The Klansman's Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism

 Join us for an extraordinary conversation with author Adrianne (formerly R Derek) Black about The Klansman's Son, followed by a moderated discussion about ways to overcome racism, antisemitism and other prejudices. Autographed copies of The Klansman’s Son will be available for sale after the event, courtesy of our partners at Longfellow Books. Registration opens on February 3rd.

From the former heir-apparent to white nationalism, The Klansman’s Son is an astonishing memoir of a childhood built on fear, then breaking from a community of hate.

When coded language and creeping authoritarianism spread white nationalist ideas, this is an essential book with a powerful voice. Adrianne (formerly Derek) Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Adrianne's father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started Stormfront, the internet’s first white supremacist website—Adrianne built the kids’ page. David Duke was also a close family friend and mentor. Racist hatred, often wrapped up in respectability, was all Adrianne knew.

While in col­lege, Adrianne was exposed to oth­er points of view. Her new friends were peo­ple of col­or, queer peo­ple, Jew­ish peo­ple — one of whom she dat­ed, and anoth­er of whom host­ed the Shab­bat din­ners she reg­u­lar­ly attend­ed. Soon Adrianne began to expe­ri­ence an exis­ten­tial cri­sis: she still loved and want­ed to please her par­ents, yet she couldn’t help see­ing the human­i­ty of her peers. Adrianne publicly renounced white nationalism and apologized for her actions and the suffering that she had caused. Most of her family stopped speaking to her, and she disappeared into academia, convinced that she had done so much harm that there was no place for her in public life. But in 2016, as she watched the rise of Donald Trump, she immediately recognized what she was hearing—the spread and mainstreaming of the hate she had helped to cultivate—and she knew that she couldn’t stay silent.

The Klansman's Son is a thoughtful, insightful, and moving account of a singular life, with important lessons for our troubled times. Adrianne can trace a uniquely insider account of the rise of white nationalism, and how a child indoctrinated with hate can become an anti-racist adult. Few understand the ideology, motivations, or tactics of the white nationalist movement like Adrianne, and few have ever made so profound a change.

Adrianne Black is currently a doctoral student in history at the University of Chicago, researching the medieval and early modern origins of the concept of race and of racist hierarchies and ideologies. Since 2016, she has spoken to many audiences at universities, foundations, institutions, museums, synagogues, and churches. She was honored with the first Elie Wiesel Award, given by the Wiesel family after the Nobel Peace Laureate’s passing, and also received a humanitarian award from the Anti-Defamation League. She has been profiled in the Washington Post, People, and O!, and interviewed for Fresh Air, The Daily, On Being, The Daily Show, and elsewhere. The Klansman's Son is Adrianne's first book.