Quitting White Power Groups Can Be Hard...

MORE AND MORE ORGANIZATIONS ARE COMING UP WITH THE
INTENTION OF HELPING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE IN WHITE
NATIONALIST, OR WHITES FROM ASSIST GROUPS.
THE INTENTION IS TO HELP THEM GET OUT IF THEY NO LONGER
BELIEVE IN THAT IDEOLOGY, BUT ARE TOO AFRAID TO ADMIT IT.
SO, LIFE AFTER HATE IS ONE OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS, AND IT WAS
FOUNDED IN 2009, AND IT WAS REWARDED $400,000 BY THE JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT IN THE CLOSING DAYS OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
SO THAT'S GREAT, BUT IT'S KIND OF UNLIKELY THAT SOMEONE
LIKE DONALD TRUMP WOULD CONTINUE FUNDING AN ORGANIZATION
LIKE THAT, IT'S PROBABLY NOT ONE OF HIS PRIORITIES.
BUT THE GREAT THING ABOUT THIS ORGANIZATION IS, SINCE 2009,
THEY HAVE HELPED INDIVIDUALS REFORM THEIR IDEOLOGIES AND
GET OUT OF THESE VERY HATEFUL GROUPS.
THIS IS THEIR MISSION STATEMENT:
" WE ACT AS A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER.
WE UNDERSTAND THE MOTIVATIONS OF WHERE WE CAME FROM AND WHY
WE JOINED.
WE UNDERSTAND WHAT KEEPS PEOPLE IN.
AND WE KEEP EACH OTHER ñ AND WE HELPED ANOTHER DETACH AND
DISENGAGE FROM THAT IDEOLOGY, AND PROVIDE A SUPPORT
SYSTEM FOR THEM AS THEY GO THROUGH THAT TRANSFORMATION."
OKAY, SO, I LOVE THIS STORY NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY ARE
DOING, BUT BECAUSE IT GIVES YOU AN INSIGHT INTO WHY SO MANY
PEOPLE JOIN.
YES, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO JOIN BECAUSE THEY JUST HATE
MINORITIES, THAT'S CLEAR, BUT THERE ARE ALSO A LOT OF YOUNG
PEOPLE WHO JOIN BECAUSE THEY ARE ANGRY, AND THEY MIGHT COME FROM
BROKEN FAMILIES, AND THEY MIGHT FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE NO FRIENDS
OR ANYONE TO TURN TO, SO IT'S KIND OF LIKE THAT GANG MENTALITY
WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE THIS IS A FAMILY, WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU
ARE WITH PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND YOUR RAGE AND YOUR FRUSTRATION.
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED WITH ONE WOMAN WHO IS INVOLVED IN
THIS ORGANIZATION, WHO ACTUALLY JOINED A WHITE PREMISES
ORGANIZATION WHEN SHE WAS ONLY 14 YEARS OLD.
AND IT WASN'T UNTIL SHE WAS ADOPTED BY A LOVING FAMILY
THAT SHE REALIZED, I DON'T NEED TO BE PART OF THIS, I DON'T
EVEN REALLY BELIEVE IN THIS IDEOLOGY.
AND MY GUESS IS THAT THERE'S BUBBLE BE A LOT OF
VULNERABLE PEOPLE WHO GET SUCKED INTO GROUPS LIKE THIS.
YOU DON'T JOIN HATE GROUPS IF YOUR LIFE IS GOING GREAT.
SO, IF YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF MONEY, AND YOU ARE LOVED BY
YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS, YOU'RE NOT LIKE, WHO DO I HATE?
IT MIGHT HAPPEN FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT MOST OF THESE
FOLKS ARE BROKEN.
I ALWAYS WILL NEVER MLK'S QUOTE ABOUT, I'M NOT JUST COMING
TO RESCUE AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH, I'M COMING TO
LIBERATE THE RACISTS FROM THE HATRED IN THEIR HEART.
AND THESE FOLKS HAVE GOT SOME HATRED IN THEIR HEART FOR A
REASON, BECAUSE SOMETHING WENT WRONG IN THEIR LIVES.
SO I UNDERSTAND THAT.
I LIKE THAT THIS GROUP IS AROUND, JUST LIKE YOU ANA, IT'S
EASIER TO REACH THEM IF YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT THEY WENT
THROUGH, AND THEY TRUST YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PART OF THEIR
"WE."
SO, ESPECIALLY FOR CONSERVATIVES, AND YOU HAVE
TO UNDERSTAND THE MINDSET OF CONSERVATIVES ñ
AND I UNDERSTAND THINGS A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE I USED TO BE A
REPUBLICAN, AND FOR A SMALL OF TIME I WAS RELIGIOUS.
SO I KNOW HOW RELIGIOUS FOLKS VIEW THE WORLD, I KNOW HOW
REPUBLICANS VIEW THE WORLD, AND I CAN SPEAK TO THEM AS SOMEBODY
WHO LIVED THAT, ESPECIALLY THE REPUBLICANS.
SO IN THIS CASE, THE CONSERVATIVE MIND WORKS THIS
WAY: I WANT TO PROTECT EVERYBODY IN MY TRIBE, AND EVERYONE
WHO IS NOT IN MY TRIBE IS THE OTHER, AND THEY ARE DANGEROUS.
SO IT'S NOT THAT THEY ñ
I MEAN, THIS IS A HATE GROUP, SO THEIR WHOLE JOB IS TO HATE.
