Last Tuesday I attended the talk given by TJ, I never did get his last name. At first sight of him he seems like a nice guy, a fatherly figure. You would never know just looking at him that he used to be a part of the white supremacist movement. He began his talk with a warning to the audience, that he may at times use foul language, or use language that would make him sound like he was boasting. I was unsure of what he meant at first about the second part but I continued to listen. He began by talking about his life when he was young, how his life as a white supremacist began at punk rock shows.

He talked about growing up in a white town that was also the headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan, and the birth place of the Hell's Angel's biker gang. He talked about beating up Hispanics, Asians, white kids that they called “fags” that wandered into his neighborhood. About how he could get away with these beatings because everyone was so afraid of the gangsters that they wouldn't talk to the police. It was here that I understood the second part of his warning, if I had not known that he was no longer a racist, I would imagine he was boasting about it, not because he said it with pride or joy, but at the immense detail that he said it with. How he could almost act out the scene during a particularly brutal beating he and his friends gave one kid. How he remembered all of the injuries that kid left with.

Eventually, in order to stay away from the police and prison, he joined the marines. He had a lot to say about the marines and the army. About how he would pass out white supremacist books while in his uniform, about the tattoos he had all over his body of symbols of white supremacy. There was a swastika, the crossed hammers of the Hammerskin nation, white power, skin head, and even on his neck were the Nazi SS bolts on his neck that were visible even while in his uniform. Eventually he was discharged “other than honorably” due to his drinking and fighting. I'll let you come to your own conclusion about that.

One thing that struck me about when he was talking about the army, was how young men would enter the army as non-racists. But they had been recruited by racists soldiers and while they were in the army were taught racism and eventually left the army as racists. He spoke of about four or five young men like this who, after they left the army, caused destruction killing many people. This was our US army that taught them the skills to do this, that made them this way. It makes one think twice when they watch the recruitment commercials on TV.

When finally it came time for him to tell us what made him change, it really was no surprise to me. It was his children, his sons who made him want to change. He did not want them to become second generation racist, who would grow up to be violent and constantly in and out of jail. So he got out. He got help, he went back to his mother. He started the group StrHATE Talk counseling. A group that counsels against racism and bigotry through education. I was sad to hear that he was not able to get custody of his five sons away from their mother who is still a white supremacist.

I was really glad to have gone to this talk, and urge anyone who can to listen to him. He has an honesty about him, a willingness to believe in what he says, because he has lived through it. I would recommend anyone who wants to to check out his group's website: strhatetalk.com.

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