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News & Current Events Mar 22, 2026 at 11:53 PM

american history x derek and his dad

Posted by Old_Treat4871

In the film american history X I wonder what derek's father would think of derek after becoming a h******* skinhead and adopting the extreme hateful propaganda he spews out. Would he be proud of him?... or think maybe he took it a little too far? Also I wonder what he would think of the new reformed derek after getting out of prison and no longer having that hate for other people. Thoughts?
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goldberrysman Mar 23, 2026 +60
Derek's dad exhibits the typical casual racism of the 80s/90s working class. I think he would be shocked by his son getting into nazi shit, because in those days I don't think your run of the mill racists thought of themselves in those terms. I doubt this would have caused him to engage in much reflection about how his own rhetoric may have caused his son's extremism though. Maybe Derek going to prison and coming back changed for the better might have made him think twice, but that said Mr. Vinyard definitely votes MAGA
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thepeoplessgt Mar 23, 2026 +13
I think you pretty much nailed it. I want to add that men like Mr. Vinyard would see themselves as American patriots. He would probably talk about how his family fought the Nazis in WWII. Skinheads/Aryan National/Neo-Nazis would be seen by him as white trash criminals. At the same time Mr. Vinyard would have lost it if Derek or his sister dated someone who was not White. It is possible that the Vinyards would have moved into an all white area and Derek would become MAGA like his Dad.
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brainkandy87 Mar 23, 2026 +6
I just want to note, at the time this movie came out we called people like his dad a racist dickhead, bigoted a******, or some variation of that. I think it’s somewhat amusing and mostly ironic we just refer to that behavior as MAGA now.
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ryvern82 Mar 23, 2026 +4
Hillary was right.
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Dependent-Laugh-3792 Mar 23, 2026 +21
Derek wouldn’t have any reason to get drawn in to that skinhead gang if his dad hadn’t died
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histprofdave Mar 23, 2026 +10
Nazis and skinheads were seen as "trashy" because of the image and behavior associated with them, even though they believed many of the same basic things as working class racists like Mr. Vinyard. This goes back to the difference between the Klan, which was seen as affiliated with white trash, and the White Citizens Councils, which were seen as genteel and respectable, despite supporting all of the same policies. It seems to make a big difference for white folks about whether you "say the quiet part loud," or at least it did, maybe less so now that white nationalist rhetoric is mainstream in the Republican Party.
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escapingfromelba Mar 23, 2026 +2
I suppose what's happened is that people have become so polarised that there's a lot of thinking or team A or team B, rather than the reality where people sit along a very long scale. Casual working class racism when you are getting pushed around in life yourself doesn't mean you are in the same bucket as the lunatics that sucker in a lost kid by taking advantage of those ideas, but perhaps as time has gone that part of the film is less obvious. What is interesting with many films is just how the context of the era becomes lost. That could be little details like a social situation through to the politics/worries of the population never even mentioned in the film that fed into why it became a hit, through to social attitudes.
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nachodorito Mar 23, 2026 -13
Derek's dad was more than a casual racist I think if anything Derek's involvement in the group would have brought the dad in as a member
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rickayyy Mar 23, 2026 +3
What makes you think that?
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nachodorito Mar 23, 2026 -3
He was saying some pretty racist shit at the dinner table and it seemed like he was getting more and more extreme as he got older
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rickayyy Mar 23, 2026 +3
That's the only scene we get to see of Mr Vineyard and I think the commenter you responded to is right- he was your typical 90's casual racist. He says that he doesn't agree with affirmative action but he isn't throwing around any slurs or getting all heated or anything like the scene where Derek loses his shit at the very same dinner table. Those scenes are a good contrast of difference between Derek and his father's beliefs and how his father's casual racism (mixed with his murder) could lay that foundation that lead his own son to turn into a nazi. I don't think there's enough there to suggest he would have supported and followed Derek into a nazi skinhead gang.
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Jykaes Mar 23, 2026 +2
>He says that he doesn't agree with affirmative action but he isn't throwing around any slurs Broadly I think you're right but just to pull you up on this, he drops a hard N word in this scene.
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rickayyy Mar 23, 2026 +1
I just went and rewatched it and you are correct, I completely forgot about that one. I stand corrected.
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Fine-Ad2429 Mar 23, 2026 +13
