigrant prejudice. Even his slogan, “make America great again,” suggests that the U.S. was in a better position in some bygone era, though life was far worse for non-white people prior to the mid-20th century before overt forms of racial segregation and discrimination were outlawed. In this way, the book suggests that Trump’s rhetoric signals his commitment to white nationalist issues, even if he doesn’t identify as a white nationalist himself.
Themes
Don is amazed: this is the first time a U.S. presidential candidate is actively using white nationalist dog whistles and sharing messages on Twitter from a white nationalist account called @WhiteGenocide. When people commit violence in Trump’s name, he calls it “unfortunate” but then justifies it. He refuses to condemn David Duke until finally consenting to do so. Regardless of whether Trump believes in his own rhetoric, Don becomes convinced that it is mutually beneficial. Chloe attends rallies and sees the size and energy of the crowds, and the rage and passion that they have. Trump is accelerating the movement.
Trump continues to use “dog whistles” (coded language) to signal his support for the white nationalist movement. As Chloe sees when she attends his rallies, white nationalists are willing to give that support because of those signals, while people who don’t necessarily want to identify with the movement are more willing to take up its ideas when those ideas are couched in coded language.
Themes
Don laments that Derek isn’t there to share in the energy, knowing it could have been an opportunity of a lifetime for him. Young white nationalist leaders have a giant media circus around them, including Richard Spencer, a 38-year-old academic who wrote about IQ differentials, white genocide, and a future white ethno-state. Don thinks that Spencer could fill the role that Derek left behind, and he reaches out to Spencer in the summer of 2016.
Spencer represents a parallel to Derek, providing an alternate view into what Derek might have become if he had continued with the movement. Don reaching out to Spencer again reinforces the idea that communities are built around shared beliefs; Don wants to build a bond with someone who shares his values.
Themes
That summer, in 2016, Derek has just earned his master’s degree and has three months before starting as a doctoral student at the University of Chicago. He spends more time with Allison and watches the election unfold across Michigan, which has become a crucial swing state. Meanwhile, Derek reads up on the white supremacy underpinning American society, which he now views as a fundamental flaw. He reads Ta-Nehisi Coates, Edward Said, and Ibram Kendi. His own political identity is unclear, but he quickly realizes that he aligns much more with Hillary Clinton than Trump. He plans to cast a ballot in Michigan to increase its impact, because even though polls show Clinton reliably ahead, Derek still thinks Trump has a chance to win.
Derek starts to learn even more about how white supremacy lies beneath many of the U.S.’s institutions, and he understands now how prejudice and systemic racism are harmful in all their forms. This is part of why Derek has moved so strongly away from Trump, who the book suggests has eagerly taken up white nationalist rhetoric and policies. This is another key part of Derek’s transformation and realizing his past mistakes, as he becomes more educated on racial injustice and understands how his previous ideology was flawed.
Themes
Don talks to Derek on the phone, explaining that white people feel threatened, and a “silent army of white believers” want to “take the country back” from Obama, even though they have a disproportionate share of wealth and power. Derek can sense a storm building, and it terrifies him. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton speaks about how Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia, allowing white nationalists to take over the Republican Party.
Again, Don’s rhetoric hints at the white nationalist movement’s militancy. Even if Don’s (and Trump’s) language seems theoretically harmless, it is being used to manipulate people. Derek and Clinton both hint at how that manipulation could translate to actual political power via the presidential election.
Themes
Derek feels implicated in what is going on, knowing how he helped spread the movement. He talks to Allison about his guilt, and she explains that he needs to publicly refute white nationalism at every opportunity. Derek knows Allison is right, and he begins to share parts of his story during the final months of the election.
With Allison’s help, Derek realizes that denouncing white nationalism is only part of finding redemption from the damage he has done. He also needs to actively warn people away from the movement to try and make up for the large number of people that he has attracted to the ideology.
Themes
However, whatever effect Derek has is dwarfed by Trump and white identity politics. On election night, Derek watches as the results begin coming in. Trump wins Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, and Michigan is trending that way as well. After midnight, Trump gives a victory speech. Derek turns off the TV, feeling antsy and obligated to do something. For two decades he pushed to bring about this moment, and now he wants to sound a warning bell.
With Trump’s election, Derek recognizes the power of rhetoric and the white nationalist movement more broadly. In wanting to sound the warning bell, Derek recognizes that he, too, can use language in order to sway people away from that movement. This is, perhaps, why he ultimately agreed to be the subject of Saslow’s book.
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