Anh T Hoang

SabatinoMangini
English 112
4/30/15
AMERICAN HISTORY X RESEARCH (FINAL)
The future of the country depends on the young. The country becomes prosperous and
powerful thanks to this generation. The youth has wrong ideology in their lifestyle, which will
lead to destruction of themselves and humans. Through the movie American History X, the
main character Derek Vinyard, who honored Hitlers neo-Nazism, has realized that this is a
wrong way that he has to barter for his younger brother, Dannys death. Losing beloved members
of the family is a deep cut or a scar that will have a persistent pain all his life. What is neoNazism? How is its influence on the youth? And what are the consequences for involved people?
The movie shows how racial discrimination influences the psychology of adolescents. Also, the
movie shows that too much pride in one race can lead to conflicts and tragedies in America.
Firstly, the ideology which Hitler mentioned in Mein Kampf or My struggle has had a
strong influence on young people and teaches racial discrimination. In the movie, Danny Vinyard
was interested in Mein Kampf, which he insisted on analyzing Mein Kampf was written by
Hitler when he was in prison. It was published in July 1925 for the first volume and December
1926 for the second volume. According to Salem Press Encyclopedia,
Race dominates the ideology on display in Mein Kampf. Hitler was convinced
that every race should preserve its purity or face decline, and he was especially

distraught that the Aryan race (whose nature he never precisely defined),
especially German Aryans, seemed to have failed in this effort. He believed that if
the German race could be kept purethat is, if its most Aryan elements could be
increased through careful breedingGermany could achieve world domination.
The greatest threat to Germany in Hitlers eyes was the Jews, whom he compared
to parasites, and he promised that the score against the Jews would soon be settled
(Haapenen).
After the First World War, Germany was in a bad condition. Germany was a loser, so it was
forced to carry out war compensation to the Allies such as Britain, France, America and Russia
and obey the strict treaty such as not establishing the army in other countries. In the mental and
physical crisis, Germany expected to find a new leader, so Adolf Hitler grabbed this opportunity
in time. He made a plan to restore Germanys pride and prosperity. He blamed the Jews for
Germanys problems. He wanted his race to dominate the world. The purified plan resulted in
massive extermination of more than ten million people. Nowadays, Hitler is considered as a
murderer in the world. Why do some people still worship Hitler and his ideology?
Like Derek Vinyard, racism influenced him under the family and community. In the scene of
Dereks family dinner, his father asked him about the class. He praised his black history teacher,
Sweeney with high diplomas. His father said sarcastically You look at everything in your own
eyes and dont swallow everything he feeds you whole. His father blamed black people
robbing white peoples job. He told Derek I got two black guys on my squad now who got their
job over a couple of white guys who scored higher education. Next, his fathers death was
involved in a nigger who was a drug dealer. Finally, in a conversation between Sweeney and
the police, Sweeney says, Cameron Alexander, who was the biggest distributor and writer of

white power literature, found in Derek his shining prince. Essentially, he used Derek to recruit a
slew of white supremacists. Derek became a useful tool for his purpose. Similar to Hitler, white
people accused immigrants of causing the American economic recession.
Secondly, that Neo-Nazi groups have developed in the world is disastrous to the world.
Although Hitler passed away years ago, his ideology has been ingrained into a dangerous
character in the movie, Cameron Alexander. He injected racial ideology into Derek and Danny,
and into Venices young people. At the basketball court, Derek plays basketball with a black
group. This is not a game to compete with together in the sportsmanship. On the contrary, its a
death-and-life game to divide the region where the white people and the black people live. Derek
said rudely that If you win, we will walk away. If we win, you pack up your shit and get your
black asses out of here. To avenge Dereks bitter speeches, these three black men vandalized
Dereks truck. As a result, Derek killed them savagely. The scene which he put his gun down and
surrendered the police made a bad impression on audience. He seems proud of his manslaughter
with a soft smile and satisfactory eyes. Some white young people in the world always believe
that their race is the best, the most intelligent because of their ancestry. Some imitate Hitlers
salute, moustache and tattoos of swastikas, and skulls on the body. In the article Greek NeoNazi Shown Training Children to Perform Heil Hitler Salute, the writer JTA says, The video
shows a small boy clad all in white wearing a Nazi swastika armband and holding a swastika
pennant while being encouraged by Pappas to chant Heil Hitler, and give the Nazi salute. In a
second scene, a young girl also repeatedly chants and salutes.

In the same article, a pupil raises his right hand in the Hitler salute at Landsberg Grammar
School in eastern Germany.

Also in the article, all 29 children in the class were signed into the WhatsApp chatroom where
the lurid messages of support for Hitler and his henchmen, along with vile anti-Jewish slurs,
were traded on a daily basis.

In the WhatsApp chatroom, the students glorified Hitler and shared Nazi greetings, slogans and
the odd anti-Jewish joke.

Another youngster from the 9A class makes the Heil Hitler salute in an image shared on social
media.

