Christian Picciolini: My descent into America's neo-Nazi movement -- and how I got out
Christian Picciolini: Mi entrada en el movimiento neonazi estadounidense y mi salida
Christian Picciolini is dedicated to helping others counter racism and extremism. Full bio
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began 22 years ago,
comienza hace 22 años,
supremacist skinhead movement
estadounidense de supremacía blanca.
from the time I was 14 years old,
desde que tenía 14 años,
and youngest members
más jovenes miembros
America's most violent hate movement.
de odio estadounidense más violento
in the mid-1960s
a mediados de los años 60
things got a little bit more difficult.
las cosas se volvieron más difíciles.
a young family and a new business,
una joven familia y un nuevo negocio,
just to earn a meager living.
ganándose la vida precariamente.
was pretty nonexistent.
básicamente no existía.
they loved me very much,
lo mucho que me querían,
and become very angry.
y empecé a enfadarme.
through my teenage years,
en mis años de adolescencia,
attention from my parents.
la atención de mis padres.
and I was smoking a joint,
estaba fumando un porro,
with a shaved head and tall black boots,
con la cabeza afeitada y botas negras,
and he looked me in the eyes,
y me miró a los ojos,
and the Jews want you to do
y los judíos quieren que hagas
and watching "Happy Days" --
veía "Días Felices"--
was the bad Russian guy
era el tipo ruso malo
baring my soul with you,
sincero con Uds.,
what the word "docile" meant.
qué significaba la palabra "dócil".
had offered me a lifeline.
me hubiera ofrecido un salvavidas.
marginalized and bullied.
marginado y abusado.
who I was, where I belonged,
a dónde pertenecía,
had pulled me in,
porque ese hombre me sujeto,
with every fiber of my being.
con cada fibra de mi ser.
as the leaders of this organization
como los líderes de esta organización
who felt marginalized
que se sentía marginalizada
with promises of paradise
con promesas de paraíso
white-power music.
música de poder blanco.
of that infamous organization
de esta infame organización
and who had radicalized me.
estadounidense quien me radicalizó.
no evidence of it whatsoever,
de esto en absoluto,
every Jewish person in the world
a cada persona judía en el mundo
European genocide
un genocidio blanco europeo
through a multiculturalist agenda.
a través de una agenda multicultural.
and the drugs in the city,
y las drogas en la ciudad,
that I was committing acts of violence
de que estaba cometiendo actos violentos
who were funneling drugs
que canalizaban las drogas
de los blancos estadounidenses,
my parents were hardworking immigrants
mis padres eran inmigrantes trabajadores
from anybody else.
de nadie.
and inflict untold pain
inflingir un daño incalculable
and their families' lives.
la vida de sus familias.
from young women in the movement,
de las mujeres jóvenes del movimiento,
they were conditioned to trust,
por el hombre en el que creían,
of violence against people,
de violencia contra personas,
was an upcoming race war.
era una próxima guerra racial.
and performed racist music
interpreté música racista
to the internet decades later
hacia internet décadas después
a young white nationalist
un joven nacionalista blanco
South Carolina, church
de Charleston, Carolina del Sur
nine innocent people.
nueve personas inocentes.
who was not in the movement,
que no estaba dentro del movimiento,
in the delivery room that day,
en la sala de partos ese día,
with some of the innocence that I had lost
algo de la inocencia que había perdido
me to the movement to begin with:
arrastraron al movimiento en un principio:
struggling with as a young boy.
cuando era un chico joven.
of who I was again.
de quién era de nuevo.
that I had manufactured around me
había fabricado a mi alrededor
and I wanted to project it onto others,
y quería projectarlo en otros,
that I had physically given life to?
fisicamente le había dado la vida?.
a better place for my family?
un lugar mejor para mí y mi familia?.
who I'd been for the last eight years.
había sido los últimos ocho años.
to walk away at that moment,
para alejarme en aquel momento,
that was happening inside of me,
que ocurría dentro de mí
could have been averted.
haberse evitado.
for the benefit of my family,
por el beneficio de mi familia,
I could go to jail or end up dead,
iría a la cárcel o acabaría muerto,
for themselves.
por sí solos.
white-power music in, of course,
supremacía blanca, claro,
a racist store selling racist music
una tienda de música racista
allow me to be there.
quedarme allí.
stock the shelves with other music,
en las estanterías otra música,
that I was selling
que vendía
from all over the country to buy it
del país para comprarla
to buy the other music.
compraban otro tipo de música.
to talk to me.
a hablar conmigo.
had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
sido diagnosticada con cáncer de pecho.
conversation or interaction with,
la más mínima interacción o conversación,
had been diagnosed with breast cancer,
sido diagnosticada con cáncer de pecho,
came in with their son,
vino con su hijo,
that they loved their son
que ellos amaban a su hijo
that I loved mine.
que yo amaba al mío.
or justify the prejudice
justificar el prejuicio
music from the inventory
blanca del inventario
to sell it in front of my new friends.
venderla frente a mis nuevos amigos.
couldn't sustain itself,
no podía sostenerse,
nearly everything in my life.
prácticamente todo en mi vida.