Derek’s dad was prejudiced and bigoted but he was not a Nazi. I doubt he would have approved of the white power c*** or the influence Cameron had over Derek.
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Old_Treat4871 Mar 23, 2026 -11
so dereks dad and cameron wouldn't get together and go bowling?
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rickayyy Mar 23, 2026 +5
Derek leaned into the skinhead stuff because of his father's murder. If he were still alive, Derek probably doesn't go that deep and probably leans more into Sweeney's teaching.
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CaliforniaLove11 Mar 23, 2026 +5
The forshadowing scene with Dr Sweeney and Danny in Dr Sweeney’s office is some of the best most powerful scenes in the whole movie. It’s so well done.
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Syric13 Mar 23, 2026 +10
This is gonna sound odd, but Derek is like Peter Parker. And Derek's dad is Uncle Ben. Peter Parker doesn't become Spider-Man without the murder of his Uncle, and Derek doesn't become a Nazi skinhead without the murder of his father. I don't think his dad would be proud or happy about it because he wouldn't see it. And if he does see it, he will be against it because he is smart enough to know guys like Cameron are grifters. He wants Derek to be successful. He knows Derek cannot succeed if he is a skinhead and has a Nazi tattoo and is open about racism. In the 90s, these were the David Duke's of the world, they had a bullhorn and a corner, but they weren't a threat. Now you get your own podcast and 7 figure deal and probably a cabinet position.
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TampaSLW Mar 23, 2026 +6
Got me. Go talk to Dr. Sweeney
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scooby946 Mar 23, 2026 +2
This movie was one of the reasons I don't trust Edward Norton. He was just too convincing.
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Geth_ Mar 26, 2026 +1
He was only convincing as a racist? Because he was--but so was his redemption. And Edward Norton seems okay, he's pretty well informed and encourages educated, civil engagement. He's spoken out recently and seems like an adult in the room.
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[deleted] Mar 23, 2026 -2
[deleted]
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diegotown177 Mar 23, 2026 +1
I don’t think it was like that. Dad was the socially acceptable racist. He was a family man, a firefighter, and probably well regarded by most of his neighbors. He was doing well enough in life that he wasn’t going to join the klan, but just bigoted and entitled enough to say how he actually felt. I encounter guys like this regularity at my part time job. While I don’t think they’re necessarily bad people through and through, I know enough to keep my distance.
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the_flat_man Mar 23, 2026 -3
The old man was in the closet about everything. He may have believed the shit he spewed but he wasn't convincing. That's why derek was so open, he didn't believe it, but he wanted to be what his dad wasn't. His dad worked with and communicated with "those people" every day without doing anything about it. derek did something and regretted it instantly, when he realized how stupid it was. Hypocritical bullshit all around.
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rickayyy Mar 23, 2026 +5
I assume you're referring to the curb stomping when you say Derek did something stupid and immediately regretted it? If so, he most definitely did not regret it immediately. He had a giant smile on his face as he was being arrested and still very much held his beliefs once inside prison. He quickly joined up with the other skinheads until he had a falling out with them over Mitch doing deals with a Mexican inmate. Derek didn't start to question his own beliefs until the head skinhead raped him for disrespecting the gang.
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[deleted] Mar 23, 2026 -4
[deleted]
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Dependent-Laugh-3792 Mar 23, 2026 +17
He was a firefighter
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Broontock182 Mar 23, 2026 +2
YOU ARE CORRECT! Totally remembered that wrong.
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MikeSu1997 Mar 23, 2026 -2
Swastikas and shaved heads are corny.
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alienclone Mar 23, 2026 -5
That would probably depend on which "afterlife" his father is looking in on him from, because I would think that where he wants his son to end up upon death could influence his opinion on what kind of life he wants his son to live.
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[deleted] Mar 22, 2026 -28
[deleted]
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Sakarabu_ Mar 22, 2026 +14
Because he felt like having a discussion about it? What an odd question to post on a forum.
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thereelkrazykarl Mar 22, 2026 +10
Because it's tagged discussion probably.
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bobby_briggs Mar 23, 2026 +9
why not?
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alienclone Mar 23, 2026 +5
because the description of this sub says "Come on in and talk about movies with us!" American History X is a movie, and a damn good one at that.
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MalIntenet Mar 23, 2026 +3
Beats talking about Degrassi
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Straightwad Mar 23, 2026 +5
It’s a movie and this is a sub about movies.
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