Rising Out of Hatred chronicles the true story of Derek Black, a young white nationalist who ultimately renounces the movement. Derek is the son of Don Black, a prominent white nationalist who founded Stormfront, the country’s first and largest hate website. Derek’s godfather (and his mother, Chloe’s, ex-husband) is David Duke, a former KKK Grand Wizard and another leader in the movement. Growing up in West Palm Beach, Florida, Derek learns to hate “outsiders”—essentially, all people of color and Jewish people. When Derek is a teenager, he becomes involved with Stormfront, starts hosting a white nationalist radio show with his father, and attends white supremacist conferences. Don and Duke believe that he is the “heir” to the movement.
At 17, soft-spoken and intelligent Derek relies on logic rather than emotion to make his case for white nationalism. He helps reframe the rhetoric the movement uses, portraying it as a civil rights movement for white people who fear genocide and cultural erasure. Derek also loves history, particularly medieval history.
In 2010, after attending community college for two years and getting straight A’s, Derek goes to New College of Florida, the top liberal arts college in the state. Derek’s first semester on campus is eye-opening: he connects with a mixed-race student named Juan Elias and an Orthodox Jewish student named Matthew Stevenson. He even befriends and starts dating a girl named Rose, before learning that she is Jewish.
As Derek becomes closer with people he once considered “outsiders,” he feels like he is living a double life. He is still dedicated to white nationalism and hosts his radio show every morning. But he also likes spending time with Rose, and he doesn’t tell anyone about his beliefs. In the spring, Derek leaves for a semester abroad in Europe, and he privately worries what might happen if students find out who he is.
In April, the student body at New College finds out about Derek’s ties to white nationalism. Most people ostracize him, including Rose, who feels confused and betrayed. Some students call for him to be expelled, which only makes Derek angry and want to redouble his commitment to white nationalism. But he hasn’t broken any rules, so the school allows him to live off campus to avoid further controversy.
Derek feels completely isolated until Matthew invites Derek over for Shabbat dinner. He hopes that by befriending Derek, he can soften Derek’s beliefs about Jewish people and people of color. Gradually, Derek reenters the social life on campus, even as he continues his radio show and hosts a conference for Stormfront users.
Derek also grows close with Matthew’s roommate, Allison. The more Derek talks to Allison, trying to clarify his beliefs, the more conflicted he gets about white nationalism. Allison can tell his views are softening. Allison even attends a Stormfront conference to understand his beliefs better, so that she can actively combat them. However, other students like Matthew are angry that Allison attends the conference, particularly because it doesn’t seem like reaching out to Derek has changed his views. Matthew doesn’t think that Derek has any incentive to change, even though people like him, Allison, and Juan have been so accepting.
And hearing Derek’s arguments, Allison finds research to combat his views and explains how white nationalism has harmful, tangible effects on people’s lives. When she questions Derek on how a whites-only U.S. would affect his non-white friends, he begins to look at his opinions about race in a more abstract way.
Confronted with Allison’s questions, Derek reconsiders what he truly believes. He logs onto Stormfront less, and he takes weeks-long breaks from hosting the radio show. At the same time, students continue to post on forums saying that Derek isn’t welcome. Allison defends him on the forum, and Derek realizes that it’s time to clarify what he thinks. He writes a post explaining his beliefs: he no longer believes segregation is necessary, and he doesn’t support Nazism or the KKK. He no longer believes some of the white nationalist myths on “Jewish manipulation” or IQ discrepancies between races. Students respond by thanking him, glad to see that he has evolved on some issues.
Later, Allison writes to the SPLC—a civil rights group—and attaches Derek’s email, hoping that they can delete his extremist file one their website. Instead, they publish the email publicly. Worried about how his family will react, Derek writes to the SPLC clarifying that what he said is true, but that he still believes in white nationalism. Allison knows that rejecting white nationalism is likely the last step in Derek’s transformation, but other students accuse him of sanitizing his beliefs to appease them.
A few weeks after the SPLC story breaks, Derek studies abroad in a language immersion program. He also reads more studies on race in the U.S. and learns how white supremacy hurts people of color. He also acknowledges the racism and anti-Semitism that his friends face. When Derek realizes that other students in the immersion program are ostracizing him, he wonders how many friendships he’ll have to sacrifice for this ideology. He tells Allison that he wants to withdraw from white nationalism and disappear from public life.
In Derek’s final months at college, he logs out of Stormfront and retires from his radio show. After his graduation, he sends a letter denouncing white nationalism to the. When Derek’s family reads the letter, they are shocked and upset. They cut him off financially and barely speak to him. On Stormfront, people threaten Derek, as they feel he has betrayed them and embarrassed the entire movement. Allison, however, is extremely proud of him, and many other students and peers commend Derek on his bravery. Derek also changes his name to distance himself from his former life, switching his first and middle names to become Roland Derek Black.
Though Derek’s letter embarrasses the movement, white nationalism is stronger than ever. In 2013, the Supreme Court overturns a key part of the Voting Rights Act, allowing for a new wave of voting restrictions. The Tea Party stalls Obama’s attempts to reform immigration, and congressmen are talking about the “war on whites.” Anti-refugee sentiments rise during the Syrian crisis, and the Black Lives Matter movement spurs the All Lives Matter and White Lives Matter counter-movements. In 2015, Dylann Roof shoots nine people in a historically Black church after being radicalized on Stormfront. Soon after, Donald Trump announces his candidacy for president with a speech with many white nationalist dog whistles.
Trump becomes quickly popular among disillusioned white people, and in the summer of 2016, just after Derek earns his master’s degree, he realizes that he’s partially responsible for the growth of the movement, particularly among young people on Stormfront. He starts to share some of his story during the final months of the 2016 presidential election, but Trump’s spectacles dwarf his message. Trump wins the presidency, a massive victory for the white nationalist movement, who have now become part of the political establishment rather than a fringe or extremist group.
In the wake of the election, Derek writes an op-ed in The New York Times condemning white nationalism and the politicians who are riding the wave of violence and anger to power. At the book’s conclusion, Derek rebuilds his relationship with his parents somewhat, even though they feel he’s becoming “antiwhite.” Still, Derek knows that it’s his responsibility to warn people about growing white nationalist sentiment in the political mainstream. He hopes that telling his story will help pull people out of this dangerous ideology.
