Jaclyn Miles

Sabatino Mangini Comp II 8:00am

April 27, 2015

Three Social Institutions that affected Derek Vineyards Life

Introduction
In the movie American History X, one of the main characters, Derek Vineyard,
struggled through many life obstacles but became a better person for himself and his
family after overcoming those obstacles. Derek went through life being surrounded by
many social institutions that shaped his views on life including, his community, his
family, and prison.

Social Institution #1 Community

Derek Vineyards community and neighborhood had a very large impact on his
life outcome and his racist views growing up. The neighborhood itself and the people
who resided in the neighborhood influenced Derek to hate anyone who was not a white
Protestant. The primary reason for this was because the community consisted of people
who believed that they were better than the blacks and other minorities since they were
native to that town. Derek believed that the whites should not be afraid to walk the streets
in their own community just because of those black people. Derek went to jail for the
murder of two black men and was to blame for himself going to jail because he decided
at an earlier age that that's how he wanted to live his life, having a hatred for blacks. In
Dereks defense, that is all he knew growing up so it was almost guaranteed that he

would keep the same viewpoints when transforming into adulthood. Growing up in a
community with certain influences of social behavior can have an impact on their
outcomes in life (Steele, 2010). According to an article on Rotten Outcomes and How
Impoverished Neighborhoods Influence the Life Trajectories of Children In the United
States, Neighborhoods are social environments where children experience life:
presenting risks and opportunities, offering or withholding resources necessary for
success, creating experiences with and beliefs about social institutions and their
representatives, and providing the ecology in which children develop into adults (2010).
In Dereks experience, he grew up in a community that consisted of gangs and hateful
people, both black and white, which influenced him to become a member of the DOC and
have such hatred towards black people and anyone who was not a white protestant. Steele
mentioned that, Social learning theories of crime suggest that children are more likely to
become juvenile delinquents if they live in a neighborhood that is overly-populated with
gang members, drug dealers, and other criminal mentors (2010).

Social Institution #2 Family

Growing up, Dereks father Denis Vineyard had a huge impact on their family
before he was murdered while on duty as a fireman. He so happened to be murdered by
black gang members, which could have been one of the main reasons that Derek became
a neo nazi and had a hatred for blacks. He carried much anger with him because his father
was an innocent man who was killed doing his job, helping others. One night before his
father died, the Vineyard family was sitting down eating dinner while Derek brought up
his history teacher, Mr. Sweeney, and what book they were reading and how he really

liked him as a teacher. His father became very defensive about him liking/having a black
teacher and told him,
All this stuff about making everything "equal..." it's not that simple. Now you've
got this book "Native Son." What happened to the other books in the course?
They're not good anymore because Mr. Two Ph.Ds says so? Now you got to trade
great books for black books? Does that make sense? You gotta question these
things, Der. You gotta look at the whole picture. We're talking about books...but
we're also talking about my job. I've got two black guys on my squad now who
got their job over a couple of white guys who actually scored higher on the test.
Does that make sense? Everything's "equal" now, but I've got two guys watching
my back...responsible for my life...who aren't as good. They only got the job
because they were black, not because they were the best. His father made his
views on blacks very clear and I believe that is where Dereks racism originated
from due to the tremendous impact his father had on him (MOVIE Quote DB,
2008).
From this one and only scene of Denis Vineyard, anyone can depict his views on black
people and how his views would influence his sons to believe in the same. (Need
research how parents views are passed to children)

Social Institution #3 Prison

Derek Vineyard was sentenced to prison for three and a half years for involuntary
manslaughter of two black men. He shot and killed the two men after his younger brother,
Danny, caught them breaking into his truck that used to be his fathers. While Derek

served his three and a half year sentence, his whole prospective on race and life took a
drastic change. He made it blatantly obvious that he was racist as soon as he entered
prison by taking off his t-shirt to show his swastika tattoo to the other inmates. He was
accepted and resided with a white racist group that took him into their group. He
experienced hypocrisy when he saw one member of his group doing business with
someone from a different group/gang that no one in their gang associated with. He stood
up for himself because he could no longer deal with keeping his mouth shut and letting
him get away it. He was tortured and brutally raped by the group of white gang members
he once resides in and was no longer wanted in the group because he dissed them in
front of the other inmates. In most cases of male sexual abuse in prisons, the abuse is
between white and black but can still happen between white and white (No Escape,
2001). According to a website on Male Rape in US Prisons, "The perpetrator may
initially appear to be a friend, even an apparent protector, but will take advantage of his
acquaintance with the victim to intimidate and coerce him into sexual contact" (2001).
Derek was in the last person in the shower room when a guard let the white gang
members in and shut the door so they could beat him and rape him which sadly happens
often in prisons. According to the Human Rights Watch,
Research revealed that sexual abuse by other inmates often occurred because
staff failed to adequately supervise inmates or respond appropriately to
complaints of unwanted sexual activity. In some prisons, staff tacitly as well as
explicitly condoned inmate-on-inmate abuse (US Justice Department, 2007).

After Derek was raped, his whole outlook on life began to take a turn, maybe not
for the best while in jail but for the best for whatever future he had to look forward to.
Professor Sweeny came to visit Derek in prison after the incident and preached to him
about his own experience in blaming other people for situations that happened to him and
his people:
There was a moment, when I used to blame everything and
everyone for all the pain and suffering and vile things that
happened to me, that I saw happen to my people. Used to blame
everybody. Blamed white people, blamed society, blamed God. I
didn't get no answers 'cause I was asking the wrong questions.
You have to ask the right questions (MOVIE Quote DB, 2008).
Derek followed by saying like what? Sweeny then asked, Has anything you've done
made your life better? (2008) Derek began to cry, shook his head and lowered it in
disbelief. He wanted to change his life for the better because he had finally came to the
realization that he has messed up multiple times in previous years and wanted to make a
better future for himself and his family. He created enough damage in his life and others
lives because of the anger he had within himself.
Derek worked with a young black male that ended up being the only person he
got along with in the prison, and was the only reason he made it out of prison alive. When
Derek was released, he explained to Danny the reason for his sudden change in racist
views was because of that black man and in turn, Danny and Derek took down all the
Nazi flags/posters in their bedroom because they no longer want to be associated with
that type of lifestyle.

Conclusion
Derek Vineyard experienced several obstacles and battles throughout his life. He
looked up to his father and took a walk in his racial footsteps for many years. He could
not bare to handle his fathers murder and built up a chest full of anger towards black
people after his father was killed. Derek was not afraid to stand up for what he believed
in and was proud to be a neo nazi until he served his three and a half year sentence in jail.
After being raped in jail, his whole outlook on life changed for the better. He wanted to
create a better life for himself and his family and would do whatever that may entail.

Works Cited
McKenna, David. American History X. Los Angeles, 1998. Retrieved
from:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120586/
"MOVIE Quote DB."American History X ... Movie Quotes Database. N.p., 2008. Web.
26 Apr. 2015.
"MOVIE Quote DB." American History X ... Movie Quotes Database. N.p., 2008. Web.
29 Apr. 2015.
"Predators and Victims." No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons. N.p., 2001. Web. 26
Apr. 2015.
Steele, Paul D. "Rotten Outcomes: How Impoverished Neighborhoods Influence The Life
Trajectories Of Children In The United States." Forum On Public Policy
Online 2010.4 (2010): ERIC. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
US Justice Department. "US: Federal Statistics Show Widespread Prison Rape." Human
Rights Watch. N.p., 16 Dec. 2007. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.