MovieChat Forums > American History X (1998) Discussion > Was Derek's semi racist dad jealous of D...

Was Derek's semi racist dad jealous of Dr.Sweeney


He really seemed to be jealous of Derek's admiration for Dr.Sweeney.

reply

No. He was fed up with affirmative action hires watching his back at his dangerous firefighting job. And in the end, he was eventually killed on the job.

reply

Dereks Dad lived in the real world and Sweeny lived behind his desk only knowing what looks good on paper but doesn't work out in real life.

reply

Derek’s dad was fed up with the politically correct culture that promoted two guys because of the color of their skin...even though they were objectively less qualified.

Guys like Sweeney...products of the aforementioned affirmative action saw the world through a different lens. The lens of entitled behavior, the lens of “reparations.”

Derek’s dad may have been technically less “educated” on paper than Sweeney...but he had more real world knowledge and experiences.

Sadly his words of wisdom to Derek at the dinner table proved prophetic when he got killed by a drug dealer he was trying to help(putting out a fire in the guys building). In all likelihood it was a meth lab that went up in flames. And blue collar, hard working guys like Derek’s dad were called on to help out people that simply shot at them for trying to save their lives.

No wonder Derek got radicalized and became a race realist. That interview he gave after his dad was shot was gut wrenching and laden with truth bombs.

reply

Except affirmative action doesn’t mean that less qualified people are going to be hired. How did Derek’s dad even know they’re unqualified? Did he see the test scores? He was just making assumptions because they were minorities. Derek’s dad was a racist.

reply

Uh he literally said they scored lower. Idk probably as a senior ranking fireman he was privy to certain information like recruit test scores.

That’s exactly what affirmative action is. That’s what happens in college admissions.

reply

And how do you know he’s a reliable narrator? He’s already an idiot who doesn’t know how programs like that work, so I doubt his interpretation of test scores is reliable.

It’s a violation of an affirmative action program to hire unqualified people for a position over a qualified person. That’s not at all how it works.

reply

Well we have to go with what the movie gives us. Not with your speculations. He was a senior firefighter...and had the experience to gauge who was the best candidate. Politics deemed it was two black guys who scored lower on the test.

And yeah affirmative action punishes those who are better in favor of those who aren’t:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-uncomfortable-truth-about-affirmative-action-and-asian-americans/amp

reply

And what the movie gives us is a character who is merely speculating that they are unqualified. There is no direct evidence other than his opinion, which is highly suspect.

Like I said, it is against policy for a department to hire an unqualified person in a paid position. No where in your article does it mention anything about unqualified firefighters being hired because they’re minorities.

reply

He didn’t say unqualified...they just scored lower. They could have passed the test...but I’d rather have someone who got a 90 on their test watching my back than someone who got an 80.

reply

Well that would actually be a violation of the Civil Rights act. A company would not be legally allowed to hire someone based on their race. Maybe the white candidates didn’t pass the physical exam as well as the black candidates. At the end of the day, we cannot trust that what Derek’s dad is saying is truthful. In fact, it’s most likely lies.

reply

agreed but that faggot will argue against anything to justify his prejuiced attitude.

reply

It’s not a company, it’s a local government. Damn you niggas are dumb.

reply

slapped. didn't read faggot

reply

You're blind to reality ---- Get out of your Ivory tower

reply

They have meth labs in the hood? I always thought that there was a random fire in the hood and some of the local gang bangers took exception to firefighters being there and decided to make an example of him. Fire fighters here often get attacked by feral youths, especially in ethnic minority neighbourhoods.

reply

Where in Malmö?

reply