ultimate manifestation of his brainwashing is the murder of two black men by Derek. Yet Derek's downfall and racist notions were not all caused by Cameron's propaganda, but the influences of his father. It isn't until the near end of American History X that the viewer finds the root causes of Derek's white supremacist attitudes. A black and white scene shows his whole family happily eating dinner together. His father asks him about his studies in school and at the mention of black literature, Derek's father begins his rant about "trading good books for black books." He tells Derek not to believe everything his teacher, Dr. Sweeney, has to say. As the conversation plays on, it snowballs into supposed "Affirmative Blacktion" and white firemen being beat for a job just because the others were black. In the end, Derek's father tells him, "It's all nigger bull*censored*." The viewer sees how Derek soaks in whatever his father says and accepts it as truth, claiming to "see what he's saying." When the father is shot and killed at the scene of a fire in a crack house, Derek lashes out at the black community, blaming them for the tragic death. The thoughts instilled by his father, plus his ironic death fuels Derek's Nazi beliefs. The motives of Derek's murders stem from this situation. The beginning of the film shows Danny telling his brother that a black man is attempting to steal his truck. In a rage, Derek grabs his handgun and goes outside to find two men. He screams to one, "My father gave me that truck" as he kicks him and kills him. The effect that his father's death and, in the end, racist remarks causes Derek to go to the extreme. To make matters worse, the killings were seen as heroic by his peers in the gang. His girlfriend Stacey puts it best in saying, "You're like a god to them." This is a perfect example of how peers can influence the thoughts and choices of youth. It is the next step in the cyclical process of brainwashing kids i...