Moreover, many worldwide Nazi organizations have been established secretly. With the
development of media technology, it is easier for these organizations to link supremacists and
share messages, pictures, opinions of white pride together on the Internet. The worldly leading
group is called Blood & Honour where seventy-four Canadian members with addresses,
names, and emails participate. Also, on the online forum, this organization tried to lull one
hundred forty-two people through emails. It is a big worry to the security of countries (Mesley).
In the movie, Derek gave other skinheads a lecture of politics before they carried out
attacking and damaging the store in the neighborhood whose owners were Korean immigrants.
Derek added that his friends used to work there and were laid off because the owners recruited
other immigrants as employees .They expect that they are superior to immigrants, so they feel
ashamed of having worked for these owners. In addition, Derek always believes that millions of
Europeans came here and brought civilization and progress to America whereas immigrants
make this country poorer and poorer. He justified that There are two million illegal immigrants
bedding down in this state tonight. Also, this state spent three billion dollars last year on services
for those immigrants. In short, the government policy is a joke.
A proverb says: A pen is mightier than a sword. In fact, with encouragement or stimulation
of these racial groups, a lot of rebellions and clashes often happen in the world. With a hot news
of the Associated Press, to celebrate Hitler Adolfs birthday anniversary, a series of massacres
aimed at Asians, Africans, and Hispanics who always wish to live in another country peacefully
were attacked and beaten to death brutally (The Associated Press).
Terribly, the most painful event that has made the authorities of multi- racial countries
sleepless happened in the Canadian school. In only a few minutes, this school became a

bloodbath with seven people dead and fifteen people injured. The boy who killed is named Jeff
Weise, aged 17 and his website name is Todesengel- German for angel of Death (McLeod).
A Vietnamese proverb says that anger that keeps too long explodes soon. So, a lot of conflicts
or clashes happen frequently between neo-Nazi groups and counter- protestors. In the article
titled Neo-Nazi Rallies Provoke Anger, Fear, a neo-Nazi group called the National Socialist
Movement often holds rallies about national anti- illegal immigration in different places such as
Phoenix, Minnesota, and Riverside near Los Angeles. The groups website called counterprotesters consists of Mexicans, Jews, and homosexuals. The white supremacists hate the
immigrants because of high unemployment (14%), illegal immigration, and the election of the
American first black president (Simon).
Thirdly, racial discrimination has had a strong impact on the psychology of adolescents.
Adolescents are at an impressionable age, so it is easier for them to be stimulated by humiliating
agents. In the article The Antecedents and Consequences of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination
During Adolescence: Does the Source of Discrimination Matter?, African American, Asian
American and Latino adolescents often feel contempt from peers in school and society.
Therefore, their psychology is seriously mixed up. According to Developmental Psychology,
these students in the twelfth grade have psychological maladjustment such as loneliness, anxiety,
depression, and self- worth. As a result, their academic performances are not good. If the racial
pressure is higher and higher, this can result in incredible consequences (Benner and Graham).In
the movie, Dannys schoolmate shot him many bullets with supreme hatred to Danny.
Every race has its own features, so everyone is proud of his/her race. America is a large new
young country with a small population. It is a wonderful destination for brave young people to
discover, so the foreign refugees have integrated into America. Although nobody denies that

Europeans brought some progress to America, Asians, Africans, and Hispanics have contributed
a large part to American progress. According to Newsmax, in the Congress, the famous black
figures are Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Alphonso Jackson, Roderick Paige and so on. Also,
the excellent black businessman, Cathy Hughes, owns a string of 70 radio stations and cable and
satellite channel TV One. Clarence Otis Jr. is the CEO of the Fortune 500 company Garden
Restaurants, owner of Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants. Tiger Woods, a popular golfer,
got one billion dollars, most of which was earned by endorsing products purchased primarily by
whites. Especially, the success of Barack Obama who is the youngest and the first black
president has made a resonance in the world (Mark Hyman). This justifies that the intelligence,
talent and social position of African-Americans are similar to those of Caucasians.
In the movie, Bob Sweeney is a devoted teacher who is concerned about beloved students,
especially Derek and Danny. He not only provides knowledge for students but also follows their
maturity. He wants to understand his students thoughts so that he can interfere in their
wrongdoings in time. This is the best way to deepen his students wishes and thought. Although
Derek is in prison, Sweeney still observes Derek and gives him encouragement. Upon hearing
Derek being beaten by the white group, Sweeney visits him immediately. Derek cries as a child
and confesses to his mistakes. Derek tells Danny that Sweeney is a good teacher. Although he is
a black teacher, Derek respects him so much.
In short, racial discrimination should be completely eliminated. At the end of the movie,
Dannys death and Dereks regrettable wail like a warning bell are expressed that we should stop
racial discrimination before its too late. Everyone should behave like siblings and live together
happily and peacefully.

Works Cited
The Associated, Press. "A Look At Recent Neo-Nazi Violence." AP Online (2000): Newspaper
Source Plus. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=n5h&AN=6JN641662705&site=eds-live

Benner, Aprile D., and Sandra Graham. "The Antecedents And Consequences Of Racial/Ethnic
Discrimination During Adolescence: Does The Source Of Discrimination
Matter?." Developmental Psychology 49.8 (2013): 1602-1613. PsycARTICLES. Web. 20
Apr. 2015.
http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=2012-28868001&site=eds-live

Haapanen, Lawrence W. "Mein Kampf Outlines Nazi Thought." Salem Press

Encyclopedia (2015): Research Starters. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Hyman, Mark. Black Americans Achieving Great Success. Newsmax. 18 Feb. 2009.
http://www.newsmax.com/US/blacks-racism/2009/02/18/id/328336/
McLeod,Keith. "Neo-Nazi Teenager KillsSeven At School: The Angel of
Death." Daily Record, Then.d.: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=n5h&AN=6JN641662705&site=eds-live
Mesley, Wendy. "Hackers Broke Into Neo-Nazi Websites And Briefly Posted What They Found
Online." National (CBC Television) (2012): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 27 Apr. 2015
http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=n5h&AN=6JN641662705&site=eds-live

Scott, Simon. "Neo-Nazi Rallies Provoke Anger, Fear." Weekend Edition Saturday (NPR)
(n.d.): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=n5h&AN=6XN200911071305&site=eds-live