Question: How did Sweeney know Derek got raped? How and why would Derek ask for his old history teacher to come visit him instead of anyone else, like his family?
Dra9onBorn117
8th Apr 2015
American History X (1998)
Answer: It's heavily implied that Sweeney, through his gang outreach initiatives which are mentioned in the police station scene, had a relationship with Derek in which he tried to get him out of the skinhead lifestyle. With the sexual assault and betrayal from his fellow skinheads being the catalyst for his skinhead "deprogramming", he called Sweeney because he knew that he wouldn't judge him and that he could talk to him about how his feelings about skinhead life had changed.
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Chosen answer: Someone would have told Sweeney what happened (guard, nurse etc.). Derek would have called Sweeney down because he did not want his family to know that he got raped, because it might make him look helpless and destroy his image. Sweeney was really the only person he knew that wasn't a skin-head.
Dra9onBorn117