Episode 2057: KEEN ON America featuring R. Derek Black
How seriously should we take the white nationalist threat in the United States? Very seriously, at least according to R. Derek Black, a young man who knows a thing or two about the US white nationalist movement. The son of a Grand Wizard of the KKK and a close family friend of David Duke, Black believes that white nationalism is no longer a fringe feature of the Trumpist Republican party. And it’s this fear of the mainstreaming of overt racism that triggered Black’s new book, The Klansman’s Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism, an account of his rebellion not just against racism, but against his family, particularly his Grand Wizard father, Don Black.
Derek Black is an American former white supremacist. He is the son of Don Black, founder of the Stormfront online community, and godson of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. He publicly renounced white nationalism and chronicled his personal journey away from his family's beliefs.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Can Billionaire Backlash Save Democracy? Pepper Culpepper on our Age of Corporate Scandal
Yes, It's Fascism: Jon Rauch on Trump and the F Word
Californian True Crime: A Killing in Cannabis
Rage in the American Republic
Documenting America: How to See Beyond the Algorithm
Whoosh! That Really Was a Week in Tech: Winner-Take-All AI and the $1 Trillion Selloff
Catching More Than Passes From Bobby: Stephen Schlesinger on what RFK Can Still Teach America
Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Andrew Guthrie Ferguson on Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance
To Catch a Fascist: The Ethics of Unmasking the Radical Right
How Meat Can Save the Planet: The Vegan Case
It's Always Exploding Somewhere: Why No Weapon Is Ever Perfect
Where's the Countercultural Outrage to Trump?
AI's Adolescent Crisis: And It's Still Just a Toddler