Rising out of Hatred

The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist

By: Eli Saslow

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Eli Saslow

Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

From a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, the powerful story of how a prominent white supremacist changed his heart and mind

Derek Black grew up at the epicenter of white nationalism. His father founded Stormfront, the largest racist community on the Internet. His godfather, David Duke, was a KKK Grand Wizard. By the time Derek turned 19, he had become an elected politician with his own daily radio show - already regarded as the "the leading light" of the burgeoning white nationalist movement. "We can infiltrate," Derek once told a crowd of white nationalists. "We can take the country back." 

Then he went to college. Derek had been homeschooled by his parents, steeped in the culture of white supremacy, and he had rarely encountered diverse perspectives or direct outrage against his beliefs. At New College of Florida, he continued to broadcast his radio show in secret each morning, living a double life until a classmate uncovered his identity and sent an email to the entire school: "Derek Black...white supremacist, radio host...New College student???" 

The ensuing uproar overtook one of the most liberal colleges in the country. Some students protested Derek's presence on campus, forcing him to reconcile for the first time with the ugliness his beliefs. Other students found the courage to reach out to him, including an Orthodox Jew who invited Derek to attend weekly Shabbat dinners. It was because of those dinners - and the wide-ranging relationships formed at that table - that Derek started to question the science, history, and prejudices behind his worldview. As white nationalism infiltrated the political mainstream, Derek decided to confront the damage he had done. 

Rising out of Hatred tells the story of how white-supremacist ideas migrated from the far-right fringe to the White House through the intensely personal saga of one man who eventually disavowed everything he was taught to believe, at tremendous personal cost. With great empathy and narrative verve, Eli Saslow asks what Derek's story can tell us about America's increasingly divided nature. This is a book to help us understand the American moment and to help us better understand one another.

©2018 Eli Saslow (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Rising Out of Hatred is a disturbing look at the spread of that extremism - and how it is planted and cultivated in the fertile soil of American bigotry. And yet, Saslow’s vivid storytelling also conveys that during this period of deepening racial division, there is the possibility of redemption." (Washington Post)

“The story of Derek Black is the human being at his gutsy, self-reflecting, revolutionary best, told by one of America’s best storytellers at his very best. Rising out of Hatred proclaims if the successor to the white nationalist movement can forsake his ideological upbringing, can rebirth himself in antiracism, then we can too no matter the personal cost. This book is an inspiration.” (Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America)

“This is a double portrait: of a worse America, and of a better one. Neither of them has yet come to pass, but each of them might. Thanks to reporting that is both truthful and humane, we see in one young man's decision a guide to the choices that face a generation and a country." (Timothy Snyder, New York Times best-selling author of On Tyranny and The Road to Unfreedom)

Great book. Very relatable as a former racist southerner.

I can relate, somewhat, to Derek’s story. I was never a white-nationalist, but I did hold a common southern cultural attitude against minorities and homosexuals. I remember being angry when Obama was elected, playing racist Johnny Rebel and old David Alan Coe songs, following the Tea Party movement, defending the Confederacy, and listening exclusively to Fox News and conservative talk radio. It really wasn’t until I begrudgingly watched a documentary called The Brainwashing of My Dad and began reading books not written by Dinesh D’Souza, Ann Coulter, or Jerome Corsi, that my racist armor began to chip away. Now, just a few years later, I am also ashamed of my past. I can’t imagine what it must be like for Derek after listening to his story, but I’m proud of him and I hope he inspires more people to leave that hateful ideology. Sorry to ramble, but this book really hit home for me and I can recommend it enough, especially if you’re from the South.

Listened in 1 day

This was one of those books that I honestly felt like I could not stop listening to. The narrator was awesome and did the book justice. It is terrifying to see the rise of the alt right and their views becoming more acceptable/mainstream.

I wouldn’t consider myself a liberal, but after listening to this book and thinking of our current president, I want to distance myself from the “right” as much as possible. This book has also motivated me to start digging deeper and learning what I can to counter arguments like “white genocide” (even typing that phrase makes me cringe) with facts. I applaud the friends in this book for teaching him a perspective through tolerance, friendship, patience and love.

