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Jaclyn Miles
Sabatino Mangini Comp II 8:00am
Final Paper
April 30, 2015

Impacts Shaping Derek Vinyards Racial Views

Introduction
In the movie American History X, one of the main characters, Derek Vinyard, struggled
through many life obstacles but became a better person for himself and his family after
overcoming those obstacles. He was a member and creator of the DOC, which was a white
supremacy group that had a hatred for anyone who was not a white Protestant. The Vinyard
family resided in Venice Beach, California where the community contained gangs, criminals, and
racial separation. Derek went through life being surrounded by many social institutions that
shaped his views on life including, his community, his family, and prison.

Social Institution #1 Community

Derek Vinyards community and neighborhood in Venice Beach had a very large impact
on his life outcome and his racist views growing up. The neighborhood itself and the people who
resided in the neighborhood influenced Derek to hate anyone who was not a white Protestant.
The primary reason for this was because the community consisted of people who believed that
they were better than the blacks and other minorities since they were native to that town. Derek
believed that the whites should not be afraid to walk the streets in their own community just

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because of those black people. Derek went to jail for the murder of two black men and was to
blame for himself going to jail because he decided at an earlier age that that's how he wanted to
live his life, having a hatred for blacks. In Dereks defense, he was surrounded by those racial
views growing up so it was almost guaranteed that he would keep the same viewpoints when
transforming into adulthood. Growing up in a community with certain influences of social
behavior can have an impact on their outcomes in life (Steele, 2010). According to an article on
Rotten Outcomes and How Impoverished Neighborhoods Influence the Life Trajectories of
Children In the United States, Neighborhoods are social environments where children
experience life: presenting risks and opportunities, offering or withholding resources necessary
for success, creating experiences with and beliefs about social institutions and their
representatives, and providing the ecology in which children develop into adults (2010). In
Dereks experience, he grew up in a community that consisted of gangs and hateful people, both
black and white, which influenced him to become a member of the DOC and have such hatred
towards black people and anyone who was not a white protestant. Steele mentioned that, Social
learning theories of crime suggest that children are more likely to become juvenile delinquents if
they live in a neighborhood that is overly-populated with gang members, drug dealers, and other
criminal mentors (2010). If people who reside in neighborhoods and communities have certain
views and attitudes towards others, then it is likely that those attitudes are passed onto others in
the neighborhood because that is what they are surrounded by.

Social Institution #2 Family

Growing up, Dereks father Denis Vinyard had a huge impact on their family before he
was murdered while on duty as a fireman. He so happened to be murdered by black gang

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members, which could have been one of the main reasons that Derek became a neo nazi and had
a hatred for blacks. Derek carried much anger with him because his father was an innocent man
who was killed doing his job, helping others. One night before his father died, the Vinyard family
was sitting down eating dinner while Derek brought up his history teacher, Mr. Sweeney, and
what book they were reading, Native Son, and how he really liked him as a teacher. His father
became very defensive about him liking/having a black teacher and told him,
All this stuff about making everything "equal..." it's not that simple. Now you've got this
book "Native Son." What happened to the other books in the course? They're not good
anymore because Mr. Two Ph.Ds says so? Now you got to trade great books for black
books? Does that make sense? You gotta question these things, Der. You gotta look at the
whole picture. We're talking about books...but we're also talking about my job. I've got
two black guys on my squad now who got their job over a couple of white guys who
actually scored higher on the test. Does that make sense? Everything's "equal" now, but
I've got two guys watching my back...responsible for my life...who aren't as good. They
only got the job because they were black, not because they were the best. (MOVIE Quote
DB, 2008).
His father made his views on blacks very clear and I believe that is where Dereks racism
originated from due to the tremendous impact his father had on him. Derek did not believe in
what his father preached to him in the beginning but he could tell how strongly his father felt
about blacks and throughout his speech, Derek slowly started to agree with what his father was
saying. His father was proud of him for believing in what he thought was right and praised Derek
for it by patting him on the back and saying Good boy. Im proud of you (2008). From this one
and only scene of Denis Vinyard, anyone can depict his views on black people and how his

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views would influence his sons to believe in the same. According to Kerby T. Alvy who
answered the question, how do parents own biases impact their children,
Much of the time this occurs unconsciously. Parents, in their own behavior especially
facial expressions and posture and body language convey a lot that kids see. Other
times, it can be more obvious, when parents actually talk about their biases out loud.
Parents may tell children they dont want then associating with a certain group of people.
For some, prejudice can be a family value (Alvy).
Dereks father created and shaped Dereks racial views after talking about his black teacher, Mr.
Sweeney. Deniss racist views impacted Derek and is the main reason for him beginning to
express his views after a black man killed his father.

