Michael Kent, Former Neo-Nazi Shares How Tiffany Whittier, African American Parole Officer Changed His Life

Former neo-Nazi removes swastika tattoos after unlikely friendship

Michael Kent had his Nazi tattoos removed because of Tiffany Whittier

Kent says his neo-Nazi views evolved from racial encounters while growing up in a mostly black neighborhood, where they had to “fight to survive as a family”. When he was 12, an African-American man broke into his house and tried to rape his mother, and on another occasion, the mother of a black friend said she didn’t want “that blue-eyed devil in this house”.

“That just fuelled my hate as they didn’t like me so you know what, I’m going all out, and I started hating them more than anything,” he explains. “Just on how one person treated me, I thought everyone was like that. I became more and more hateful as time went on.”

His outlook started to change when he met Tiffany Whittier, an African American parole office who took over his case a year after he completed a prison term for drugs and weapons charges. When he met her for the first time, he was confused.

“The first thing I said to her was, ‘Are you alone?’” Kent recalled. “She said, ‘Yes.’ I wasn’t sure what to think because anybody who knew my case file knew I was totally against anybody that was black. But she showed up at my house by herself, knowing who I was. She took that chance. I instantly had respect for her. I realized she had courage.”

It wasn’t long before the two developed what Kent described as a “big ol’ bond.” Over the months, Whittier helped Kent abandon his old habits and embrace the positive, challenging him to grow into the man God created him to be.

“She instantly became a godsend to me,” he shared. “She mentored me, helped me, and loved me. Most parole officers just saw me as a number, and I always ended back up in the system. This woman was someone I was supposed to hate, but she showed me love that my people, my peers, my own culture didn’t show me. She opened up my eyes and my heart in a whole new way.”

A devout Christian, it is her faith that allows her to see the humanity in those she works with, regardless of their background Whittier said.

“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect,” she said. “I care about these people. I saw Mike’s tattoos. I saw his case file before I went to his home. So, I knew what I was getting into. But I wanted him to be comfortable. I wanted him to feel heard. I wanted him to know I viewed him as an equal. Yes, I’m your probation officer, but I want to see you be successful.”

She suggested he took down his Nazi paraphernalia, joking that he could replace it with positive influences like smiley faces – but he took it seriously.

Little by little, he got rid of his Nazi stuff and says he started feeling better, less aggressive. Meanwhile, his rapport with Tiffany grew as she supported him, meeting his colleagues and family.

“More and more she became involved in my life and the hate started drifting away and the love started building in my heart,” he says. They used to call me “cranky pants” at work, but I began going to work happy and not aggressive,” he says.

“As we got to know each other I showed her pictures of what I was like before and she said, ‘Oh my God Michael, if I had known what you were like I would never have walked through your gate that day.'”

To complete his transformation, Michael approached an organization called Redemption Ink, a not-for-profit organization in the US that removes hate-related tattoos. They referred him to a company in Colorado, where he now lives, which is covering the old pictures with new designs.

“They are turning all this ugliness into something beautiful. I am almost in tears every time,” he says.

Kent now lives in the mountains, working on a chicken farm where he is the only white person. He has had to move far away from his children because of fear of reprisals from gang members.

The pair now hope to use their story to encourage others to engage with each other more to combat racism. They hope to write a book and will soon be launching a Facebook group “so we can talk about race issues and unite all cultures together to become one”.

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