Christian Picciolini: My descent into America's neo-Nazi movement -- and how I got out
Christian Picciolini: Meu declínio no movimento neonazista dos EUA e como saí
Christian Picciolini is dedicated to helping others counter racism and extremism. Full bio
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began 22 years ago,
violento começou há 22 anos,
supremacist skinhead movement
americano de supremacia branca
from the time I was 14 years old,
desde meus 14 anos,
and youngest members
e mais jovens membros
America's most violent hate movement.
de ódio mais violento dos EUA.
in the mid-1960s
em meados da década de 1960
na parte sul de Chicago,
de artigos de beleza.
things got a little bit more difficult.
ficaram um pouco mais difíceis.
a young family and a new business,
de uma família jovem e um novo negócio,
7 dias por semana, 14 horas por dia,
just to earn a meager living.
para garantir o básico para sobreviver.
was pretty nonexistent.
terem tempo para passar comigo.
they loved me very much,
and become very angry.
e a ter muita raiva.
through my teenage years,
passando pela adolescência,
a atenção de meus pais.
attention from my parents.
eu estava fumando em um beco,
and I was smoking a joint,
with a shaved head and tall black boots,
cabeça raspada e botas pretas,
and he looked me in the eyes,
olhou-me nos olhos
and the Jews want you to do
para mantê-lo submisso".
e assistia a séries de TV.
and watching "Happy Days" --
was the bad Russian guy
era o cara russo malvado
baring my soul with you,
abrindo meu coração a vocês,
what the word "docile" meant.
o significado da palavra "submisso".
had offered me a lifeline.
tivesse me atirado um salva-vidas.
marginalized and bullied.
marginalizado e discriminado.
who I was, where I belonged,
quem eu era e qual era meu lugar,
had pulled me in,
de aquele homem ter me resgatado
with every fiber of my being.
com todas as minhas forças,
as the leaders of this organization
como os líderes daquela organização,
who felt marginalized
que se sentiam marginalizados,
with promises of paradise
white-power music.
sobre a supremacia branca.
of that infamous organization
dessa organização abominável,
que encontrei naquele beco
and who had radicalized me.
americano que me radicalizou.
no evidence of it whatsoever,
do que me contaram,
every Jewish person in the world
cada judeu do mundo
European genocide
um genocídio de brancos europeus,
through a multiculturalist agenda.
de uma pauta multiculturalista.
and the drugs in the city,
e pelas drogas na cidade,
that I was committing acts of violence
de que eu cometia atos de violência
who were funneling drugs
que distribuíam as drogas
dos brancos americanos,
my parents were hardworking immigrants
meus pais eram trabalhadores imigrantes
from anybody else.
ajuda de ninguém.
and inflict untold pain
e suas famílias serem torturadas.
and their families' lives.
from young women in the movement,
de mulheres do movimento,
they were conditioned to trust,
em quem foram induzidas a confiar.
of violence against people,
de violência contra pessoas
pela orientação sexual,
was an upcoming race war.
eu considerava uma guerra racial iminente.
de uma das quais, duas vezes.
and performed racist music
e toquei música racista,
to the internet decades later
a young white nationalist
um jovem nacionalista branco
South Carolina, church
de Charleston, na Carolina do Sul,
nine innocent people.
who was not in the movement,
que não fazia parte do movimento
in the delivery room that day,
naquele dia, na maternidade,
with some of the innocence that I had lost
da inocência que eu havia perdido
a me fazer refletir
me to the movement to begin with:
que me levaram ao movimento,
struggling with as a young boy.
quando ainda jovem.
of who I was again.
novamente quem eu era.
de discórdia neonazista,
that I had manufactured around me
que eu havia construído ao meu redor
and I wanted to project it onto others,
e querer projetar isso nos outros,
that I had physically given life to?
fisicamente gerado?
a better place for my family?
melhor para minha família?
de tijolos tivesse me atingido,
who I'd been for the last eight years.
eu tinha sido naqueles últimos oito anos.
to walk away at that moment,
para sair naquele momento,
that was happening inside of me,
could have been averted.
pudesse ter sido evitada.
for the benefit of my family,
I could go to jail or end up dead,
de ser preso ou acabar morto,
for themselves.
e abri uma loja de discos
white-power music in, of course,
música da supremacia branca
a racist store selling racist music
uma loja racista vendendo música racista,
allow me to be there.
stock the shelves with other music,
as prateleiras com outro tipo de música,
that I was selling
branca que eu vendia
from all over the country to buy it
de todo o país para comprá-la
to buy the other music.
para comprar outro tipo de música
to talk to me.
o que havia de errado.
had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
diagnosticada com câncer de mama.
