One significant source of recruits to the racial hatred movement is an ironic one. The U.S. military has chronic problems with service members who are members of groups such as the Aryan Nations, Skinheads and Ku Klux Klan. Some are veteran members of hate groups before they join the service. Others are recruited by fellow service members. The irony, of course, is that persons who are members of both the military and a hate group are living a contradiction. They claim to be dedicated to providing manpower for the protection of the American citizenry. But, they hate and would like to eliminate much of that same American citizenry.

TJ Leyden, a long-term enlisted man and former Skinhead, is now an advocate against racism. He maintains a website to communicate his message and speaks with college students about the undercurrent of hatred that pervades American society. A student at the University of North Carolina recently interviewed him.

Last Friday night, TJ Leyden took his audience in McKnight Hall through the many changes in his life. Leyden, a former neo-Nazi skinhead, was not at the University to send out a positive message to the audience. Instead, he came to speak out against the many hate crimes and racism that continue to exist in our society.

. . .He talked about the punk-rock movement in the early 1980s as a trigger for his behavior. Leyden met his future skinhead friends at concerts and found it flattering that they accepted him for who he was.

Being from a small town that was mostly white, Leyden found it easy to accept becoming a racist with the push of his new friends. Eventually, he got into drugs and began believing his friends were the most important people in his life. They would go on minority hunts that led into hate crimes.

Once he joined the military, he found how easy it was to recruit new members for the organization. At the time he joined, the military allowed members of hate groups to join, as long as they remained passive. Despite the minor policy, Leyden was able to recruit hundreds of young, eager teenagers.

Leyden told students about the grooming process hate groups use to recruit. You will notice it resembles the process used by sexual predators. He would observe youths and identify "the lonely white kid." Suddenly, someone would take an interest in the isolated child. His new friends would have a use for him — as a fellow proponent of hate. According to Leyden, the opposite approach was also useful. Popular white youths would be recruited. After their engagement was confirmed, they would be asked to bring friends into the movement. He says he spent the greater part of his years in the military as a recruiter, but not for the service.

The past-times of Skinheads include learning about national socialism, their ideology, getting tattoos that reflect membership in the movement and seeking out nonwhite Americans to insult or commit crimes against. The teenagers and servicemen recruited are diverted from more normal interests to focus their attention on their activities as racists.