'The Klansman's Son' becomes antiracist: How R. Derek Black unlearned a white nationalist upbringing
As a child, R. Derek Black actively promoted white nationalism. It was the family legacy; their father was a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
But when Black attended college, they met individuals who were not only appalled by that ideology but were willing to work with them to help change those views. Black eventually renounced white nationalism and now works as an anti-racist.
Their memoir “The Klansman’s Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Anti-Racism” is out next week, and they join host Robin Young.
Book excerpt: ‘The Klansman’s Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Anti-Racism’
By R. Derek Black
MY DECADE OF POLITICAL ACTIVISM on behalf of White nationalism began in October 1999, when I was ten. I gave my first public interview to the salacious daytime talk show It was a trip of firsts: one of the first times I left my home state of Florida; my first trip to Chicago; and my first time in the North at all. It was the first time I rode in a limo, when they picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel. At that hotel, on the morningwith Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz). At the studio, it was my first experience in a greenroom. It was my first time in the public eye, my first time out front, and my first time claiming publicly my intention to lead White nationalism into its next generation.
