We try to approach everything in Life After Hate and Exit USA with compassion. While we really promote approaching things with compassion and empathy, because that's what changed us, it's very difficult knowing there are very virulent, vile people who… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
I received compassion from the people I deserved it least from when I least deserved it, and that helped change me. When you take… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
It's a cause for great concern because a lot of people have said and done repulsive things in terms of racism and misogyny and… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
I'm not in contact really with people from Chicago Area Skinheads movement and couldn't say who they now support politically, but I can tell you through my research online in which I've been doing interventions with people who are part of hate groups, that I've discovered essentially thousands and thousands of pro-Trump neo-Nazi accounts. — Christian Picciolini Copy Share
For years now, I've been talking about the rise of the extreme right in the U.S. Since 9/11, white nationalists have killed more Americans on U.S. soil than any foreign or domestic terrorist group combined. It's something we don't categorize as terrorism or extremism. We often brush it off as mental illness - things like Oak Creek Wisconsin - and… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share
I'm hopeful because people are ready to step up and educate people, support peaceful protest, and make their voices heard. People are motivated to… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
30 years ago in white supremacy, we had a strategy called leaderless resistance. The concept was: stop shaving our heads, stop getting tattoos and instead try to blend in as much as possible. It was a really concerted effort to try and tone down the rhetoric and make it a little more palatable to the mainstream. And it certainly has… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share
Actually, I don't think most people join white supremacist groups because of the ideology or dogma. They gravitate to these groups because they've hit… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
We need to make sure that our children know different kinds of people, eat different kinds of food, and learn our true history. The way most schools teach history is wrong. If they talk about slavery it's typically just for a couple of days and the lessons almost never address the systems that have hindered people of color for more… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share
There are also people that still choose to support racist rhetoric because they feel white dominance in America is slipping through their fingers. To them, "diversity" is a codeword for white genocide. They claim that their "homelands" are being overrun by minorities and are desperate for solutions that ensure their "white survival." This fear, of course, is irrational and solely… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share
I can't say I've seen any formalized white supremacy grow. I was a selfish leader and never trained anybody to train over my group.… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
I read recently that in the U.S. today, the majority of people under the age of 21 are immigrants or first- or second-generation Americans.… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
There were a lot of people in our nationalist group who went on to become cops and firefighters and correctional officers. Unfortunately so. I… — Christian Picciolini Copy Share Image
