Skinheads and Neo-Nazis By: Leif Barkhousen, Natalio DeLaTorre & Soulaphon Saosavong Definitions from www.dictionary.com: Skinhead- A member of any of various groups of white British or American youths who shave their heads, gather at rock concerts and sports events, and sometimes participate in white-supremacist and anti-immigrant activities. Neo-Nazi- A member of a fringe group inspired by Adolf Hitler's Nazis. The skinhead movement started in the late 1960's in England out of the MOD (Modernist ) movement. They were mostly working class youth but came from all economical backgrounds. One reason for their shaved heads was so their hair would not get caught in the machinery at the factories where most of them worked. Steel-toed boots were worn to protect their feet. At this time they were not a racist group. During this time Britain started to receive immigrants from Jamaica and Pakistan. Jamaicans were also early skinheads. The Jamaicans used to work on the docks with some of the skinheads, and that's how they became friends. These two groups used to go around "Paki-bashing", which was beating up Pakistanis. There were a lot of music clubs around England in those days. Some clubs were owned by Jamaicans that played reggae and soul music. Some whites did not want blacks in their neighborhoods, so they decided to make a new type of music called "ska". The ones that did not like ska went and made a new type of music called "oi". Oi music had racial lyrics and made skinheads become really violent. The British National Party, a neo-nazi group, started to back the bands and exploiting them to recruit new members. This is when the group became a hate group. Skinheads are now all over the world. They appeared in America in the early to mid 1980's. They commit more hate crimes than any other group. The average skinhead is between 12-25 years old. The reason for recruiting young men is that they are easily persuaded, and were more likely do as they were told. Most of the recruits come from broken homes. The group takes them in and gives them a sense of security and belonging. The skinheads that are not racist are Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice or SHARPs. Even though they are not racist this does not mean they are not violent. In 1988 two SHARPs dragged two female racist skinheads out of a 7-11 store and beat them with a hammer. Skinheads usually dress as follows: jeans, Fred Perrys, Ben Shermans, Doc Martin boots, bomber jackets and lots of tattoos. Some other thing about the way skinheads dress are not agreed upon. Some say the color of their shoe laces and suspenders have a significance. Others say that the color is just their favorite color or just what looks good. For the ones that do believe the colors have a meaning here is what they mean: Red--blood that has been shed and willing to be shed for the white race. White--white power Black--"fresh cut" Blue--"straight edge" In the mid-80's the Neo-Nazi skinheads appeared in the United States. They had about 1,000 to 1,500 members by 1988 and around 3,400 by 1993 in forty states. With this growth in membership they have committed more violent crimes and have gone from using boots, bats and knives to using firearms. Only German skinheads have been able to match the United States skinheads in their frequent and ferocious attacks. From 1987 to 1990 there were only six killings by skinheads but from 1990 to 1993 there were more than 22 murders. Skinheads target minority groups like Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, homosexuals and homeless people. They will even attack another skinhead for clothes, money or just because they did not like how the other skinhead acted. The racist skinheads also have a special war cry, RAHOWA that stands for Racial Holy War. Since they do not keep close ties with any location they are free to move to a new location to avoid law enforcement officials. This also allows them to change their names and skinhead groups they hang out with. Bibliography: ***WARNING: The sites below are not connected with California State University Stanislaus and may contain insulting and racial content*** www.skinheads.net www.resist.com http://www.adl.org/hate-patrol/njs/neonazi.html Wood, Robert T. Youth & Society, Dec 99, Vol 31 Issue 2, p131