Beyond Hate

90 minutes, color
Source: out of print

Bill Moyers examines the historical, philosophical and psychological roots of hatred.

1. The Heart of Hatred (52 minutes):
This program features conversations with a variety of people who have explored the heart of hatred. A Los Angeles gang member uses hate as a survival weapon. White supremacist leader Tom Metzger defends his policies of hate both in a court of law and in interviews. A former Israeli soldier tells how he disguised himself as a Palestinian in order to better understand the source of his own hatred. High school students in Bensonhurst, New York discuss the beating death of a black youth in their neighborhood, and Myrlie Evers, wife of assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers, talks about her own triumph over hate after her husband's death. A man who physically abused his wife is presented as an example of people who act hatefully when their identity and self-esteem are threatened.

2. Learning to Hate (39 minutes):
In this program, Moyers focuses on how children learn to hate, and how attitudes toward hatred differ from culture to culture. An international training center teaches young people the tools for dialogue and understanding, high school students analyze the origins of hatred against gays, and a Holocaust survivor teaches children how stereotyping breeds hatred, and how that hatred can lead to persecution. Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel, Vaclav Havel, Li Lu, and Mairead Corrigan Maguire share their own experiences with hatred and discuss the resolve that helped them deal with it.