That ideology was derek black s whole world, but then came a turning point and a journey from white nationalism to anti racism. today, we have that extraordinary story of race, politics and ultimately turning against what your family stands for. how does a transformation like that come about? what can we learn from it? and has derek black found a new purpose as well as a new identity? derek black, welcome to hardtalk. your book is called the klansman s son, and your family as a whole
..the lesson that i took is that it s rare, because changing our minds about something that s really core to who we are is exactly the same thing as changing our sense of who we feel connected to, who our broader community is, who are the people we love. and if we understand it that way, you recognise why it s so rare, but also why it always happens. so perhaps your parents haven t started thinking yet? they haven t changed their community. they know me, but their community is white nationalists. and i think as long as that s the case, there s no reason for somebody to challenge their own beliefs. derek black, thank you for being with us on hardtalk. your book is called the klansman s son: myjourney from white nationalism to anti racism. thank you. thanks so much.
That all these old men who were tenured professors and condemned as white supremacists must be the truth tellers. and i had to sit for years, one piece at a time, learning that the statistics that they cited were false, learning that their arguments for biological race were just ridiculous and had been disproven 100 times. even in this period, derek, when you are going through what you re describing, you go and spend time with david duke, don t you? you spend several days with david duke? yeah. you speak of your. at the point you publicly renounce your past, you also speak of your respect for your father. mm hm. what s going on there? no, i still love my family, and i still. respect is different, isn t it? respect means you stand for something that i think is admirable. mmm. i definitely don t mean it in that way. i mean it in the fact that my family are people who certainly don t see themselves as the villains, and theirjustification of things that is horrendous is something that i can
A turning point and a journey from white nationalism to anti racism. today, we have that extraordinary story of race, politics and ultimately turning against what your family stands for. how does a transformation like that come about? what can we learn from it? and has derek black found a new purpose as well as a new identity? derek black, welcome to hardtalk. your book is called the klansman s son, and your family as a whole
Change people s beliefs. i think that it s always possible. i know that s true, and i don t even think it s something to do with being young. i think anyone at any age can fundamentally change what they believe. but. ..the lesson that i took is that it s rare, because changing our minds about something that s really core to who we are is exactly the same thing as changing our sense of who we feel connected to, who our broader community is, who are the people we love. and if we understand it that way, you recognise why it s so rare, but also why it always happens. so perhaps your parents haven t started thinking yet? they haven t changed their community. they know me, but their community is white nationalists. and i think as long as that s the case, there s no reason for somebody to challenge their own beliefs. derek black, thank you for being with us on hardtalk. your book is called the klansman s son: myjourney from white nationalism to anti racism. thank you. thanks so much.