Tj Leyden: Turning Away from Hate

Last night Hillel presented Turning Away from Hate: Confessions of an Ex-Neo Nazi, an event which I’d been helping to organize.

TJ Leyden, the speaker, was a major recruiter for the Hammerskins southern California unit, personally converting eighty-some kids to the White Power Movement. He would use divisional tactics like stuffing racist propaganda into black students lockers at nearby middle and high schools, and then when the black students struck out at the white students whom they thought had done it, TJ would use their behavior to convince white kids that they were all violent and needed to be shown their place. Once kids joined the group, TJ and the other members would pick on them mercilessly, until finally they agreed to “prove” their commitment with a hate crime, after which they were accepted as family.

Groups like these have been growing extremely fast in the recent decade, largely due to their expert use of the internet as a way to connect children who feel lonely and angry, giving them a place they feel they belong. They also know to push the idea of separatism, as opposed to racism, and are not opposed to working with Black or Hispanic hate groups for their common goal of dividing the country.

TJ first began doubting his beliefs in the Skinhead organization when his three year old son jumped off the couch one morning while they were watching Gully Gully and turned off the tv, saying “we don’t watch shows with niggers in this house!” At first TJ said he was impressed and proud of his son for being so conscious of race at such a young age, but then he thought about what that would mean for his future. TJ knew several second generation skinheads, and many of them had very distorted views about the world. Over the next 18 months, TJ began to understand the Skinheads did not really believe in White Power, they just believed in hate, and he decided to leave.

Since then, he has worked with the Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance and given hundreds of speeches a year at schools all over America. He also assisted in editing the film American history X and recently published a book, Skinhead Confessions. In his personal life, he has successfully raised all five of his sons to be tolerant and respectful of all different people. While he can never undo the crimes he committed as a member of the Hammerskins, TJ has since been risking his life to make a significant and positive impact by helping gang members to get out, aiding law enforcement in cracking down on hateful organizations, and encouraging everyone he speaks to to become a mentor, so that there will be fewer lonely children for Skinhead groups and gangs to prey on.

If you would like to learn more about TJ Leyden and his story please visit his website http://www.strhatetalk.com/strhatetalk.html and check out his blog http://formerskinhead.blogspot.com/.

And if you are interested in decreasing the number of people involved in hate groups or in minimizing the number of hate crimes, make a conscious effort to make those around you feel valued and to object when you witness something that is racist or bigoted.