By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Former Skinhead Frank Meeink kept the students of San Diego’s Community Jewish High School entranced for nearly two hours Thursday evening, March 3, as he spoke of being rejected and beaten by substance-abusing parents; accepted and respected by neo-Nazis; feeling adrenaline rushes when other teenagers visibly feared him; being imprisoned for using a gun in the kidnapping of a rival; at first being tolerated and later being befriended by non-white inmates with whom he teamed in athletic activities; and, following his release from prison, being mentored and turned around by a Jewish dealer in antiques.
There was an eerie similarity between Meeink’s presentation and those of many Holocaust survivors who had suffered at the hands of the Nazis whom Meeink’s former Skinhead friends had sought to emulate. Very often, in this reporter’s experience, when Holocaust Survivors talk about the violence done to them, they relate it in a matter-of-fact, almost emotionless voice, but when they talk about people showing kindness to them, especially at the time of their liberation, their voices crack with emotion.
So too did Meeink’s voice noticeably thicken when he described his relationship to “Keith,” the Jewish employer and mentor who was generous to Meeink and forgiving of his mistakes. Like Meeink, Keith had grown up in a tough neighborhood in South Philadelphia and he instinctively understood that Meeink’s anti-social behavior was motivated by self-loathing and a desire to obtain a feeling of belonging that he never had received from his family.
At one point, Meeink dropped the marble top of an expensive table that Keith had purchased for his own family, causing the table to shatter. Meeink expected to be fired, or at least to be docked in pay. But Keith let the incident go. When Meeink started berating himself as “stupid, stupid,” Keith responded memorably, “Idiot! you’re not stupid!”
“Empathy,” commented Meeink, was the wonderful humane quality that characterized Keith’s mentorship of him, and what triggered the process by which Meeink shed his neo-Nazi identity and built for himself a life as a hockey coach, author, motivational speaker, and film consultant.
Meeink is the author of The Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead and his story is said to be the prototype for the movie American History X, for which actor Edward Norton was nominated for an Academy Award. While there are similarities to Meeink’s life, the movie plot also has significant variations.
The ex-Skinhead’s presentation was sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League of San Diego, and was held in the social hall of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. The Community Jewish High School draws students from that congregation as well as from Temple Emanu-El and Ohr Shalom Synagogue. Meeink’s presentation to an audience of several hundred drew other teenagers as well, including Boy Scout Troop 649 from Escondido.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)