Former neo-Nazi leader addresses CSI students
Frank Meeink,
whose life inspired a 1998 film, attends a lecture on hatred and
love at the Willowbrook college
Staten Island Advance - April 1, 2005
A former neo-Nazi leader tried to recruit students
into a life of respect and tolerance at the College of Staten Island
in Willowbrook yesterday.
At a lecture organized by the CSI chapters of New York Public
Interest Research Group and Hillel, and the college’s program
development committee, Frank Meeink told the audience his life
story, which inspired the acclaimed 1998 film “American History X,”
to illustrate how easy it was for an alienated teen to succumb to
hatred and violence.
“I was a shaken-up soda bottle, just waiting to be opened,” Meeink
said. “It was a matter of who directed which way the explosion
flowed.”
Born in racially diverse South Philadelphia, Meeink became a
skinhead at 13 after spending a summer with his aunt in Lancaster,
Pa. — to avoid his abusive stepfather. Meeink was seamlessly
indoctrinated by an older cousin and his group of skinhead friends,
who through beer, hoots and piggyback moshing gave him his first
sense of belonging.
He returned to South Philiy with their protection, seeking revenge
against the people who picked on him and recruiting more troubled
teens in the process.
Meeink’s “missions” of violence against homosexuals, people of color
and a rival anti-racist skinhead gang soon attracted media
attention, which Meeink said only brought in more recruits.
“Local media love us,” he said. “We sell newspapers.”
Meeink soon was invited to attend Bible studies Ku Klux Klan-style,
where he heard biblical interpretations such as how Eve’s temptation
begat the Jewish race.
“Any religious hook can either teach love or hate,” Meeink said.
“But we were given a conscience, and we have to use it.”
After being imprisoned for aggravated assault and kidnapping, being
invited to Bible studies by a group of African-American inmates who
befriended him was partly responsible for his change of heart.
Meeink said he finally gave up neo-Nazism after leaving prison, when
he found that the only person who would take a chance on hiring
someone with prison tattoos and a swastika etched on the back of his
neck was a Jewish dealer in antiques.
“It was easy to hate Jews because I never met any,” Meeink said.
“Like it’s easy to say you hate Monopoly because you’ve never
played.”
Meeink, who is now a married stay-at-home dad, said his experience
taught him one simple truth.
“What goes around comes around,” Meeink said. “Hatred always comes
back to you, but so does love.”
By
Ben Eben Newhouse
Reprinted here with permission from the
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