Reflections of a former white supremacist

[struggle4progress]

2015-08-28 15:59
Arno Michaelis

... A taste for violence cultivated since being a first grade school bus bully had a lot to do with me getting involved in white supremacy; violence that tasted much better if I was able to convince myself that it was justified.

Early on the thrill of dominating someone else, and the ensuing consternation of parents and teachers, was plenty of justification. As I grew older, I found that the thrill was magnified immensely when it happened in the context of an "us" versus "them" narrative ...

Throughout my punk days and early on in my skinhead phase there were fights where I was attacked because of the way I chose to look. Beating those attackers to within an inch of their life felt really good. But rather than imagine what it would be like to be attacked for my skin colour, instead of just my style of dress and hairdo, I bought into the construct of race wholeheartedly and sought to justify my own attacks on innocent people according to the illusion of separation that it empowered ...

But the most powerful moments that fed the growing sense of exhaustion that led me away from hate were ones rooted in love. Time after time during my seven year stint in hate groups, I was graced with kindness and forgiveness by people I was openly hostile to because of who they were. Refusing to let my inhumanity diminish theirs, people like a Jewish boss, a lesbian supervisor, and black and Latino co-workers modelled what it means to be a human being, when I least deserved, but most needed such a lesson ...

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Reflections-of-a-former-white-supremacist-20150828

[marble falls]

1. You certainly get to read the good stuff first. Thankyou for sharing .....

When I was young I learned racism from my loving and wonderful grandfather. I was brought up in the days of B/W TV. I loved Nat King Cole and Mudcat Grant. I never knew they were black because everybody on TV was gray.

I never learned about white and black or white and negro; I learned about us and "n..........". I had seen black people in life - I lived in 1950's Cleveland, Ohio, but I thought of them as us, not as the scary "n........".

Kids have to be taught hate. Some how I was too dumb to get it.

Thankyou, once again, for sharing the good stuff.

[awoke_in_2003]

2. Thank you

Earlier I saw this, skimmed your post, and almost rec'ed. Instead, I bookmarked it for later. I am glad I did. I read the whole thing, and gladly give a rec.