American History X essays

American History X essays In every generation violent acts occur that shock the word. One often wonders how people can commit these unjust acts and why they would even want to. In 1619, the first African Americans were brought to Jamestown to be indentured servants. In 1804, the Ohio legislature enacts the first of the "Black Laws" restricting the rights and movements of Blacks. In 1915, the Klu Klux Klan came about. In 1935 the Nuremberg Race Laws are issued making all Jews non-citizens. Today people are still printing books and writing editorials of slander against other races and cultures. It is extremely difficult to pinpoint where someones hatred originates. It could be from a parents influence, a traumatizing experience, or wanting to be part of something. In American History X, Dereks intense feelings of hatred stem from his fathers influence. In the movie they showed Derek with his family having dinner. It is a typical family scene, the father is asking his son about school. Everything appears to be normal. Derek speaks of his teacher Sweeny. He tells his father, with enthusiasm about the books he is going to read and how excited he is about this. Eventually, the father realizes that Sweeny is African American. He begins to warn Derek not to get sucked into his teachings. The father tell Derek of a colleague of his that scored a higher score on an entrance exam then 2 black men, and the black men got the job. I am not sure if the father realized his influence on his son, but it made a big impact. The ways, in which parents raise their children, have a huge effec t on them in the long run. When a child is subjected to traumatizing experiences they tend to leave scars on them that are hard to reverse. Another reason that Derek turned towards hatred could have been his fathers death and the fact that he was killed by a black man. During the teenage years, many people feel alone and are going threw awkward stages of ...