While we’re all looking forward to voting Donald Trump out of the news cycle next month, there are still a lot of urgent questions about the legacy he will leave behind when the dust has settled. Most concerning to any fair-minded observer is how his careless and blithely hateful rhetoric – together with his petty war against “political correctness” – has provided a mainstream platform for the country’s increasingly emboldened white supremacist groups.
In the lead up to his crushing loss at the polls, Jorge Ramos has joined up with Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Catherine Tambini to create Hate Rising: a powerful exploration the long-term implications of this disturbing phenomenon. Crossing the country through the small towns and rural areas where hatred is thriving, Jorge Ramos sits down with Neo-Nazis, members of the KKK, and representatives of the vocal alt-right community to see what exactly is making them tick – and how far they’re willing to go.
To balance out the narrative, Ramos also speaks with victims of high-profile instances of racial violence to understand what it’s like to be on the receiving end of hatred. Interviews are accompanied by handsomely shot observational footage of rallies, protests, and heated confrontations that lend a sense of frightening urgency to the material. In the end, Ramos leaves us with an unsettling exhortation: “We have to decide what kind of nation we want to be. If we don’t, we might become a different country, a dark country”
‘Hate Rising’ will air simultaneously in English on Fusion and in Spanish on Univision this Sunday, October 23 at 10 p.m.