Why we do what we do

posted by: Nick Lowles | on: Monday, 27 February 2012, 20:32

Matthew at the launch of his book last summer

I've just watched my colleague and friend Matthew Collins talk about his racist past on 4Thought and how a particularly nasty attack he was involved in made him change his ways.

In the first in a series of 4Thought slots on the theme of racism in Britain, Matthew explained how he felt ashamed of his violent past. "I have to live with that," he said.

But rather than walk away he felt he wanted to make amends.

"I made the decision that I wasn't going to just walk away from racism but I wanted to change my ways, change people, and have some impact on people's lives so we didn't have another Matthew Collins running around with a shaven head and a swastika beating people up because of their colour.

"When I fight racism, fight fascism, I do it because I don't want any more white kids going down that stupid path."

This is why Matthew does what he does and a whole load of people owe him a debt of gratitude for turning them away from such a similar path.

You can watch his comment here:

http://www.4thought.tv/themes/how-racist-are-we/matthew-collins?autoplay=true