Confronting Hate

Buds and I are trying to learn to take advantage of living in a college town.

This week we headed to campus to see “Confronting Hate, Christian Picciolini, reformed Neo-Nazi.”

His wikipedia page explains, “Christian Marco Picciolini is an American former extremist who is the founder of the Free Radicals Project, a global network working to prevent extremism and help people disengage from hate movements.”

Several things he said jumped out at us.

“If it had been a coach, I would have gone with them. If it had been a mentor, I would have gone with them. Heck, if it had been a ballet instructor I would have been the best ballet dancer they’d ever seen. Instead it was a white supremacist (skinhead) in an alley with a pamphlet.”

He talked about people wanting, needing, craving connection, and they’ll get it wherever they can find it.

He came from an Italian immigrant family and he certainly wasn’t taught hate at home, but he didn’t feel connected to his family, and that made all the difference.

And finally, when discussing what a difference social media and the internet has made, he said, “The internet is a 24-hour hate buffet if you are hungry.”

I’m glad we went, though it was certainly a “preaching to the choir” crowd.