American History X displays many controversial issues such as racism and prejudice. The story revolves around Derek, who is a white supremacist that changes his ways when someone points out to him that all his campaigning only served to make his life even worse than it had been before. A major influence on Derek in this movie was his high school English teacher Mr. Sweeney. Derek had always placed Sweeney on a Pedestal and had a great deal of respect for him. Despite Derek?s hatred for blacks throughout the movie, Derek still continued to admire and respect Sweeney.

Sweeney was Derek?s English teacher while Derek?s father was still alive. Derek learned a great deal from Sweeney and was intrigued by the material Sweeney taught. Sweeney had Derek reading books such as ?Native Son?, that were thought provoking in the areas of racism, pride, and various forms

Derek?s big personal change took place while he was in prison. He realized that all of his dreadful behavior was pointless and did not benefit anyone. Sweeney and his black inmate friend were huge influences on Derek. They both showed him that good black people do exist. Although he spent so much of his time hating the black race the two people that contributed positively to his personal growth and character were both African Americans.

Derek once told his family how great of a teacher Sweeney was and the sort?s of things he had learned from him. When Derek?s father learned of the African American influence Sweeney had on Derek he was outraged. He came down on Derek and forced him to not believe what he was being taught and to realize that Whites are superior to blacks. This influence from his father was the start of Derek?s destructive behavior. From that point on Derek began to hate blacks. Any propaganda that was branded into Derek?s mind was

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 645
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)