StoryCorps: Julie Sanders and Randy Blazak

From: StoryCorps
Series: StoryCorps
Length: 02:26

Julie Sanders talks about being a member of of a white supremacist group as a teenager. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: StoryCorps: Julie Sanders and Randy Blazak
From: StoryCorps

Sanders_small

40-year-old Julie Sanders is a mother of three from Portland, Oregon.

But at 16, she belonged to a white supremacist group — and one night in 1988, found herself at the scene of a murder.

She’s kept this a secret from most of her friends and family.

In fact, before sitting down with a friend at StoryCorps, Julie had rarely talked about her past at all.

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Piece Description

40-year-old Julie Sanders is a mother of three from Portland, Oregon.

But at 16, she belonged to a white supremacist group — and one night in 1988, found herself at the scene of a murder.

She’s kept this a secret from most of her friends and family.

In fact, before sitting down with a friend at StoryCorps, Julie had rarely talked about her past at all.

Broadcast History

NPR's Morning Edition, August 17, 2012.

Transcript

Julie Sanders (JS): I was on a search for people who wanted me around. My parents didn’t. And, there was nothing about me that felt special. So when I met these friends, it didn’t matter if I was pretty or funny. None of that mattered. They liked me because I was white.

Every weekend, we drank and then drove around, looking for a fight. And on nights they didn’t have anyone to beat up, I was the target -- even being almost choked to death at one point by my boyfriend.

One time, six of us all get into the car and there is another car. And in the car was three black guys. And a fight erupted. My boyfriend grabbed a bat. And I could see from the back seat the bat being swung, a man falling to the ground -- and then everybody running.

The man died. He was born in Ethiopia and had a son. But we just saw black.

After the murder, I ended up going to a girls reformatory. And I have spent a l...
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Time now for StoryCorps, and today a story of a life transformed. Julie Sanders is a mother of three from Portland, Oregon. She's 40 now, but when she was a teenager, 16, she belonged to a white supremacist group, and one night in 1988 she found herself at the scene of a murder. She's kept this a secret from most of those she's close to. In fact, before sitting down with a friend at StoryCorps, Julie had rarely talked about her past at all.

OUTRO:

That's Julie Sanders at StoryCorps in Portland, Oregon. She recently completed a degree in social work and she plans to work with kids who are at risk of joining hate groups. Julie Sanders' interview will be archived at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. The StoryCorps Podcast is at npr.org.