Tony McAleer on Growing Through the White Supremacist Movement

Grow Through It: Hate, Racism, Bullying

Tony McAleer, author of The Cure for Hate: A Former White Supremacist’s Journey from Violent Extremism to Radical Compassion, describes what led him to become a member of the white supremacist movement, and ultimately how and why he left. He says that it wasn’t only the ideology that attracted him to the skinhead scene, but there were deep psychological drivers that led him there. The movement gave him power, attention, acceptance and brotherhood when he most needed it. It was only after the birth of his daughter and son, and becoming a single parent, that his life’s trajectory changed. He connected to his children on a heart level, something he hadn’t done in years. And needing his mother’s help to raise them came at a cost: he would have to leave the movement. Through his journey of self-discovery, he was able to give up on anger and return to his true self.