Such an important book of the era

This, imo, will be one of the most important texts of this era. The heir apparent to the white supremacist movement in America, through exposure, changed his beliefs and renounced WS. The book concisely and effectively weaves into the narrative, how President Trump co-oped the same rhetoric and used the same fears of white Americans, to ascend to the top of the Republican ticket and into the White House. It explains how your family members came to be sharing coded WS propaganda on FB. Most importantly though it is a story of hope. If the God son of David Duke can come to see the world in a different light, there's a chance for us all.

Essential reading in this time

What were the neo-nazis in Charlottesville thinking? What’s their, and the current administration’s, endgame? White nationalism is scarier and more influential now than ever. This window into the paranoid mass delusion of white nationalists is essential reading given their friends in the White house and their rising power. Derek Black’s awakening from the pseudoscientific trance fueling fears of “white genocide” provides important lessons for fighting back against a movement that seeks nothing short of total white dominance that spares the suffering of no one.

Evil and the Damage Done

A nearly perfect must-read, this book is both thought-provoking and enlightening on the racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, homophobic, backwards ideas of white supremacy and its propaganda in the U.S.A., its preachers and flock--these perpetrators of hate, perpetuators of evil--as well as on how some of these elemental myths and bullshit were appropriated and continue to be used by a U.S. president as a means of fueling hatred among his base and playing on the many whites' fears of those who aren't like them (in their skin color, nationality, religion, sexuality).

Much more importantly though, this outstanding book reminded me of the benefits and blessing of a higher education that includes the liberal arts. Further, it stands as a tribute to those college classmates of a young white nationalist leader, who are Jewish, gay, or of another race, courageous, kind and selfless enough to befriend this enemy and help to slowly and eventually transform his mind, via friendship and the art of gentle, subtle and patient persuasion.

One of the best nonfiction books of the year

Important, well-told story. Narrator was excellent as well. My only complaint is that the book wasn't longer.

So so so good

Scott Brick is an amazing reader. This story is so well written - it really explains what it's going to take to undo all of the anger and hate that is especially fueling what's going on in the U.S. Derek has the most loving and patient friends!!

Amazing hopeful story

I first heard this story on Terry Gross fresh air. The book was every bit as good as it seemed. In many ways it’s given me hope that I did not expect .
At moments it was predictable but overall totally compelling and riveting I couldn’t stop listening to it.

Interesting journey

This is a really interesting book. What I like about the story is that Derek Black's evolution was thoughtful and slow, which makes it feel genuine. But, by far, the most remarkable person in this story is Derek's college friend who invited him to Sabbath dinners every week after he found out that he was a white nationalist. His patience and persistence, along with his belief that his friend could change, is truly something to behold. Even when Derek remained a white nationalist for years after he started attending these weekly dinners, his friend never gave up on him. I don't know if I could have been that open and loving.

Must-Read

The first time I heard of Derek Black was on an episode of the podcast The Daily. I found his story fascinating even then, and when I had a chance to read this book, I was excited to learn more. Rising Out of Hatred tells Derek's story, but also that of his family and though I will never truly understand let alone condone the "movement" of white supremacy, I found it disturbingly intriguing to see their reasoning for such hateful ideology. It's incredible that Derek - through his experiences and influences in college - was able to understand that this was wrong and that he had to change his thinking and his actions. The fact that he did and that he is willing to be open about his experience gives me hope that people can change. I don't want to talk specifics about current politics in the US, but we all know how divisive the environment has become. We need to keep the hope alive that we can recover from this time of so much outward hatred and partisan division, and be open and willing to learn about the experiences and thoughts of others in the way Derek Black did. It's important to be willing not to dismiss those who think differently from us as ignorant idiots, but to try to understand why they think the way they do and how to approach that. I am not saying I am the paragon of this behavior by any means. I am angry, too, and disappointed with the mood of the time, but I want to be better than that, and I want us all to be better than that. I feel I am veering away from the book now, and maybe that's fine, because it provoked thoughts in me that go well beyond Derek's story and wrap around the problems of the world and society of today and of the past.