Gurdwara attack united victim’s son Pardeep with ex-racist Michaelis
7 Aug 2013 4:50 AM IST
Six weeks after a white supremacist gunned down Pardeep Kaleka’s father and five others at a Sikh temple in the US exactly a year ago, Kaleka was skeptical when a former skinhead invited him to dinner.
But Kaleka accepted, and he’s grateful he did. Since then, the grieving son and repentant racist have formed an unlikely alliance, teaming up to preach a message of peace. They’ve grown so close that they got matching tattoos on their palms, the numbers 8-5-12, the date the gunman opened fire at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin before killing himself.
It wasn’t easy for Kaleka to meet Arno Michaelis, a 42-year-old who admits he contributed so heavily to the white-power movement that he might have helped influence the shooter. Kaleka knows Michaelis’ history, his lead singing in a white supremacist band, the white-power and swastika tattoos, the countless fights and more than a dozen arrests.
But he also saw the good work Michaelis has done since he quit the racist movement in the mid-1990s. Kaleka, 37, wanted his father’s death to be a catalyst for peace, and he saw in Michaelis a partner whose story could reinforce the message that it’s possible to turn hate into love.
‘We were both hoping we could take something tragic and turn it into something positive. We were both on that same mission, in our different ways,’ Kaleka said.
Michaelis had written a book called ‘My Life After Hate,’ in which he describes how the birth of his daughter made him realise he needed to change. a
But Kaleka accepted, and he’s grateful he did. Since then, the grieving son and repentant racist have formed an unlikely alliance, teaming up to preach a message of peace. They’ve grown so close that they got matching tattoos on their palms, the numbers 8-5-12, the date the gunman opened fire at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin before killing himself.
It wasn’t easy for Kaleka to meet Arno Michaelis, a 42-year-old who admits he contributed so heavily to the white-power movement that he might have helped influence the shooter. Kaleka knows Michaelis’ history, his lead singing in a white supremacist band, the white-power and swastika tattoos, the countless fights and more than a dozen arrests.
But he also saw the good work Michaelis has done since he quit the racist movement in the mid-1990s. Kaleka, 37, wanted his father’s death to be a catalyst for peace, and he saw in Michaelis a partner whose story could reinforce the message that it’s possible to turn hate into love.
‘We were both hoping we could take something tragic and turn it into something positive. We were both on that same mission, in our different ways,’ Kaleka said.
Michaelis had written a book called ‘My Life After Hate,’ in which he describes how the birth of his daughter made him realise he needed to change. a
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