Reformed Arkansas Skinhead Now Preaches Message of Equality, Tolerance
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Updated: January 21, 2013
"It's a day for us to be together and support each other and for everybody to work for a common good."
That's how 40-year-old Hot Springs resident Raymond Barrett summed up the day in Little Rock as he marched to the Capitol with other civil rights activists.
Years ago, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a different kind of crowd, one that preached hate and intolerance. Barrett was a skinhead, a white supremacist who changed his mind and heart.
"I feel great knowing that anybody I see can be my friend, that I don't have to choose my friends based on how they look," he said.
Natalie Nellon and Katrina Crisp, civil rights activists who marched alongside Barrett, think his transformation sends a message.
"It's possible to actually love everybody for who they are, to achieve unity and equality for everybody because we are all human being," Crisp said.
For Nellon, she hopes others who were on the same path as Barrett will learn something.
"You weren't born to hate. You were taught that and like it (hate) can be taught, it can be untaught," Nellon said.
The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates there are just over 1,000 hate groups currently operating in the United States, 26 are in Arkansas.
That's how 40-year-old Hot Springs resident Raymond Barrett summed up the day in Little Rock as he marched to the Capitol with other civil rights activists.
Years ago, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a different kind of crowd, one that preached hate and intolerance. Barrett was a skinhead, a white supremacist who changed his mind and heart.
"I feel great knowing that anybody I see can be my friend, that I don't have to choose my friends based on how they look," he said.
Natalie Nellon and Katrina Crisp, civil rights activists who marched alongside Barrett, think his transformation sends a message.
"It's possible to actually love everybody for who they are, to achieve unity and equality for everybody because we are all human being," Crisp said.
For Nellon, she hopes others who were on the same path as Barrett will learn something.
"You weren't born to hate. You were taught that and like it (hate) can be taught, it can be untaught," Nellon said.
The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates there are just over 1,000 hate groups currently operating in the United States, 26 are in Arkansas.
