RACISTS CANNOT BE REFORMED BY LOGIC

Rating: 9/10 (13 April 1999)

THERE ARE MANY MORE RACES THAN THE BLACK AND THE WHITE
American History X is about racism, but more exclusively about the tensions between the white and black races, so deeply-rooted in the U.S.. Yes, black people make up the largest minority in that land - I believe about 10% of the population - but U.S. film-makers are becoming a little more awake, beginning to touch upon the lives of other races. For example, another 1998 film, "Smoke Signals" dealt with two Native people. American History X, thoughtfully touches - though in a low-key way - upon other races, like the Koreans who "took over" ownership of the grocery store.
When I was in the most racially diverse region of the world (the Caribbean), I observed how interracial marriage both preserves that diversity while creating unity. When a black person marries a white person, one child will come out completely black, one completely white, and one a beautiful mixture between the two. (Blondes and brunettes intermarry and we have not eradicated these hair colours creating an exclusively brown-haired society!)
RACISTS CANNOT BE REFORMED BY LOGIC
Some people were understandably upset that the film failed to "rebut" many of the arguments in favour of the Neo-Nazis. I thought that the brilliance of the film was that it subtly argued that this was futile. Rebuttals on one side are only met with rebuttals on the other and so the argument goes on back and forth endlessly. The arguments at the dinner table with the Elliot Gould character confirmed this. The film showed that reforming a racist is done not through appealing to his mind, his logic, his reason, but through his heart. Those that marvelled in wonderment over Derek's black laundry co-worker befriending him with humour about sex, thinking that it would have been more reasonable for him to argue racial issues failed to see this point I think.
The film pointed out how self-defeating the ideals of white supremacy (or supremacy of any race) are by showing how illogical the beliefs are. At one point, the younger brother states that it is best to steer clear away from anyone who is not a White Protestant in the midst of his insisting on doing away with Jews. Of course, the founder of Christianity, a faction of which is Protestantism, was a Jew! Another point that shows how self-defeating their beliefs are is that they want to do away with immigration. But their ancestors, themselves, were immigrants. All whites immigrated to the Americas from Europe. They never asked for permission from the Native people. The characters do take up this point and try to argue that the whites were good immigrants because they built up a great civilisation. But it is crystal clear how weak that argument is.
"American History X" shows us that it is nearly futile to try to reform a racist by appealing to his faculty of reason, because his beliefs are not based upon reason, they are based upon emotional hatred. Derek's laundry co-worker began joking about an unrelated issue, an issue which Derek could not argue against and set up defences against his own point of view. The wall of hatred around his heart was penetrated. Blacks and whites actually had something in common that they could laugh about! The mind can only be righted through appealing to the heart. This is the central message of "American History X".
NOT INTENDED TO BE A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY
Another criticism given to the film was that it was unclear how Derek was led down the path of racism. It was commented that it was initiated by his father using the 'n' word at the dinner table and by the fact that he was murdered by black people. It didn't seem to me that the film was saying that these were the exclusive reasons for Derek's embrace of racist views. It was just pointing out a few of the many fragments off of which he fed along this dark path. "American History X" was not aspiring to be a psychological study of how people become racists. It was simply revealing the darkness of racial hatred. I'm sure that such a psychological study could not be satisfactorily concluded in a two-hour non-documentary film; it is a complex issue. There is no one cause, and outside incidents are just a pat on the back, because everyone has free will to embrace whatever beliefs he chooses.
CONFUSION OF ECONOMIC VERSUS HUMAN ISSUES
Many people, also, seem to confuse economic issues with human ones. Racism is not a "right-wing" issue. "Right-wing" vs. "left-wing" are policies of economics. They have to do with such issues of public versus private ownership. A person can embrace the economic theory of capitalism and be a strong proponent of racial equality; while, another can side-with socialism and be a racist.
HOW DO YOU REMOVE DARKNESS FROM A ROOM?
The film's ending has its pro's and con's. One the one hand, yes, it is conventional, but on the other, it allows the film to leave an emotional impression on the viewer which helps him to reflect on all that he has seen.
In conclusion, "American History X" pointed out to me that hatred ("hate" is the verb, "hatred" is the noun, please), like darkness, hatred cannot be depleted by attacking it. You can't remove darkness out of a room by shovelling it out, only by turning up the light of love which automatically dispels the darkness away.
The films advises that one should always end a piece of writing with a quote, so here's one. It is paraphrased from the sayings of Gandhi:
"If you simply take an eye for an eye, it won't be long before the whole world goes blind."
(9 out of 10)