For years now, I've been talking about the rise of the extreme right in the U.S. Since 9/11, white nationalists have killed more Americans on U.S. soil than any foreign or domestic terrorist group combined. It's something we don't categorize as terrorism or extremism. We often brush it off as mental illness - things like Oak Creek Wisconsin - and these people are certainly tied to white supremacy, have written manifestos. We've got a major problem in not calling that terrorism.

There were a lot of people in our nationalist group who went on to become cops and firefighters and correctional officers. Unfortunately so. I haven't talked to them in 20 years, but just by keeping tabs on Facebook I know that there are some who've gone that way. And they've never indicated publicly that they've changed their opinions. It's a minority.

Chicago has always been a very segregated city and Mt. Greenwood is an example of that. I can't say I've seen organized white-supremacist growth, but I have seen racial tensions increase. I think we've all seen that. In the Barack Obama presidency, especially, the far right has considered diversity a code word for white genocide.

Looking back, I've learned that everyone is searching for three things: Identity, community, and a sense of individual purpose. These are fundamental, and if a person feels marginalized or disenfranchised, they're likely to turn to something negative, maybe drugs, maybe promiscuity, or maybe a white supremacist group.

30 years ago in white supremacy, we had a strategy called leaderless resistance. The concept was: stop shaving our heads, stop getting tattoos and instead try to blend in as much as possible. It was a really concerted effort to try and tone down the rhetoric and make it a little more palatable to the mainstream. And it certainly has penetrated the mainstream now. We're seeing people who were supportive of our cause back then also supportive of Donald Trump's cause, certainly with the recent cabinet appointments.

I can't say I've seen any formalized white supremacy grow. I was a selfish leader and never trained anybody to train over my group. It scattered when I left.

I read recently that in the U.S. today, the majority of people under the age of 21 are immigrants or first- or second-generation Americans. We need to integrate young people into community life far more fully than we currently do and give them role models they can relate to. We can do this if we make it a priority.