If a neo-Nazi's heart can soften, perhaps anything is possible.
A recent Washington Post article details the shift of Derek Black, son of Stormfront founder Don Black, from hardline white supremacist to stone-cold liberal during his attendance at New College in Florida.
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If you're unfamiliar with Stormfront, envision the worst possible cesspool of distilled bigotry in the form of a message board, emblazoned with Nazi imagery and scattered with white supremacist ideology. This was the sort of environment Derek Black was steeped in, raised in. From childhood to the very beginning of college, Derek had been a poster child of white nationalism.
Whether coding a version of the Stormfront kids' website from adolescence, to starring with his father in radio shows, it seemed that Derek's fate was set in stone - he would become a smarter, more technically capable iteration of his father. He was sent to the very liberal campus of New College in Florida with the expectation that he would rock their world, convert a few students, "give those liberal professors hell", so to say.
So much for that.
Derek's seemingly impossible paradigm shift was mostly thanks to the efforts of his newly made friends, an unsurprisingly diverse group of individuals whom Derek had preached persistent hate towards for the first twenty years of his life but had scarcely interacted with prior to his college transfer.
Kudos to them, but this tale necessitates a few questions - namely, does being a minority necessitate teaching one's oppressors, tempering our own anger and hurt in order to instruct people who should know better?
We do live in a globalized world where exposure to minority groups seems inevitable, and racist, sexist, x-phobic sentiments can be debunked a Google search away. Life is hard enough as it is (student loans, anyone?). For marginalized groups, it's even more difficult, and plopping atop that long list of difficulties the burden of educating bigots? It can only add to the daily duress.
Yes, stories like Derek's shows that with time and rigor, even the most brainwashed can be changed for the better. But these are the exception and not the norm. To expect minorities to show empathy and extend a hand to the very same people who dehumanize them, who would vote for policies to actively make their lives worse, seems condescending.
The perception that we must all hold hands and sing kumbaya is cute, but in the face of active and daily oppression, it seems foolish. While I don't pray for pain and suffering to be inflicted on, let's say, Trump supporters, or Stormfront members, or skinheads, sometimes my exhaustion leads me to say "fuck 'em."
Does this mean we shouldn't make any effort to reeducate? Well, no. Rather, we must redirect our efforts, and shoulder the burden equally, minority or not, privileged or not. Young people, in particular, are worth persuading, as they have a greater capacity of influencing widespread political decision. In general, the more on the fence a person is, and the more wiling they are to listen to rational arguments, the more worth it is to change their mind. Even very, very bigoted individuals can be softened up through exposure to groups they hate, such as with Derek, but such an endeavor must be made by a collective.
In the end, it is powerful and heartwarming to hear an "I'm sorry". And it feels good to say, "it's okay". But it's a process that takes time, that not everyone can be expected to undertake. If we can all agree to engage in this social project, then the weight on our shoulders is lifted, and we can breathe easier.
