James Stern, black leader of a neo-Nazi group | …

James Hart Stern, a 54-year-old black activist, has become the new president of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) and has already announced his goal of disrupting one of the largest neo-Nazi groups in the United States.

According to the BBC World, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an NGO that tracks supremacist movements, confirmed that Stern took control of NSM in January to replace Jeff Schoep, who advocated a country reserved for whites.

The truth is that Stern has already taken the first steps to reform the racist group. An official letter indicates that, as president, he requested the change of address and the legal representatives of the group. Another document obtained by the BBC refers to Stern as a representative in a civil suit against NSM for "emotional and economic damage" to dozens of people during the violent neo-Nazi demonstration of 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. In this case, he asked that his group be found guilty.

Stern is a Protestant Reverend born in 1965 in Moreno Valley, California. He is a Black Civil Rights Advocate and also leads the Ministry of Reach for Racial Reconciliation, a "progressive and international organization fighting for social change".

In an interview with the Washington Post, the Reverend said that Schoep contacted him last January to ask him for a legal opinion on the lawsuit regarding the Charlottesville events and their possible financial implications. Stern said he saw an opportunity for internal differences for the supremacist leader and offered to relinquish control of the organization and its website.

Now, the black activist has announced that he is seeking advice from Jewish leaders to determine what to do with the group, although he has for the moment ruled out the possibility of dissolving him. He said his goal is to provide space for "educating" MNS followers and turning the Web into a platform for Holocaust education.