Social Institution #3 Prison

Derek Vinyard was sentenced to prison for three and a half years for voluntary
manslaughter of two black men. He shot and killed the two men after his younger brother,
Danny, caught them breaking into his truck that used to be his fathers. While Derek served his
three and a half year sentence, his whole prospective on race and life took a drastic change. He
made it blatantly obvious that he was racist as soon as he entered prison by taking off his t-shirt
to show his swastika tattoo to the other inmates. He was accepted and resided with a white racist
group that took him into their group. He experienced hypocrisy when he saw one member of his
group doing business with someone from a different group/gang that no one in their gang
associated with. He stood up for himself because he could no longer deal with keeping his mouth
shut and letting him get away it. He was tortured and brutally raped by the group of white gang
members he once resides in and was no longer wanted in the group because he dissed them in

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front of the other inmates. In most cases of male sexual abuse in prisons, the abuse is between
white and black but can still happen between white and white (No Escape, 2001). According to a
website on Male Rape in US Prisons, "The perpetrator may initially appear to be a friend, even
an apparent protector, but will take advantage of his acquaintance with the victim to intimidate
and coerce him into sexual contact" (2001). Derek was in the last person in the shower room
when a guard let the white gang members in and shut the door so they could beat him and rape
him which sadly happens often in prisons. According to the Human Rights Watch,
Research revealed that sexual abuse by other inmates often occurred because staff failed
to adequately supervise inmates or respond appropriately to complaints of unwanted
sexual activity. In some prisons, staff tacitly as well as explicitly condoned inmate-oninmate abuse (US Justice Department, 2007).
After Derek was raped, his whole outlook on life began to take a turn, maybe not for the
best while in jail but for the best for whatever future he had to look forward to. Professor Sweeny
came to visit Derek in prison after the incident and preached to him about his own experience in
blaming other people for situations that happened to him and his people:
There was a moment, when I used to blame everything and everyone for all the pain and
suffering and vile things that happened to me, that I saw happen to my people. Used to
blame everybody. Blamed white people, blamed society, blamed God. I didn't get no
answers 'cause I was asking the wrong questions. You have to ask the right questions
(MOVIE Quote DB, 2008).
Derek followed by saying like what? Sweeny then asked, Has anything you've done made your
life better? (2008) Derek began to cry, shook his head and lowered it in disbelief. Being raped
was a turning/breaking point for Derek because he did not walk away from the incident the same

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person, his own white racist group that once took him in, had turned on him. He wanted to
change his life for the better because he had finally came to the realization that he has messed up
multiple times in previous years because of his racial views and wanted to make a better future
for himself and his family. He created enough damage in his life and others lives because of the
anger he had within himself.
Derek worked with a young black male who ended up being the only person he got along
with in the prison, and was the only reason he made it out of prison alive. This was another
turning point in Dereks life because he realized that not all blacks are the same horrible people
that he previously believed in and that black people can be good-hearted. When Derek was
released, he explained to Danny the reason for his sudden change in racist views was because of
that black man and in turn, Danny and Derek took down all the Nazi flags/posters in their
bedroom because they no longer want to be associated with that type of lifestyle.

Conclusion
Derek Vinyard experienced several obstacles and battles throughout his life. He looked
up to his father and took a walk in his racial footsteps for many years. He could not bare to
handle his fathers murder and built up a chest full of anger towards black people after his father
was killed. Derek was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in and was proud to be a neo
nazi until he served his three and a half year sentence in jail. After being raped in jail, his whole
outlook on life changed for the better. He wanted to create a better life for himself and his family
and would do whatever that may entail.

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Works Cited

Alvy, Kerby T. "How Do Parents' Own Biases Impact Their Children?"Teaching Tolerance. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
McKenna, David. American History X. Los Angeles, 1998. Retrieved
from:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120586/
"MOVIE Quote DB."American History X ... Movie Quotes Database. N.p., 2008. Web. 26 Apr.
2015.
"MOVIE Quote DB." American History X ... Movie Quotes Database. N.p., 2008. Web. 29 Apr.
2015.
"Predators and Victims." No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons. N.p., 2001. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Steele, Paul D. "Rotten Outcomes: How Impoverished Neighborhoods Influence The Life
Trajectories Of Children In The United States." Forum On Public Policy Online 2010.4
(2010): ERIC. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
US Justice Department. "US: Federal Statistics Show Widespread Prison Rape." Human Rights
Watch. N.p., 16 Dec. 2007. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.