BUT FOR MOST REGULAR CONSERVATIVES, IT'S NOT
THAT THEY ARE MOST ñ IT'S NOT THAT THEY ARE MORE HATEFUL
THAN LIBERALS, FINGERS CROSSED.
FOR EXAMPLE, MORMONS ARE VERY CONSERVATIVE, BUT THEY ARE
GREAT TO THEIR FAMILIES.
BUT THEY VIEW THAT AS THE WE, SO IF YOU ARE PART OF THE WE,
YOU ARE OKAY.
IF YOU ARE PART OF THE OTHER, I'M COMING TO GET YOU AND
YOU ARE COMING TO GET ME.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S TRUE ABOUT MORMONS.
YOU DON'T HEAR ABOUT MORMONS GOING OUT OF THEIR WAY TO
BEHAVIORAL, TO BE HONEST.
NO, I'M JUST SAYING THEY ARE CONSERVATIVE.
I KNOW THIS IS A STRANGE STORY TO CONNECT IT TO, AND
EXTREME STORY TO CONNECTED TO BECAUSE THIS IS ABOUT HATE
GROUPS AND THEY ARE PARTICULARLY BROKEN, I UNDERSTAND THAT.
BY THE WAY, JUST TO BE FAIR TO EVERYONE THAT WE'RE TALKING
ABOUT IN THE STORY, I THINK THAT TRIBAL MENTALITY ALSO DOES
PLAY A ROLE WITH LIBERALS.
IF YOU ARE APPROACHED BY SOMEONE WHO HAD A SIMILAR IDEOLOGY
AS YOU, WHO COMES FROM A PLACE OF EMPATHY AS OPPOSED TO A
PLACE OF JUDGMENT, YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO HEAR THEM OUT,
YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING?
SO, I LIKE IT BECAUSE YES, THESE ARE REFORMED THINKERS, PEOPLE
WHO WERE SUCKED INTO THESE GROUPS, BUT THEY UNDERSTAND
AND THEY ARE EMPATHETIC AS OPPOSED TO JUDGMENTAL.
AND BY THE WAY, THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT THESE
GROUPS TACKLE THESE ñ THIS ISSUE.
SO IN THIS WAY IT'S MORE OF A SUPPORT SYSTEM, WE WANT TO
GIVE YOU THE RESOURCES AND THE SUPPORT NECESSARY TO GET
OUT OF THIS GROUP SHOULD YOU WISH TO DO SO.
THERE ARE OTHER GROUPS THAT THOUGH, THAT HAVE A MORE
CONFRONTATIONAL TONE AND I'M SURPRISED THAT IT WORKS,
BUT IT DOES.
I'LL GIVE YOU THE DETAILS, BUT YOU WANT TO JUMP IN.
I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THIS LESS CONFRONTATIONAL TONE WORKS
BETTER, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS, WHICH
IS, IF YOU ARE PART OF THEIR WE, THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO
TRUST YOU.
VIDEO BUFFERING ñ
IT'S NON-PROPERTY OWNERS, AND NONWHITES, AND NON-MALES, ETC.,
AND SO THAT'S PART AND PARCEL WITH WHAT IT MEANS TO BE
PROGRESSIVE.
BUT HERE THEY ARE GOING TO TRUST GUYS WHO LIVED THROUGH THIS
MORE, AND IF THEY COME AT IT FROM A NONJUDGMENTAL POINT OF
VIEW, LIKE AIV THEIR BROTHER BUT LET ME SHOW YOU A BETTER
WAY, I THINK THAT'S A MUCH BETTER WAY TO FIX THE PROBLEM.
EXACTLY.
TO GO BACK THE MORE CONFRONTATIONAL WAY OF
DEALING WITH THIS, THERE'S AN ORGANIZATION CALLED ONE
PEOPLES PROJECT.
WAS STARTED IN THE LITTLEFIELD.
ASIDE FROM MONITORING RACIST GROUPS, THE LEADER WHO IS BLACK,
CONFRONTS WHITE NATIONALISTS AT PUBLIC GATHERINGS AND TALKS
ONE-ON-ONE WITH WILLIE WEITZMAN INSISTS AS HE CAN, TRYING TO
SHOW THEM THERE IS ANOTHER WAY OTHER THAN HATE.
THAT IS A VERY BRAVE THING TO DO, I DON'T KNOW THAT I WOULD
EVER WANT TO DO SOME LIKE THAT, OR AT LEAST APPROACH THAT ISSUE
IN THAT WAY, BUT IF IT WORKS, IF IT'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL, THEN COOL.
I JUST FEEL LIKE IT'S BEEN MORE SUCCESSFUL ñ
THAT IS MORE SUCCESSFUL THE OTHER WAY, WHEN IT COMES
FROM A PLACE OF EMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING.
I CONSTANTLY FLUCTUATE, I'VE GOT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU.
BECAUSE ON THE ONE HAND, I WANT TO FOLLOW MLK'S MODEL, HE'S SUCH
A BETTER MAN THAN I AM, OBVIOUSLY, ON THE OTHER HAND ñ
AND I KNOW THAT'S A WINNING FORMULA, THAT'S THE RIGHT
FORMULA.
IT'S NOT JUST THE MORE MORAL POINT OF VIEW, IT'S A MORE
EFFECTIVE POINT OF VIEW.
ON THE OTHER HAND, SOMETIMES I GET ANGRY, AND I WANT TO FIGHT.
YOU KNOW, MY NAME CENK MEANS WAR IN TURKISH, AND ABOUT THAT
FIGHTING SPIRIT IN ME, ESPECIALLY FOR GUYS LIKE THIS.
SO, WHEN I SEE THEIR IDEOLOGY I WANT TO GIVE IT RIGHT BACK TO
THEM, BUT I THINK THE BETTER PATH IS THE ONE THAT ANA
LAID OUT FIRST, REACHING OUT AND SAYING, DON'T DO THAT, I'D
BEEN THERE, IT'S A BAD ROAD, LET ME SHOW YOU A BETTER ROAD.

Quitting White Power Groups Can Be Hard...

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