Picciolini is a former white power extremist himself—his music was on Dylann Roof’s playlist—and he writes about trying to repair the damage he’s done by reaching out to other extremists who may sense there’s something wrong but be afraid of whether they can leave. He contends that extremist ideology is often a cover for pain and fear, making it much easier to radicalize a person than deradicalize them. He tells a truly terrifying story of a Russian-backed operation to radicalize young white women, which of course the FBI ignored. In fact, as he says, Russian involvement actually resembles the complicated, conspiratorial narratives he used to believe, making it harder for ordinary people to understand and fight. Trump’s government revoked his nonprofit’s grant for helping white extremists disengage.

What is to be done? Picciolini says that no one is required to engage with or forgive anyone who’s done this kind of harm, but he tries to create links to them. He doesn’t “shame or engage them in debate. Arguing never works.” He listens to their personal stories, trying to find the sources of pain and insecurity that led them to extremism. He asks members of hated groups who are willing to do so to meet with the person—Heather Heyer’s mom and an imam are his examples in the book—and connect with them as people, not as objects of hatred. While “violent or hateful people should not fully enjoy the benefits of a peaceful society until they are accountable for their damage,” he wants to “allow space for rehabilitation and growth to occur,” or else violent extremists won’t see any way out and are more likely to retreat into the perceived acceptance of extremism. I definitely couldn’t do that work, but I’m glad he has committed to doing it.

Thank You to NetGalley and Hachette Books for gifting me with an ARC of Breaking Hate by Christian Picciolini. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

This was an interesting read. Informative and insightful, Chris Picciolini takes readers through the “potholes” of youth that can derail and alter an ordinary individual to become a vessel of hate and intolerance. The stories are frightening and how quickly hate rises to the surface is terrifying. If you think anti-semitism is only a fringe subculture you need to read this book to discover how real a threat the alt right truly is.

Tracing the journeys of several individuals, author and past white supremest, Christopher Picciolini shares personal stories of former and still active individuals who belong to the hidden dark world of extreme hate groups who’s goal is to seek destruction of a non aryan race. Their manifesto calls for the extermination of all Jews and African Americans through terror, violence and ultimately murder,

This book offers to explain how to help break the cycle and save a loved one if they seem to be displaying signs of viral hate and spouting irrational thoughts and beliefs. On that end I felt this book was at its weakest. This was still a good place to begin talking and thinking about the notion of free speech and ways to identify individuals who need help.

A fascinating look at a few cases of individuals who were entrenched in the white supremacy movement and the ways in which they found their way out of it with the help of Christian Picciolini, a former white supremacist himself. Picciolini mainly focuses on the individuals featured in each story and the ways in which he helped them confront past traumas and personal intolerance that led them to where they were now and how they can change their mindset. This was a difficult read, just given the subject matter but it was a interesting look at how people from all different backgrounds were getting pulled into this movement, mainly through online interactions with hate groups. I found Christian Picciolini to be a really interesting person and at first I was disappointed that we do not get more of his story in the book but after checking Goodreads, I found that he does have a previous book (White American Youth) that focuses completely on his experiences in hate groups which I will definitely be picking up to read. Overall, I think that this is a book that everyone can learn from. I found it engaging and I was interested in learning exactly how people become involved in these movements and their reasoning behind it.