Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist by Eli SaslowMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Scott Brick. Brick does a wonderful job of emoting the thoughts of each and every character. You could feel the differences between Don Black's thoughts and Allison's.
This work of nonfiction by Saslow tells the story of Derek Black, the son of Don Black, former KKK Grand Wizard and Chloe Black, who was previously married to David Duke. Derek was ultimately White Nationalist royalty and he was treated as such. However, after attending a liberal arts school and actively socializing with people of different cultures and ethnicities, Derek begins to see things a little differently. This book is an example of the best way to handle someone whose beliefs are seen as dangerous or morally wrong. Instead of hating and avoiding Derek at all cost, his friends at New College of Florida welcomed him into their homes and conducted civil debate. His girlfriend at the time would send him reputable articles and scholarly studies to disprove his false statistics and stories. Eventually, he saw the light. They never gave up on him, despite the rest of the campus shunning him. I think this story is such an important one to hear. This is the answer for fusing this divide in our country. We should stop hating those on the other side of the aisle. Let's conduct a dialogue and try to emulate what young Derek Black did and actually listen to others. I highly highly recommend this book for everyone to read. An important story for our generation and it's so timely.
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