American History X

On October 10, I went to a viewing of American History X, which was followed by a discussion on race and racism. The viewing of this took place at Hayden Residence Hall and was run by one of the Resident Assistance there, Steven Oates. The movie itself lasted approximately two hours and during those two hours, I felt scared, overwhelmed, disgusted and empathetic to some of the characters. The movie itself is about two brothers, Derek and Danny Vinyard. The brothers become part of a neo-Nazi movement after their father was shot and killed by a black drug dealer, while he was attempting to put out a fire. Derek, the older brother, kills two black gang members when they attempt to break into his car, and is then sentenced to three years in prison. While there, he eventually leaves the gang of fellow neo-Nazis and becomes friends with a black inmate. The neo-Nazis retaliate and rape Derek for abandoning them and being friends with a black man. After his experience in prison, Derek comes out, a changed person and works to prevent his brother Danny from continuing to be a neo-Nazi.

After the movie, the initial discussion began with a discussion of the movie itself, which many of the people had similar reactions as me. However, we then began to discuss parts of the movie that were more subtle than the clear plot. What stood out to me most in this movie was a short flashback to the Vinyard family having dinner before the father is killed and the father makes a negative remark about black people. This scene stuck with me because it was the only time where it showed what sparked the hatred for blacks that Derek and Danny build throughout the movie.

Later, the discussion moved into our own lives and the experiences that each person at the viewing had growing up. The majority of the people that attended, like myself, grew up in predominantly white communities. However, the people that did not grow up in that homogeneous environment, were able to share their own experiences, which was interesting because it enabled me to hear the differences and similarities between educations.

After watching this movie and participating in the discussion, I realized that the words that I use, as a teacher, will shape the beliefs of my own students. I also realized that I cannot control what the students will see, hear and be exposed to outside of the classroom. What I want to do as a teacher is to take negative prejudices that my students are exposed to and combat them. The connections that I have made about why it is so important to address prejudices, in this instance the prejudice is race, is because I cannot control what my students are exposed to outside of the classroom. If I do not introduce social justice education in my classroom, my students will see and hear the prejudices that other people have and I do not want them to believe those prejudices. By discussing social justice with my students, they will see that advocating for social justice is important and critically think about what they see and hear before they form their own beliefs.