I'd been a part of for eight years,
parte durante ocho años,
that I'd really known for most of my life.
propósito que conocía.
because I closed the store.
porque cerré la tienda.
with my parents, even though they tried.
mis padres, aunque ellos lo intentaban.
and disengaged quickly enough.
y alejado lo suficiente.
was concerned about my well-being,
se preocupó por mi bienestar,
because I don't want to see you die."
porque no quiero verte morir."
apply for a job where she worked,
en el sitio que ella trabajaba,
covered in hate tattoos.
cubierto de tatuajes de odio.
high schools multiple times.
institutos muchas veces.
back at my old high school,
de vuelta a mi viejo instituto,
where I had committed acts of violence
cometí actos de violencia
of the school for equal rights for whites
igualdad de derechos para los blancos
en la cafetería
estudiantes blancos.
cuestión de karma,
but Mr. Johnny Holmes,
sino Mr. Johnny Holmes,
I had gotten in a fistfight with,
con el que peleé a puñetazos
years out of the movement,
llevaba años fuera del movimiento,
under the weight of my past,
bajo el peso de mi pasado,
I had tried to outrun it.
había tratado de huir.
and cover my tattoos with long sleeves,
y cubir mis tatuajes con manga larga,
a otras personas.
Mr. Holmes out to the parking lot --
fuera, en el estacionamiento,
decision that I made.
más inteligente que he tomado.
he was getting into his car,
se estaba subiendo a su coche,
and he recognized me,
and all I could think to say was,
y en todo lo que pude pensar fue,
of some broken go-nowhere kid
de un chico bueno para nada
join a gang and go to prison.
e iría a prisión.
of every young person who was vulnerable,
joven vulnerable,
community and purpose,
comunidad y misión en la vida,
to whoever would listen.
cualquiera que quisiera escucharla.
a hardworking immigrant family
familia trabajadora inmigrante
cuando era un niño.
las que chocamos
nudge us off our path,
empujan fuera del camino,
down pretty dark corridors.
en callejones oscuros.
cosas como un trauma,
on our journey in life,
en nuestro camino en la vida,
or the help to navigate around them
ayuda para bordearlos
end up doing bad things.
acaban haciendo cosas malas.
who had potholes is Darrell.
con baches es Darrell.
that turned out."
como acaba."
we could certainly do that."
podríamos hacerlo."
of going back and forth with Darrell,
de idas y venidas con Darrell,
military veteran who had been injured
militar de 31 años que fue herido
not being able to go to Afghanistan
no ser capaz de ir a Afganistán
a Muslim man in the park praying,
musulmán rezando en el parque,
was kick him in the face.
golpearle en la cara.
a Muslim person before?"
un musulmán antes?."
anything to do with them."
nada que ver con ellos."
and I went into the bathroom
from the bathroom,
desde el baño,
imam, I need a favor.
imán, necesito un favor.
about your religion."
sobre su religión."
for Darrell to go,
a Darrell para ir,
15 minutes left for us,
tenía 15 minutos para nosotros,
for a prayer service.
el servicio de oración.
we came out after hugging and crying
salimos abrazándonos y llorando
bonding over Chuck Norris for some reason.
con Chuck Norris por algún motivo.
that Darrell and the imam,
que Darrell y el imán,
at the local falafel stand,
en el stand local de falafel,
from each other.
de cada uno.
and isolation is its mother.
el aislamiento es la madre.
we tend to be afraid of it,
tendemos a estar asustados,
it turns into hatred.
se convierte en odio.
I've helped over a hundred people
he ayudado a más de 100 personas
from white supremacist groups --
desde grupos supremacistas blancos...
is not by arguing with them,
es no discutiendo con ellos,
están equivocados,
for their potholes,
sus baches,
to compete in the marketplace
para competir en el mercado de trabajo
to blame the other,
with one last thing before I go.
con una última cosa antes de irme.
they will all tell you the same thing.
todos ellos me cuentan lo mismo.
not because of ideology or dogma.
no por ideología o dogma.
they least deserved it from,
menos se lo merecían,
to leave you with a challenge:
con un desafío:
hopefully every day --
con un poco de suerte cada día ...
is undeserving of your compassion
que no merece su compasión
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christian Picciolini - Counter-extremism specialistChristian Picciolini is dedicated to helping others counter racism and extremism.
Why you should listen
After leaving the white supremacist skinhead movement he helped build in America during the 1980s and 90s, Christian Picciolini earned a degree in international relations from DePaul University. He launched Goldmill Group, a global media and counter-extremism consulting firm. In 2016, he won an Emmy Award for his role in producing an anti-hate advertising campaign aimed at helping people disengage from violent extremist groups. His life since leaving the white-supremacist movement over two decades ago has been dedicated to helping others counter racism and extremism by founding such organizations as ExitUSA and Life After Hate.
Picciolini has spoken all over the world, sharing his unique and extensive knowledge, teaching all who are willing to learn about building greater peace through empathy and compassion. His involvement in the early American skinhead movement is chronicled in his memoir WHITE AMERICAN YOUTH: My Descent into America’s Most Violent Hate Movement—and How I Got Out (Hachette). He is co-developing a television docu-series based on his work helping people disengage from violent ideologies.
Christian Picciolini | Speaker | TED.com