"I'm a black man who just spoke with a former white supremacist"

[OneGrassRoot]

POWERFUL piece. I hope you'll take a few minutes to read.

Arno Michaelis was born in Milwaukee. He described himself as "an angry, bored teenager with a habit of provoking people." Similar to how some misguided inner-city kids turn to gangs, Arno began to embrace the white power narrative because it made him feel powerful.

"The swastika appealed to me because everyone else was so repulsed by it," he told me. "As a bully who lashed out at other kids rather than face the suffering I felt growing up in an alcoholic household, I distanced myself from my family and familiarized myself with hate and violence. The white power narrative gave it all a heroic context."

<snip>

"I was with my daughter's mother for about six months before we decided it was our duty as white people to bring white children into the world," said Arno, who was 21 when his daughter was born. "By the time she was a little over a year old, my relationship with her mother ended," he said. "That's when I made the decision to be a good dad first and foremost. Living a life filled with hate just wasn't possible if I wanted to do that."

Shortly thereafter, he felt a strange emotion that he never experienced before. Empathy.

http://www.upworthy.com/i-am-a-black-man-and-interviewed-a-former-white-supremacist-it-was-a-powerful-experience

[FLPanhandle]

1. Recc'ed

Great story.

[Rebkeh]

2. Love it. Thanks for sharing nt

[OneGrassRoot]

3. Sunday AM kick for a great Sunday AM read. n/t

[malaise]

4. We need more of these

Thanks OneGrassRoot