Former Skinhead Left Life of Hate Behind

People have the power to stop racism and violent acts, but according to Tom Leyden, a former skinhead and hate group member, racial incidents are increasing and the methods that gangs and neo-Nazi groups use to recruit new members have become more subtle and sophisticated.

Tuesday morning, as part of Temple Judea Sisterhood’s annual Interfaith Program, Leyden spoke to an audience of more than 400 Valley Interfaith Council members and local high school students in the Temple Judea sanctuary in Tarzana.

“Teenagers are especially at risk, because they’re at an age where they want to feel like they belong to something,” Leyden said.

Leyden, 30, a speaker for the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, said he became a skinhead after his parents divorced and he dropped out of school at the age of 15.

Following a stint in the Marines, Leyden said, he married and started a family. And he began recruiting members for hate groups in the U.S. and overseas.

But after hearing his 3-year-old son use derogatory names, Leyden said, he began a long process of changing his life and beliefs.

He paid a heavy price, however, saying his wife and children remain with neo-Nazi groups in Idaho.

“I didn’t want my children to grow up just like me,” he said. “I’m fighting as hard as I can to get custody of them.”

Branded as a traitor, Leyden said he has received death threats. But he says he is convinced that speaking out against racism is the only way to conquer it.

“I’m responsible for the innocent people I hurt in the past,” Leyden said. “This is the only way I can make it up to them.”

Robin Chesler, president of Temple Judea Sisterhood, said, “Tom is living proof that people can change from hate to love. He is a perfect speaker for our forum,” which works to promote tolerance.