Blood in the Face (1991). First Run Features. This film is available at the Center for Holocaust, Genocide & Peace Studies.

I don't remember viewing too many videos that shocked me as much as Blood in the Face. I have seen various TV programs dealing with white supremacy organizations, but none are as vividly realistic and frightening as this one. Before watching this video, I was vaguely aware of the seriousness of such racist organizations, but certainly not to the extent that this video makes apparent.

The producers of this video went to the core of the white supremacy movement with the intent of showing what it is really like. They attended meetings and rallies of various groups, and wanted to show how organized some of these groups actually are. During their meetings, members of the various groups made inflammatory racist speeches - not only to preach their hatred of minorities, but also to suggest punishment for "racial traitors." I could not believe hearing one man proudly and energetically yell, "I hate Jews, and I hate Blacks!" And as if on cue, after this outburst, the crowd spontaneously and enthusiastically burst into a frenzy of praises and applause.

It is a truly scary thing to hear some of the members' suggestions on how they plan to spread their vitriolic message. One member suggested the use of comic books aimed at younger high school students. He also states the need for serious "scholarly" works to be published, through which their ideas could be spread. Although most of their fears and beliefs seem groundless and irrational, the members of these racist groups are quite methodical in their approach on seeking new converts. They are willing to reach out to younger students easily susceptible to their ideology.

Many of the group members when interviewed went into some detail in an effort to rationalize why minorities are sub-human. They explained that God has chosen the whites to be His people, and that the rest of mankind are "liars, thieves, and creatures of Satan." The one explanation that I find especially ridiculous is the claim that only whites can blush and thus show "blood in the face." Other races - according to them - cannot blush like the whites.

While sitting through this video, I heard more expressions of delusional paranoia in the seventy minutes it took to watch this video than I had in my entire life. The belief that the United States was being controlled by minorities, and especially by Jews with an "anti-Caucasian" agenda, seems to be firmly implanted in the minds of most of the people in this film. I believe there was even a reference to some sort of "white genocide." These racist groups hold on to a variety of fears and phobias. To them the Viet Cong, Russians, and communist forces in general are all "out there" in large numbers right in the middle of North America, ready to attack them. I used to find it hard to believe that people could be so gullible. I find frightening the fact how militant and well equipped these groups are with various kind of weapons. Almost half of the members wear military apparel and most carry guns.

In the past, I had some difficulty believing that so many people could subscribe to these ridiculous, paranoid, hateful, groundless, and arrogant beliefs. Part of the reason for the perpetuation of these beliefs is that the children of these families tend to follow in their parents' footsteps. This became painfully obvious to me as I watched the video. As group members discussed their views at a picnic table, their children played innocently next to them. As the crowd cheered at the hate rallies, babies could be overheard crying. To me, that is the scariest point that this video Blood in the Face has brought to my attention. As one member put it, "We've planted a seed, and that seed will become a tree, and that tree will bear fruit."

Philippe Tousignant
HGPS 201 - Spring 1999