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Bridget Cook was working on a novel idea, literally, when it happened. The dream that would change her life – and hopefully those of thousands of others-forever. Toying with a story for teens regarding bigotry, forgiveness and transformation, she came across a tiny blip in The Standard Examiner about a former gang recruiter speaking at WSU who had walked away from his Skinhead associates and was now speaking out, teaching kids to stay out of gangs.

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T.J. Leyden showed some disturbing slides during his energetic, hour-and-a-half presentation last week at St. Michael’s College: shots of his 29 swastika tattoos, ads for skinhead gear from white-pride retailer Aryan Wear and photos of the gutted Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma — undeniable proof that racist groups are deadly.

But the most chilling image was of Leyden’s smiling, pregnant ex-wife, standing beside a Confederate battle flag in a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Aryan Baby.” An arrow points to her swollen belly below.

It was that baby that ultimately brought about Leyden’s transformation, from hardcore Neo-Nazi to freelance anti-racist consultant. When the boy was 3, he complained to his dad about the “niggers” on TV. Leyden — a bearded bruiser-type who became a teenage skinhead and spent 15 years in what he calls “a world of hate” — was unsettled by his son’s remark. He soon renounced his beliefs.

His conversion came at a price — he divorced his defiantly racist wife, who still has custody of two of his sons. His friends abandoned him. He went to work for the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Justice, speaking to audiences about white supremacists.

CLEMSON – T.J. Leyden was a model neo-Nazi skinhead, but the 37-year-old Californian gave up his hate-filled white-supremacist life and now tries to chip away at hate by sharing his story with audiences across the country.

As the featured guest for Clemson University’s One World Week – a series of events designed to promote diversity and tolerance – he used graphic language and images of the propaganda he once spread to chronicle how he embraced and later refuted bigotry.

He also managed to show those in the audience how they, too, are apathetic toward and accepting of hate.

Throughout his presentation, he cracked jokes – not about his neo-Nazi past but less obvious examples of intolerance. He got some of the heartiest laughs expressing his frustration that his young son wanted to be a pastry chef.

People stopped laughing when he pointed out that for more than an hour they supported his mockery of others.

Organizer Tina LeMay said Mr. Leyden was right for the event because he is an example of how hate can be overcome. “Something we try to do with One World Week is offer hope,” she said.

Mr. Leyden delivers that hope by sharing his turnaround, even though his former friends threaten his life.

He entered the white-supremacist world in his teens after his parents went through a bitter divorce, and he watched his mom suffer abuse. His brothers poured their angst into cars or sports, but he reveled in punk rock.

He liked to pick fights at concerts. An older group of skinhead boys, appreciating his violence, invited him into their circle.

When he joined the Marines a few years later, his neo-Nazi activities increased. He married a white supremacist and exposed his two sons to his hateful behavior.

But slowly he turned his back on bigotry.

He learned that a Jewish doctor invented the vaccine that helped his mother beat polio, and that a black doctor made contributions to fighting heart disease.

Hearing his 3-year-old son’s racist comments started to bother him.

And when he asked his Aryan friends whom they would fight once they eliminated the groups they hated, they joked that it might be redheads like him.

In 1996, he begged his mother to forgive his life of racism. His wife would not make the change with him, so he remarried. He became a Mormon and went to work with the Museum of Tolerance and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish organization dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust. He now speaks across the country and consults with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other organizations.

He said only Florida, California and Texas rival South Carolina in its proliferation of hate groups.

Aside from not letting racist jokes slide by them, he encouraged his listeners to be mentors.

“If you teach that kid to be a better person,” he said, “that child will never grow up to be like me someday.”

With these words, T.J. Leyden, a former neo – Nazi white supremacist activist, took an entire theater of college students into a world they had never witnessed before – a world of hate, bigotry, death, and ultimately, of miracles and hope.

As the students sat spellbound, Leyden began to spin the horrifying tale of his neo – Nazi history, which began at the young age of 15. Following his parents’ divorce, Leyden joined the punk rock movement, a wave of music that prompts anarchy and violence, a biracial group that essentially ran the punk movement. Within a few years, the movement divided into two factions, the SHARPS (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) and neo – Nazis. Leyden followed the neo – Nazis and joined Hammerskin Nation, the most violent and best organized neo – Nazi skinhead group in the United States, as a recruiter. Leyden spent his days recruiting kids, ages 12 and up, for the movement. Leyden targeted middle school and high school kids. He explained, “If the kid was white, we tried to recruit. The loner, the bullies, and the popular kids too….the popular kids were the best, because if you got them, then you got their friends, too.” Those who followed him all had one thing in common – the need for respect. Knowing this, Leyden would tear them down, belittle them mentally and physically, and then rebuild them by showering them with camaraderie, loyalty and friendship. These tactics were learned from the United States’ military, where Leyden served as a Marine. Acting as a “passive member,” Leyden was able to serve his country. However, he received an “other than honorable” discharge as a result of alcohol and violent incidents, which were unrelated to his racist beliefs.

Leyden’s method of recruitment was dangerous, as many kids were willing to physically fight the recruiters. He and his friends developed a new way of gaining followers. At night they would racially vandalize schools to create division and animosity. Once those seeds of hate were planted, the recruiters could do their job safely and effectively. For years he lived in a whirlwind of hate and bigotry, blinded by ignorance and anger. He says, “I’ve given guns to kids to shoot other people…..,If it looked like a duck, and walked like a duck, I shot at it like a duck,” Leyden said. But all that changed one afternoon while watching cartoons with his one-year-old son. In the middle of the program, his three-year-old son walked into the room, turned off the television, turned to his father and said, “Daddy, you know we don’t watch shows with niggers on it.” Leyden froze. He claims that his immediate reaction was shock, and then pride. His son was growing up with the same ideals as his own. What more could a father want? And then the realization sank in. His three-year-old son was a racist. With this statement his young son had shaken his entire world. He began to question his ideals, his motives, his actions and their consequences. He said, “I couldn’t see the purity in my kid’s eyes because it wasn’t there….,they’re not pure because I’m their father.” This event was followed by eighteen months of turmoil for Leyden, including divorce, conversion to Mormonism, and a custody battle for his children. This turn of events was punctuated by his release of all racist propaganda to the Research Department at the Museum of Tolerance. He was also debriefed for two and a half weeks, and spoke with Federal, State, and Local law enforcement. He has since gravitated to the opposite end of the racist spectrum and has worked with the Task Force, “Against Hate,” at the Simon Weisenthal Center for over six years. He has trained members of the FBI, the military, and law enforcement, and has worked with the Department of Justice, educators, and over half million students.. When asked why he would do all of this, he answered “I did it to become a positive influence….,so the world would stop creating people like me.” It is up to us, the next generation, to stop this violence and hatred. We see it everywhere, in the hallways, on the street, maybe even in our own homes. It is our responsibility to stop it, and to prevent it. One person in the audience asked, “How do you feel about people who simply think it isn’t a big deal?” Leyden answered, “‘It’s not such a big deal.’ I like that one. But it is a big deal because if you say it, you pass it down to the next generation….Words are the worst thing because they scar the soul.” Leyden left the students with advice to implement on campus in response to last semester’s hate crimes. He said, “You see hatred and bigotry everywhere, and it’s there because you laughed at it. Laughter is passive acceptance. Silence is condoning the act.” Look for the purity in the hearts of others, and strive to maintain it.