Part One. Ensconced in a malignant racist ideology, Meeink goes through a de-conversion process resulting from the following:
1. When he sees the Oklahoma City bombing aftermath, specifically,
a man carrying a bloody little girl, Meeink realizes his ideology is not some
heroic mission but a murderous enterprise, which he has aided and abetted. He
no longer sees himself as a hero, but as a villain and a coward.
2. When the black people invite him into their prayer
group, he sees a humanity that contradicts the malicious lies he has read in
his racist propaganda.
3. Beyond the prayer group, Meeink makes friends with
people of other races in prison, including Little G. and Jello (199) and these
experiences contradict the racist polemics he has been immersed in for so long.
4. He sees people in his skinhead gang acting so
stupidly, some dying, some going to jail, others disappearing, that he loses
faith in the efficacy and intelligence of the organization.
5. After he gets out of prison, he notices a lot of
skinheads give up the movement because they grew up and had better things to
do. See page 201.
6. He sees the inconsistencies and imbecilities of his
racist doctrine when he realizes that based on skinhead teachings his own
daughter, mostly Italian, is “not white” but some sort of “mutt” to be held in
contempt.
7. His friend Louie leaves the skinhead movement. See
page 214. He becomes a kingpin, making him super rich.
8. Meeink feels lonely with his new crew after he gets
out of prison. It doesn’t feel the same; therefore, his need for belonging is
no longer being met.
9. On page 216 we find that Frank Meeink no longer has
the fire in his belly for violence. At nineteen, he “feels old.”
10.
On page 219 Meeink sees
the baby Nazis for what they really are, idiots trying to sound smart, pseudo
intellectuals, and Meeink realizes he cannot tolerate these knuckleheads. For
example, racist jokes didn’t sound funny. His heart was no longer in the
skinhead world. He was going through his “What the hell was I thinking?”
period.
11.
On page 219, he has an
epiphany or revelation in which he sees the Nazi “truth” as a pack of lies.
12.
Meeink almost kills a
skinhead who disrespects Meeink’s daughter. That’s sort the “straw that broke
the camel’s back.”
13.
He tries to cling to his
last vestigial hatred, that against the Jews, but even that fails, when his
Jewish boss turns out to be generous in flagrant contradiction of the
parsimonious Jew stereotype.
14.
His skinhead associates
trap in and beat him to a pulp in which they say, “You’re dead to us.” This is
literally and figuratively true. In a way this the night Frank Meeink
completely dies to his old racist ideology and all of its associates. See page
229.
15.
He confesses his crimes
to the FBI and helps the FBI understand the skinhead operation. See page 239.
And he does speeches on anti-hate for the ADL.
Part Two. The Tragedy of Frank Meeink’s Post-Nazi
Existence: He Lives in a Vacuum.
One. When we get rid of a poison from our system, we
have to replace it with something good; otherwise, we replace the poison with
another poison. Frank has nothing to replace his skinhead lifestyle with, so he
resorts to alcohol and drugs to numb his loneliness and shame for his past.
Two. When we get rid of a poison from our system and
are left with a vacuum, we too often fill the void with something even worse
than before.
Three. Frank doesn’t realize that he’s gone from being
a skinhead to a “cellar dweller.” See page 236.
Part Three. Writing Your Introduction for Your Essay. Various Techniques.
Introductions to Avoid
1. According to the Webster Dictionary . . .
2. Since the Dawn of Man . . .
3. In today's society . . .
4. In the modern world today . . .
5. Since Adam and Eve traipsed across the Garden of Eden . . .
6. Since time memorial . . .
7. Mired in this age of rampant consumerism . . .
8. In this essay it is my objective to . . . which I will prove by . . .
9. Sorry for the poor quality of this essay, Mr. McMahon, but I am under a lot of stress and pressure right now . . .
10. An overused, hackneyed quotation: "We have
nothing to fear but fear itself." "That which does not kill us makes us
stronger."
1. Connect a current event to your topic. For example, you might connect Octo-Mom to the subject of birth control or the ethical standards of fertility doctors.
2. Seize upon a national obsession and connect it to your topic. We have the aforementioned Octo-Mom, the lies of Alex Rodriguez regarding his steroid use, the pandemic of foreclosures and their effect on families, the devastation of unemployment, etc . . .
3. Use a quote that has not been overused when it bears relevance to your essay's topic. George Bernard Shaw: "There are two great tragedies in life. The first is not getting what one wants. The second is getting it."
4. Personal anecdote or short one-page story that is relevant to your essay topic. This story should be a hook that gets your reader's jazz.
5. Use a startling statistic that gets your reader's attention and that is relevant to your topic. You might talk about how many foreclosures there are every hour or how many people sign up on the immoral dating service Ashley Madison.
6. Begin with a rhetorical question that you are going to answer in your thesis. For example, why are Americans spending billions and billions of dollars on dieting every year while getting fatter and fatter? Or why are jealous boyfriends more likely to cheat than boyfriends who are not jealous? Does this make any sense. Yes, it does . . .
7. Use an analogy or extended comparison to clarify a point that is important to your argument. For an example, CLICK HERE.
Part Four. Writing an Introduction for Your Essay.
Here Again Are the Essay Options
Option #1: In a 5-page research paper, analyze the conditions that made Frank Meeink ripe for racist brainwashing and the forces that unshackled him from the chains of his racist ideology.
Option #2: In a 5-page research paper, analyze Frank Meeink's descent into the Skinhead movement in terms of Erich Fromm's "Escape from Freedom." How, in other words, is Meeink's conversion an escape from freedom?
Option #3: In a 5-page research paper, compare the Fall and Redemption of Frank Meeink and Jeff Henderson.
Suggested Introduction: Write a profile of an ignoramus, steeped in stupid ideas, who is unaware of his absurd beliefs and then transition to your thesis paragraph about Frank Meeink using the transition "Similarly."
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