American History X

American History X

‘American History X’ is a movie made in 1998 is a controversial movie about racism in America and the manipulability of modern day youth. This movie shows the effects the main character had on his younger brother and what his brother went though because of what he grew up in. There father was a firefighter and one day as he was fighting out a fire he was brutally murdered by a black drug dealer. Because of the incident that occurred with his father, Derek is strained towards the neo-Nazi movement. One day Derek cruelly murdered two black men as he caught them breaking into his truck left to him by his father. Because of his actions he was sentenced to three years in jail. After experiencing life behind bars Derek did not want his brother to go down the same path as him. The neo-Nazi group commits acts of intimidation and does this by damaging a Korean owned stores or by challenging black players to basketball games to win the court as territory. Derek eventually is released from jail and one day he walks his brother Danny to school, little did he know this would be the last time he does that. Danny had an argument the day before with a black student and ran into this student the following day in the washroom. The student got his revenge by shooting and killing Danny.

Watching this movie made me question not only what America has come to, but what the world has come to. Racism is something experienced all over the world today and will always be experienced. In today’s world it is very easy for children and individuals to be manipulated by stereotypes through the media. This film displays how destructive racism can be to anyone. One of the most disturbing scenes from this movie was when Derek drags a wounded black gangster to the concrete in front of his house to stomp on his skill, and as the cops escort him away he grins at his younger brother as if he had done nothing wrong. Sometimes people realize that hating towards another race is...