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Learned from the worst: how former white supremacists shake hate
His hood does not hang in his closet. His hood hangs in history. The last time “Jackson” disrobed was over a decade ago. His hood hangs not as a shrine, but as a shadow.
For “Bonnie,” each day she has to think a little harder when she gets ready. She still has tattoos and every time she walks outside her home, she covers them. The ink on her skin tells a story. But she writes the sequel with her new life.
Jackson and Bonnie are two of the 89 former white supremacists who sat down for interviews with a team of sociologists over multiple years. The study sought to understand the disengagement process for those steeped in the shroud of a salient identity.
The formers, as they are called, came from all the major hate groups in the United States. They ranged in age from 19 to 61. They were mostly male and a majority of them described themselves as working-class people.
Even with their hoods aside, although it is an unwelcomed guest, the hate still resides with all of them.
The hate has hovered and lingered even though, in some cases, it was disavowed many years ago. This is the case even for the one who is in an interracial marriage.
