A riveting, challenging read that reveals the truth of White Nationalism in recent and even present history. Eli knits together R. Derek's history with White Nationalism in a way that grips the reader and shows those of us who might not be exposed to WN the reality of the American ideosphere at this point in our history. I was shocked to hear many of the stories, especially with their recency, and now feel the strong obligation to speak out against racism in any form whenever encountered. Thank you Mr. Saslow for your impressive work and bringing this story to light.
It was interesting to listen to this book shortly after listening to Educated. Both books describe children who were indoctrinated into an extreme worldview and the way that their exposure to the larger world in college helped them break free of it. (Of course, I kept muttering "Well, that's why you got to keep them locked up and not let them go to them heathen colleges" like a proper zealot the whole time I was listening.)I found the responses of his classmates intriguing. There were basically two responses - shun him with the goal of making it so uncomfortable for him at school that he would leave, or befriend him in hopes of talking to him about his views. I'm not sure where I would have fallen if I was in that situation. Both approaches worked on him in different ways. He had never had a lot sustained pushback …
It was interesting to listen to this book shortly after listening to Educated. Both books describe children who were indoctrinated into an extreme worldview and the way that their exposure to the larger world in college helped them break free of it. (Of course, I kept muttering "Well, that's why you got to keep them locked up and not let them go to them heathen colleges" like a proper zealot the whole time I was listening.)I found the responses of his classmates intriguing. There were basically two responses - shun him with the goal of making it so uncomfortable for him at school that he would leave, or befriend him in hopes of talking to him about his views. I'm not sure where I would have fallen if I was in that situation. Both approaches worked on him in different ways. He had never had a lot sustained pushback about his beliefs before. Arguments were just intellectual exercises for him. Now he was facing people he knew who were being affected by the policies that he had helped popularize. The people who befriended him took the risk of being thought guilty by association. They were able to work on him in different ways. His non-white friends could publicly be seen with him without people thinking they were white nationalists. They put faces to categories of "immigrant" and "Jew" in his rhetoric. His white friend was able to talk to him about his beliefs more openly because he didn't automatically feel judgement from her based on her race but she was in danger of being assimilated by him or being thought to be a sympathizer. I was uncomfortable with a lot of the decisions that his white girlfriend made. It worked out in the end but:
via GIPHYShe was so naive and he had spent his life converting people to the white nationalist cause. She went to a nationalist conference with him. One picture of her there on the internet could have ruined her future. I wanted to slap some sense into her. I thought the book dwelled a little too long on their developing relationship. Yeah, yeah, I get it. They are maybe-maybe not dating. I don't need a play by play of their personal lives. I'm here for the bigger picture.The book's description of their reaction to the rise of Trump should put to rest any ideas that he isn't playing directly to white nationalists. They point out all their talking points that he adopted. They discuss the proposals that they always wanted that he is trying to enact. This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
