On March 14, 2012, The Los Angeles Times reporter Thomas H. Maugh II thankfully introduced us to Timothy Fenstermacher, a white Tehachapi State Prison hate crime convict currently serving a lengthy sentence for having committed a dispicable race-based assault in 1996 when Mr. Fenstermacher was 24 years old. He stabbed a Latino man at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside, California, and was convicted of felony assault. Like a lot of hate crime convicts, he had a previous criminal history; and, his violent behavior continued in prison. He was handed an additional three-year prison term for assaulting a correctional officer. But unlike a lot of hate crime convicts, Mr. Fenstermacher, now 40, is in the process of turning his life around. That's laudible enough, of course, but the circumstances and the devotion to which he has begun to shape his new, more satisfying life is truly impressive.
Mr. Maugh crafts an inspiring story of a man who exchanged his hate and violence for pursuing his interest in Egyptian heiroglyphics.
Mr. Fenstermacher, we realize you have no direct access to the Internet, given that you are a prisoner. We hope, however, that your family passes a copy of this blog along to you (or perhaps you will read this someday when you are a free man). Thanks to Mr. Maugh the world knows now about your talent, your intellectual gifts, and your drive to become the best man you can become. We applaud you. We understand that some adults become good people, not because of their parents and their childhoods, but despite them. We applaud how you have turned your back on hatred--especially given that you are doing so in a type of institution known for spirit-crushing racism, race-based segregation and violence--and turned inward to focus on bettering yourself. Take humble pride--but not egotistical pride--in your abilities to first recognize your intellectual curiosity and then to see that you have what it takes to turn that curiosity into a passionate, fulfilling pursuit. Whatever job or jobs you have once you complete your sentence, know that you are a role-model for scores of young people who are looking to read about someone who gives them hope in themselves. Your life of change is now widely-known. In addition to the LA Times readership, Mr. Maugh's story of you has been posted to over 1,000 Facebook pages and has been tweeted 200 times as of the date of this blog. You inspire hope that young people are worthy of an inner calm that is driven by following their bliss, by reaching for their potential. You, sir, might without even trying, save a life by demonstrating that people can learn to believe in themselves and learn to overcome the unfairness that life dishes out, and to shed the hatred they've absorbed from others, and live peacefully, and with purpose. Timothy Fenstermacher, welcome back to humanity. We wish you continued success.
Do you belong to a hate group or a race-based street gang and want out? Then get out. You can do it. You deserve to do it. You can vanish from the people who are helping you lead a miserable life. You can begin to develop friendships with those who don't harbor hate. Your life and your relationships with others (and with yourself) will dramatically improve if you do. Mr. Fenstermacher has abandoned his hateful ways of thinking and he is changing his life for the better and you can too.
Do you belong to a hate group or a race-based street gang and want out? Then get out. You can do it. You deserve to do it. You can vanish from the people who are helping you lead a miserable life. You can begin to develop friendships with those who don't harbor hate. Your life and your relationships with others (and with yourself) will dramatically improve if you do. Mr. Fenstermacher has abandoned his hateful ways of thinking and he is changing his life for the better and you can too.
