Questions

1, At the party we finally meet Cameron, the head of the Neo-Nazi

campaign in California. Cameron tells Danny that Principal Sweeney
has been the manipulative one, but it looked like Sweeney had
Dannys best interest and refused to give up on him. Then, Derek
returns as the disgruntled soldier, having served time for a cause he
no longer supports. Do you think Dereks claims against Cameron
being a manipulative chicken-hawk that preys on confused, angry
kids are valid? Explain
2, Derek spent his entire life forming his identity through white-power
propaganda, and a strict belief any other race was a detriment to his
society. However, we see that not all members of his prison-gang are
as dedicated to this Neo-Nazi ideology as he is. Although crafting his
identity through this Neo-Nazi community initially saves him in prison
from getting killed by inmates of other races, it seems to be causing
Derek an ethical dilemma; abide by prison rules and work with other
races, or stick to his guns after being brainwashed by Camerons
rhetoric. What do you think Dereks best course of action would be?
Do you think hes better off solo or biting his tongue and going with
the flow? Explain
3, Lamonts arrest, although he did steal a television, was ultimately
fabricated by the officer who arrested him. Initially, Derek refuses to
believe this story, despite Lamont telling him the truth about his
arrest. Taking their sentences into consideration--Derek 3 years for
voluntary manslaughter & Lamont 6 years for stealing a TV and
assaulting a cop--do you think white people have access to more
power and privilege than people of color do in the United States? Is
Lamonts case relevant in todays America? Explain
4, After Dereks incident, Dr. Sweeney comes to visit him. After they
talk, Derek ends up realizing the ideologies he doesnt even believe in
anymore ended up being his ultimate downfall. Sweeney is able to
connect to Derek because he too was once the same angry kid that
blamed everything and everyone for injustices against his people,
but placing blame only gets you angrier and ultimately solves zero
problems. Sweeney leaves Derek with this question has anything
youve done made your life better? From what weve seen, has Derek
done anything to make his life, or life for his family better? Explain
5, Derek & Danny take down all the Neo-Nazi memorabilia off their
bedroom wall after Derek tells Danny everything about his time in

prison. To you, what does this gesture say? Explain

6, Derek appeared to be really enthusiastic about his new English
Teacher, Dr. Sweeney, and was excited about reading The Native
Son. But, his father speaks from a place of ignorance on the book,
and takes a negative stance against his son learning about black
literature for equalitys sake. Although his fathers words are a far
cry from white-power rhetoric, he immediately discredits anything
Derek could learn from the book because it was written by a black
author. We see where Danny & Dereks deeply rooted seeds stem
from now. In your opinion, how poisonous can opinions of ignorance
be for children, especially during their impressionable years?

7, I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion,

right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be
pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. 'We are not enemies,
but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have
strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords
of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by
the better angels of our nature.' Danny ends on this quote, his final
lesson learned before his death. Take this question to free write your
reaction to this quote, as well as the movie overall.

Answers
1, I think it is valid. It seems like Cameron does not to do anything to
bring up hatred within the group. As a dictator, Cameron just watches
other people uniting against minorities so that he does not really need
to show up in the public. Cameron is more like a hidden ruler that not
many people actually can see him. But the point is Cameron let other
people cause trouble so that he does not actually have to attack
somebody or get in trouble. He relies on other people to keep his
power. That is why I think Dannys statement about Cameron makes
sense because Cameron was just enjoying watching the chaos as an
onlooker.

2, I think Dereks best course of action would be that he started to

take care of his family. He has never seriously taken care of his family
before. He used violence against his family, he said he had nothing to
do with the way his brother is, and he was forcing his white-power
propaganda on his family. However since he has been put in the
prison, he got a chance to look back on his own life. In the prison
everything he sees was different from the one he has seen outside of
the prion. He started to get confused what the world really is. He felt
pain because he could not figure out what is going on inside his head.
But as he spends time in the prison looking at the totally different
world and listing to various peoples life, I guess he finally realized
that he was just angry at everything. I think that was the time when
he started to change his way of thinking and care about his family.
That is why I think he needed both time being solo and going with the
flow. Both time helped him shape his mind to live a new life.

3, I dont really think race matters when police maintain their power.
These days there are many sad news that shows white people are
somehow believed to have stronger power than other race. I was born
and raised up in Japan. So I really do not understand what made the
situation like this in the US. In Japan, we do not face to race conflicts
because more than 90% people who live in Japan are Japanese. That
is why I cannot tell how American people actually think about their
own race and the other race. I personally think that distinguishing
people between races is ridiculous. Because every society you live in
is a creation of people regardless of their skin color or race. You are
here just because other people are there. I think todays society
needs to fully realize what makes each and every one be here before
they move on to the topic about race.

4, Before he got in the prison I do not think he has done anything to

make his or his familys life better. I think he believed what he was
doing at that time was good for other people because he believed
that being affirmative with African American was wrong. And he
believed every white American in the US should be proud of
themselves and kick out other races. But I believe the reason why he
started to think like this stems from his irritations at his family,
society, and himself. I believe the way he behaves is one way of his
self-protection. However ever since he has gone in the prison, he
started to think about his own life and his familys life. After he got
out of the prison he tried to be a good brother as much as he can
taking care of his younger brother, and looking after his family. I think
he was trying to get the life with his family back because he has
never had it before.
5, I think when Danny took down all the memorabilia off his bedroom
wall, I think he decided to give up on all the Neo-Nazi worships
because he finally realized how stupid and meaningless it was. I feel
like Derek has been a hero for Danny because he was very influential,
everyone was talking about him. I can say Danny was very proud of
his brother. He always wanted to be like his brother. That is why all of
Neo-Nazi memorabilia that he put on the wall was one of the
admiration for his brother. It seems he believed the way his brother
lived was very cool. I do not think Danny had a strong and relevant
reason to be a Neo-Nazi worshipper. But his longed-for brother has
admitted his mistakes and mended his ways. That must have been a
huge shock for Danny. This gave him a chance to reflect on his own
life and think about what life means to him. Finally he decided to
reform his behavior and mind just like his brother did.

6, I think kids in their impressionable years can get any influence from
anywhere. Kids see the random commercial on the TV about a violent
bad man and behave like that because it looked very cool for them.
Watching a violent TV does not mean it makes kids violent as well but
we are not sure what kind of outcome that kids would show due to
those aggressive TV programs. That is one of the why the commercial
of Tabaco was banned in my country about 15 years ago. During
impressionable years, incentives are everywhere. Any books, media,
and public opinions may help shape their mind or change their mind
completely. I think the story of Deriks father at the dining has given
Derk the new perspective about black Americans even though his
father did not mean anything seriously. He might have just said his
genuine opinion because there was an affirmative black activity going
on around that time in the society. But that story definitely has pulled
the trigger of Derks hatred at black Americans.

7, After I watched this movie, I had complex feelings inside me. I

could not figure out how I was exactly feeling about this movie. I
might have been sad, confused, angry, disappointed, depressed or
maybe all of above. Life is too short to be pissed off all the time. Yes
it is. You deserve to be happy. Although you understand it in your
head, sometimes life gets tough without realizing. And you lose your
control to maintain the balance to tell who you are. As a result you
blame on something else as a cause of your problem. I believe Derk
was not born in the way as an angry guy that we saw in the movie.
His family, community, and politics gradually weaken his identity and
put him into the huge confusion. The question Sweeney left Derek
has anything youve done made your life better? left me the question that what
life means to me, how I want to be living each and every day. I cannot
write down the clear answer yet but this movie definitely evoked my

emotions.