Edwin Park

Sabatino Mangini
English Composition II
April 30th 2015

The Father Figure Fire Starter

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Throughout the movie American History X, directed by Tom Kaye, the main character Derek
Vinyard (Played by Edward Norton) is plagued by a slew of conflict. Vinyards life is followed, Ill be it
out of order, through his descent and ascent through race and class based hate. Between gang mentality
and prison, home life and a growing socio diversity, I believe that Derek Vinyards major conflict was
his father's misguided influence in his youth, the metaphorical pin pulled from the grenade that became
his life. With this paper I will show that a parent's views and biases can greatly impact a child's
development and how Derek Vinyard experienced negative influence. I will also show that Dereks
further issues in the movie can all be directly linked to the imprint left by his father and only rises above
said issues when he begins to think for himself.
While it can be argued that the origin of Dereks hate began with the murder of his father, I
believe the seed was planted earlier. In an article by The Examiner there is a quote from Nelson
Mandela, an anti-apartheid revolutionary, where it is brought to light that hate is a learned behavior thus
implying that it is not something one is born doing, this means somewhere in Dereks life something
lead him to hate and discrimination. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his
skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate (The Examiner/Nelson Mandela) It
is also known that the greatest influence on a child's personality is divided between peers and parents

and while Derek's peers may have affected him later on its apparent that his major turning point towards
hate came from his fathers outspoken values.
In American History X the first teaching of hate resides within the home, at the dinner table. In a
flashback Derek sits with his whole family for dinner, his father is still alive. Derek, a young boy, is
asked at the table about school work to which he responds with an admiration of his new, black, teacher.
Derek goes into depth about how challenging and interesting the work is but right after that Dereks
father shares his take on a black teacher teaching his son. Dennis Vinyard, Dereks father and a
firefighter, displays classist and racist views in a persuasive tone as he essentially tells Derek that
Americas problems are a result of the minorities, including his teacher. A voice over early in the scene
revealed that Derek was very close with his father and despite the fact that the views werent his own
Derek's attitude toward his teacher almost instantly falls inline, doing everything he can to not
disappoint his father.
In a publication called How do parents own biases impact their children Dr Kerby Alby,
founder of a 39 year old nonprofit for the improvement of child caring, claims that Because bias is
learned within the context of intimacy - family relationships are intimate relationships - children can feel
some loyalty to uphold negative attitudes if these are the attitudes that even one parent conveys. This
claim seems to hold true for Derek Vinyard as he originally had his own, positive opinion towards his
teacher but as his father spoke Derek latched on. The quote also stands as Dereks mother Doris does not
share her husband's close minded views.
Right as Derek began to blindly follow his father he broke a seal of sorts, meaning that once he
caved the first time he was subject to cave again, to follow. Derek became a sponge to misguided
influence and soon after his father is murdered he begins to use what hes learned. A scene in the movie
shows a newscast from the day after Dennis Vinyards death, it was reported that he was killed by black
drug dealers while working to put out a drug den fire. Derek is interviewed and every word out of his

mouth blames entire groups of people as opposed to just the offenders, soon after a man who shares his
fathers racist tendencies and parental demeanor enters the picture.
The man in question is Cameron Alexander, in the movie he is a local hate monger and later
gang-figure head. Seeing Dereks tirade on the news Cameron takes advantage of Dereks anger and
insecurites; the two create a group/gang under the name Disciples of Christ (D.o.C.) and Cameron uses
Derek to recruit other distraught, confused, and lost (white) kids. Derek becomes the poster boy for this
hate group, the gang mentality creates a higher sense of power and purpose among the kids. Derek leads
this hate group on riots, almost intoxicated by the power he has to sway. Cameron is only able to
influence Derek because his father cleared the way, Dereks aggression grows as his hate filled actions
are met with praise from his peers and Cameron.
Dereks need for acceptance leads him to doing things he never would have done otherwise.
Derek felt a need to please his father just as he tries to please Cameron and those around him, this
continued need is described in an article by Dr. Vijai P. Sharma, a clinical psychologist. In his article
Who Shaped Our Behavior? Peers or Parents? Dr. Sharma states that children adopt and even mimic
behaviors to win peer acceptance and that how desperate children get for peer acceptance and approval
depends on the sense of individuality (or lack of it) their families cultivate[d] in them. This quote
directly aligns with Derek Vinyard as individuality was not cultivated in his family, it was suppressed
and covered up. This quote shows that Dereks great need for acceptance in the eyes of others is a cause
of his father, this being said its clear to see that without his fathers misguided influence the actions after
would not have occurred. If his dad didnt speak out at dinner then Cameron wouldnt have had an
opening and the D.o.C. wouldnt have been formed - Derek also wouldnt eventually go to jail.
In the timeline of his life, Derek is sent to prison for homicide. The first thing he does when he
gets in is locate and join the aryan brotherhood; he uses his tattoo, a swastika, to make it known where
his loyalties lie - against anyone not caucasian. Derek is made to work laundry detail and his partner is

black, at first he is hesitant but as the black man levels the playing field by saying black or white theyre
all convicts Derek warms up to him. Soon Derek finds that the others in the aryan brotherhood dont
share his values and are essentially racism-posers - fraternizing with the enemy and betraying their own
people. Derek learns that nothing is sacred, even the hate hed been harboring for years, his family
values. Without anyone to direct him Derek begins to think for himself in terms of his own hate and his
own experience with his black laundry duty partner. In attempts to distance himself from the false
brotherhood Derek turns his back on them and they retaliate, attacking him viciously. This attack, along
with some consoling from his old black high school teacher, leads Derek to reevaluate his life. His
teacher leaves Derek with something to ponder over, a question if anything hes done has made his life
better; the answer he arrives at is no.
Derek Vinyard at a young age was forced into the idea of hate as a lifestyle, it consumed him and
became his direction as no other had a chance to grow. While Dereks father didnt directly shove his
close minded ideals down his sons throat he did leave him with the option to follow or disappoint; and
as a son who trusts and loves his father would, Derek followed without question. When Dereks dad died
a lasting impression of his (hateful) values were imprinted in him and as a loving son would do he
upheld them with a vengeance.
Dereks father influenced the life Derek led, it was one dinner table talk that led to years of
conflict that only ended when he was forced to reevaluate. Dereks father knocked over the first domino
on that day, it set off a chain reaction that eventually landed him in prison. In the same article as above,
Who Shaped Our Behavior? Peers or Parents?, Dr. Sharma states Children whose parents encourage
them to think independently learn to question rather than to blindly follow. Such children might be less
influenced... Had Derek learned to think independently early on in life he may have avoided all his
conflict, Had Dereks father not been so close minded and outspoken Derek would have avoided all of
this conflict.

Works Cited:
Sharma, Vijai P., Dr. "Who Shaped Our Behavior? Peers or Parents?"MindPub. Mind
Publications(C.1996), n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.mindpub.com/art273.htm>.
Alvy, Kerby T., Ph.d. "How Do Parents' Own Biases Impact Their Children?"Teaching Tolerance: A
Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Teaching Tolerence, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.tolerance.org/publication/how-do-parents-own-biases-impact-their-children>.
"Nelson Mandela Lived His Famous Quotes, Practiced What He Preached."Examiner.com. The Examiner,
05 Dec. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.examiner.com/article/nelson-mandela-lived-his-famous-quotespracticed-what-he-preached>.