Continuing the examination begun in Beyond Hate (reviewed in the September 1991 issue), Bill Moyers interviews noted author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in Facing Hate, and covers the 1990 trial of white supremacists Tom and John Metzger in Portland, Oregon in Hate On Trial. Elie Wiesel, who was taken to Auschwitz along with his family at the age of 15, would later become such a powerful advocate for peace and human rights that he would be awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 1986. Grappling with this incomprehensible event we call the Holocaust, Wiesel calls his own survival a mere accident, and explains why he feels the Holocaust caused "faith" (not "belief") in God to die. Basically, here was a God who could not be trusted. Although by the end of the interview Wiesel and Moyers appear to be on the same track, during much of the conversation they seem to be talking at cross-purposes. Moyers has an almost dogged attachment to the word "hate," which Wiesel refuses to use, preferring "anger" instead. Ultimately, we begin to question, ourselves, what the word "hate" really means (which is not necessarily a bad thing, it's just not the primary intent of the program). All in all, Facing Hate provides stimulating if not always focused conversation. Hate On Trial takes viewers into the courtroom where Tom and John Metzger, leaders of California-based White Aryan Resistance (WAR), were charged in a civil suit contending they were liable for incitement in the murder of Ethiopian student Mulugeta Seraw. Seraw was beaten to death by three skinheads in Portland, Oregon. The skinheads were under the direction of Dave Mazzella, a vice president of the youth arm of WAR, possibly sent by the Metzgers to Portland to organize and perpetrate violence. Prosecutor Morris Dees presents a compelling case, and the Metzgers, representing themselves, counter with an eerily disturbing argument based on First Amendment protection. Periodically, the courtroom proceedings are interrupted, and Moyers and a group of "experts" comment on the course of the trial thus far (a procedure which is, at first, not only annoying, but rather removed from the issues at stake in the trial; eventually, however, the "experts" move beyond personal and/or surface concerns to address the larger issues). One of the most disturbing aspects of the trial comes when Mazella--a former punk who went around kicking people of color in the face and seemed to have no redeeming value whatsoever beyond turning fink for the prosecution--talks about his and the Metzgers appearances on the talk show circuit: Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Oprah Winfrey, Morton Downey Jr., etc. (This is more than a sad commentary on our media, it's an awful reflection on ourselves.) With the built-in suspense inherent in a courtroom presentation, Hate On Trial is a fascinating look at a First Amendment battle that admits the lines of demarcation are not as black and white as the ACLU sometimes pretends. Hate On Trial is highly recommended. Facing Hate is recommended. [Note: a boxed set entitled the Beyond Hate Trilogy is also available with the above two titles and Beyond Hate for $99.95.] (Available from most distributors.)
Facing Hate; Hate On Trial
(1991) 60 min. $29.95. Mystic Fire Video. Public performance rights included. Color cover. Vol. 7, Issue 7
Facing Hate; Hate On Trial
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