The original “skin head” movement was mostly factory workers in Britain who cut their hair short (not necessarily shaved bald) for safety around equipment, and some of the most popular music among the group was stuff by “rude boys” Jamaican primarily I believe.
It was working class solidarity with no intentions of racism.
The neo Nazi groups coopted the term, and delved into punk music to find disenfranchised people who would buy into their rhetoric.
There are also other skin head groups that exist today - SHARP for example, standing for SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice.
Espouse hateful rhetoric around these guys and you’re liable to wind up on the wrong side of a brick to the head.
Why do I know all this? I have a penchant for research, and in the past few years I’ve been shaving my head because I decided to own my thinning hairline instead of have some ridiculous comb over type shit and hide it.
I have had an encounter with a racist white dude at a 711, and he’s ranting at the cashier and looks to me and said “Right brother?!”. No, it was absurdly horrible (misguided) and I threatened to call the cops if he didn’t leave the store and hopefully the neighborhood. He left when he realized he didn’t have any support.
I used to go to a lot of punk concerts, you end up meeting a lot of people including redskins, OG skins, I’ve even met BDSM skinheads. The world is beautiful in its complexity
But idk that he assumed you’d agree because of your shaven head - may just have been your whiteness.
Where I’m from, Nazi skinheads do exist, but they’re far, far rarer than other kinds of skinhead. Unless I see indications of far-right inclinations, I’ll assume a skinhead dressed in tight jeans & big black boots is an anarchist rather than a Nazi.
Extra fun to see anarchist skinheads chasing Nazi skinheads out of an area though.
Thank you for differentiating.
The original “skin head” movement was mostly factory workers in Britain who cut their hair short (not necessarily shaved bald) for safety around equipment, and some of the most popular music among the group was stuff by “rude boys” Jamaican primarily I believe.
It was working class solidarity with no intentions of racism.
The neo Nazi groups coopted the term, and delved into punk music to find disenfranchised people who would buy into their rhetoric.
There are also other skin head groups that exist today - SHARP for example, standing for SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice.
Espouse hateful rhetoric around these guys and you’re liable to wind up on the wrong side of a brick to the head.
Why do I know all this? I have a penchant for research, and in the past few years I’ve been shaving my head because I decided to own my thinning hairline instead of have some ridiculous comb over type shit and hide it.
I have had an encounter with a racist white dude at a 711, and he’s ranting at the cashier and looks to me and said “Right brother?!”. No, it was absurdly horrible (misguided) and I threatened to call the cops if he didn’t leave the store and hopefully the neighborhood. He left when he realized he didn’t have any support.
I used to go to a lot of punk concerts, you end up meeting a lot of people including redskins, OG skins, I’ve even met BDSM skinheads. The world is beautiful in its complexity
Well done for standing up to the guy.
But idk that he assumed you’d agree because of your shaven head - may just have been your whiteness.
Where I’m from, Nazi skinheads do exist, but they’re far, far rarer than other kinds of skinhead. Unless I see indications of far-right inclinations, I’ll assume a skinhead dressed in tight jeans & big black boots is an anarchist rather than a Nazi.
Extra fun to see anarchist skinheads chasing Nazi skinheads out of an area though.