Klansmans Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism: A Memoir

Raised by a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan who started the internet’s first white supremacist website and who was friends with David Duke, the author, breaking free from a community of hate and publicly renouncing white nationalism, offers important lessons for our troubled times.
From the former heir-apparent to white nationalism, The Klansman’s Son is an astonishing memoir of a childhood built on fear, of breaking from a community of hate. When coded language and creeping authoritarianism spread the ideas of white nationalists, this is an essential book with a powerful voice. Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Their father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started Stormfront, the internet’s first white supremacist website—Derek built the kids’ page. David Duke, was also their close family friend and mentor. Racist hatred, though often wrapped up in respectability, was all Derek knew. Then, while in college in 2013, Derek publicly renounced white nationalism and apologized for their actions and the suffering that they had caused. The majority of their family stopped speaking to them, and they disappeared into academia, convinced that they had done so much harm that there was no place for them in public life. But in 2016, as they watched the rise of Donald Trump, they immediately recognized what they were hearing—the spread and mainstreaming of the hate they had helped cultivate—and they knew that they couldn’t stay silent. This is a thoughtful, insightful, and moving account of a singular life, with important lessons for our troubled times. Derek can trace a uniquely insider account of the rise of white nationalism, and how a child indoctrinated with hate can become an anti-racist adult. Few understand the ideology, motivations, or tactics of the white nationalist movement like Derek, and few have ever made so profound a change.
From the former heir-apparent to white nationalism, TheKlansman’s Son is an astonishing memoir of a childhood built on fear, of breaking from his community, and of speaking out in the face of hate.   Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. His father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started Stormfront, the internet’s first white supremacist website—Derek built the kids’ page. His godfather, David Duke, was also his mentor. Racist hatred, though often wrapped up in respectability, was all Derek knew.   Then, while in college in 2013, Derek publicly renounced white nationalism and apologized for his actions and the suffering that he had caused. The majority of his family stopped speaking to him, and he disappeared into academia, convinced that he had done so much harm that there was no place for him in public life. But in 2016, as he watched the rise of Donald Trump, he immediately recognized what he was hearing—the spread and mainstreaming of the hate he had helped cultivate—and he knew that he couldn’t stay silent.   This is a thoughtful, insightful, and moving account of a singular life, with important lessons for our troubled times. Derek can trace a uniquely insider account of the rise of white nationalism, and how a boy indoctrinated with hate can become an anti-racist man. Few understand the ideology, motivations, or tactics of the white nationalist movement like Derek, and few have ever made so profound a change. When coded language and creeping authoritarianism spread the ideas of white nationalists, this is an essential book with a powerful voice.
From the former heir-apparent to white nationalism, The Klansman’s Son is an astonishing memoir of a childhood built on fear, of breaking from a community of hate.   When coded language and creeping authoritarianism spread the ideas of white nationalists, this is an essential book with a powerful voice. Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Their father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started Stormfront, the internet’s first white supremacist website—Derek built the kids’ page. David Duke, was also their close family friend and mentor. Racist hatred, though often wrapped up in respectability, was all Derek knew.   Then, while in college in 2013, Derek publicly renounced white nationalism and apologized for their actions and the suffering that they had caused. The majority of their family stopped speaking to them, and they disappeared into academia, convinced that they had done so much harm that there was no place for them in public life. But in 2016, as they watched the rise of Donald Trump, they immediately recognized what they were hearing—the spread and mainstreaming of the hate they had helped cultivate—and they knew that they couldn’t stay silent. This is a thoughtful, insightful, and moving account of a singular life, with important lessons for our troubled times. Derek can trace a uniquely insider account of the rise of white nationalism, and how a child indoctrinated with hate can become an anti-racist adult. Few understand the ideology, motivations, or tactics of the white nationalist movement like Derek, and few have ever made so profound a change.