conversation or interaction with,
ou interação significativa,
had been diagnosed with breast cancer,
diagnosticada com câncer de mama,
came in with their son,
entrou na loja com o filho,
that they loved their son
que eles amavam o filho
that I loved mine.
com que eu amava o meu filho.
or justify the prejudice
defender ou justificar o preconceito
a música de supremacia branca
music from the inventory
to sell it in front of my new friends.
de vender na frente de meus novos amigos.
couldn't sustain itself,
se manter, e tive que fechá-la.
nearly everything in my life.
para me afastar
I'd been a part of for eight years,
participado por oito anos,
that I'd really known for most of my life.
durante a maior parte da minha vida.
because I closed the store.
with my parents, even though they tried.
com meus pais, embora eles tentassem.
and disengaged quickly enough.
e me livrado rápido o bastante.
was concerned about my well-being,
preocupada com meu bem-estar,
because I don't want to see you die."
porque não quero que você morra".
apply for a job where she worked,
a um emprego onde ela trabalhava,
que ela havia enlouquecido.
covered in hate tattoos.
coberto por tatuagens de ódio.
high schools multiple times.
inúmeras vezes.
consegui o emprego.
back at my old high school,
de volta em minha velha escola,
where I had committed acts of violence
eu havia cometido atos de violência
of the school for equal rights for whites
por direitos iguais para os brancos
de ocupação na cafeteria
de um centro acadêmico branco.
but Mr. Johnny Holmes,
o sr. Johnny Holmes,
I had gotten in a fistfight with,
eu tinha me envolvido em uma briga,
years out of the movement,
anos fora do movimento,
que fazer alguma coisa,
under the weight of my past,
as consequências pelo que fiz,
I had tried to outrun it.
tentei superar isso.
and cover my tattoos with long sleeves,
as tatuagens com mangas compridas,
julgado as outras pessoas.
Mr. Holmes out to the parking lot --
atrás do sr. Holmes,
decision that I made.
a decisão mais inteligente.
he was getting into his car,
ele estava entrando no carro,
and he recognized me,
and all I could think to say was,
e tudo o que pude pensar em dizer foi:
of some broken go-nowhere kid
de um garoto arrasado e sem rumo
join a gang and go to prison.
of every young person who was vulnerable,
de todo jovem vulnerável
community and purpose,
comunidade e propósito,
e não pôde superá-lo,
to whoever would listen.
a todos que quisessem ouvi-la.
e tenho feito isso desde então.
filho de imigrantes trabalhadores,
a hardworking immigrant family
nudge us off our path,
acabam nos tirando do caminho
down pretty dark corridors.
perdidos em corredores muito escuros.
on our journey in life,
em nossa jornada pela vida,
or the help to navigate around them
nem ajuda para passar por isso
acabam fazendo coisas ruins.
end up doing bad things.
who had potholes is Darrell.
que tinha fossas era Darrell.
e ele continuava lá.
that turned out."
como ficaram as coisas".
we could certainly do that."
com certeza poderemos".
of going back and forth with Darrell,
de idas e vindas com Darrell,
de 31 anos, que havia sido ferido
military veteran who had been injured
not being able to go to Afghanistan
por não poder ir ao Afeganistão
a Muslim man in the park praying,
um muçulmano rezando no parque
was kick him in the face.
era chutar a cara dele.
a Muslim person before?"
anything to do with them."
and I went into the bathroom
from the bathroom,
em silêncio no banheiro.
preciso de um favor.
imam, I need a favor.
sobre sua religião".
about your religion."
for Darrell to go,
15 minutes left for us,
15 minutos para nos atender,
para uma reunião de orações.
for a prayer service.
we came out after hugging and crying
depois de nos abraçarmos e chorarmos
bonding over Chuck Norris for some reason.
por algum motivo.
that Darrell and the imam,
que Darrell e o imame
at the local falafel stand,
na barraca de falafel local,
from each other.
de uma desconexão entre nós.
and isolation is its mother.
e a mãe é o isolamento.
we tend to be afraid of it,
temos a tendência de ficar com medo,
it turns into hatred.
e, às vezes, se transforma em ódio.
I've helped over a hundred people
ajudei mais de 100 pessoas
de grupos supremacistas brancos,
from white supremacist groups --
is not by arguing with them,
mas os trago para perto
for their potholes,
to compete in the marketplace
para concorrer no mercado de trabalho
to blame the other,
with one last thing before I go.
a vocês uma última coisa.
they will all tell you the same thing.
lhes contarão a mesma história.
not because of ideology or dogma.
não por causa de ideologia ou dogma.
they least deserved it from,
to leave you with a challenge:
um desafio a vocês:
hopefully every day --
espero que todos os dias -
is undeserving of your compassion
que não merece sua compaixão
essas pessoas que mais precisam.
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