As far Chicago, our city was designed with racism in mind, with neighborhoods segregated by expressways and train tracks. Even suburbs, like Highland Park, have long histories of barring Jewish and black people. That history that has always existed has come out of the shadows because of the social and political climate.

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.

Actually, I don't think most people join white supremacist groups because of the ideology or dogma. They gravitate to these groups because they've hit potholes in their lives and there are things they can't figure out how to navigate on their own. This might be bullying, parental abuse or neglect, mental or physical illness, or, for adults, unemployment.

I received compassion from the people I deserved it least from when I least deserved it, and that helped change me. When you take fear and isolation and put grievance on top, it's all too easy for people to hate and blame somebody else for their problems.

There are also people that still choose to support racist rhetoric because they feel white dominance in America is slipping through their fingers. To them, "diversity" is a codeword for white genocide. They claim that their "homelands" are being overrun by minorities and are desperate for solutions that ensure their "white survival." This fear, of course, is irrational and solely based on a loss of white power and control.

Hate crimes have increased since the election of Donald Trump. So I'm not surprised. I'm hopeful, very vigilant. We're seeing the same thing as what happened in 1933, when a politician stokes fears and grievances to rally them for a nationalist cause. But nationalism to the exclusion of other people is not nationalism, that's xenophobia.

We've seen hate groups rise across the country. But we've also seen an increase in the average person, who looks like your doctor, your lawyer, your mechanic, your dentists, starting to say the same types of rhetoric. Sometimes it's a little bit more polished, something the average person who has underlying racism can attach himself to. I'm less concerned about skinheads and Klansmen now than the average person who feels emboldened, and the militia and sovereign-citizen groups who are certainly tied to white supremacist organizations, training in paramilitary camps.