Skinheads
Bald head, tight-pressed jeans, a sharp-cut Fred Perry polo shirt
and various colors of Dr. Marten boots this combination can
only be a sign of one thing: skinheads. Skinheads are now a well-known
part of the American consciousness, perhaps because a month doesnt
go by without the news reporting some racist skinhead violence
in this city or that. They have been on talk shows, featured in
investigative reports, and have even been portrayed in big budget
films, such as Romper Stomper and American History X. But none
of these films or shows have really talked about who or what skinheads
are, where they come from and where theyre going.
Skinhead origins began back in the early to mid-1960s in England,
forming out of a lively dancehall scene created by Jamaican immigrants
known as Rude Boys, who listened to lively music called ska, and
a subculture group known as the Mods. Rude Boys were a sharp-dressed
working-class subculture that tended to hang out in crews (a gang)
and frequent large clubs known as dancehalls. They were known
to wear tight-cut suits, sharp two-tone shoes, and pork pie hats.
Rude Boys were also known for their love of violence. Mods were
middle-class white kids who broke off from an earlier movement
known as the Teds. The Ted movement had turned into leather-jacket
wearing gangs now known as Rockers. Mods were in direct conflict
with rockers (if you have ever seen the move Quadraphenia, it
is Mods vs. Rockers): They preferred pressed suits and a clean-cut
look. Mods and Rude Boys looked very similar and both had a love
for sharp looks, ska tunes and gang fighting. The two middle-class
cultures meshed perfectly.
But hey, I thought skinheads didnt like black people? you ask.
We will get to that in a minute
Toward the end of the 60s, many of the original Mods had begun
to break away from the scene, going off to work, getting married
or perhaps just getting tired of the Mod life. With this slow
dying of the original Mod culture, a working class revival started
taking place in the remaining Mods. They began cropping their
hair really close, wearing heavy, steel-toe boots, Levis and,
of course, suspenders. The look was meant to resemble a middle-class
factory worker, but it had more uses than just fashion. With no
hair, one couldnt have it pulled during a fight. Tight jeans
and shirts werent easily grabbed either, and with steel-toe boots
you could do some serious kick damage. This new style was easily
definable by 1968 and came to be known as skinheads. This new
youth culture pretty much still did the same stuff as the previous
Mods; they hung in dancehalls with the Rude Boys, drank beer and
got into brawls.
This new working-class movement quickly spread all over England.
Skinhead gangs were identified in almost every city. At first,
the skinhead gangs tended to prey on Rockers and Glams, and sometimes
Asian youths and gays. Because of these targets, the public didnt
really take notice. But in 1968, when a reputed 4,000 skinheads
attended a soccer event and broke into a massive riot afterward,
the public noticed fast. It was around this time that a large
influx of Pakistani immigrants also gained visibility in England.
The middle-class Jamaican and English Skinheads, as well as Rude
Boys, started blaming their lack of jobs on these immigrants,
and some of the first racist skinhead violence started. It was
known as Paki Bashing.
As the 60s rolled into the 70s, Jamaican Rude Boys started disappearing,
and younger kids attracted to the Skinhead movement were more
removed from the earlier racially diverse group. These younger
Skins became obsessed with their local soccer teams, and many
of the gangs started wearing colors similar to their favorite
team. These were the true years of the soccer hooligans. These
Skinheads also started looking slightly different from their earlier
brothers. They tended to grow their hair out just a bit, and favored
thick, bushy sideburns. This look was often referred to as the
SuedeHead.
During this same period, England was going through a rough time
with its economy. Unemployment was way up and the rich seemed
to get richer while the poor well, they couldnt really get
any poorer. The old neighborhoods of the Skinheads were becoming
run down slums. Joblessness always tends to breed resentment,
and this resentment shined out in a group called the National
Front. The National Front was a racially motivated group who wanted
to eliminate West Indian and Pakistani (and many other) immigrants
in England, for the purpose of giving jobs back to the white citizens.
The National Front needed recruits and publicity, and what better
place to get it than in the young, already violent Skinhead movement.
National Front actively began recruiting among the jobless Skinhead
youths whose gangs made up a large part of the decaying middle-class
neighborhoods of London and other cities. This is the birth of
what we know today as the racist (white power or nazi) skinhead.
In the late 1970s, Punk Rock took its hold on the youths of England.
Punks were everywhere, and with them came a revival in the earlier
ska and Mod look and sounds of the 1960s. With this resurgence
came a growth spurt again in the non-racist Skinhead movement.
Skins and Punks mingled freely with Mods and Rude Boys it seemed
like glorious times again. But the Punk movement began degrading
into a glam-type record-company controlled scene that many of
the new Skinheads really resented. These new Skins started their
own music, dubbed Oi by Gary Bushell, because the slang term Oi
was popular among the Skinhead youth. The years in the late 70s
and early 80s were filled with Skinheads and popular Skinhead
bands, such as Sham69, Oppressed, 4 skins and many others. Most
of these bands were composed of non-racist Skins motivated more
by class difference than the color of ones skin. But the racist
Skins still held their turf and caused many problems at concerts
during these years.
The movement of Punk Rock into the United States also brought
with it the subculture of Skinheads. While in the early Punk years,
the Skinhead look really only identified someone as a Punk Rocker,
the Skinheads soon came into their own in the U.S. In the mid-80s
the Punk and Hardcore scene in the States was booming, and it
was at this time that some of the first real Skinhead gangs started
showing up at concerts all over the country. These gangs were
often composed of big guys with shaven heads, combat boots and
a very violent attitude toward blacks. Most of these Skinhead
gangs grew in the Southern states, the Northwest and down in Texas.
New York, California and areas like Miami did have nazi Skinhead
gangs, but they were often overshadowed because of the large multicultural
influence on the youth culture in those areas. Many concerts became
violent, people were beaten, and things generally started getting
bad for anyone not affiliated with the local nazi gang (that is,
if they controlled your scene).
From many a witnessed beating, the hatred for racist ideals and
sometimes a love of traditional Skinhead culture came another
new movement in the Skinhead scene: the SHARP Skins (Skinheads
Against Racial Prejudice). The SHARPS ganged together in the same
fashion as their nazi cousins, but their purpose was obviously
to battle the growing number of racist Skinheads across the country.
The SHARP movement flourished in many areas, and more and more
racist Skinhead groups began moving underground and forming affiliations
with the KKK and other nationally organized white supremacist
groups.
Today, everything seems to have gone full circle again. The majority
of Skinheads seen at concerts and clubs are typically non-racist,
traditional Skinheads, mixing with Mods and the raging new ska
scene. The racist Skinheads tend to visit their own scenes and
take part in more politically motivated events at a national level.
Both groups still exist, both still have quite a strong following
(although each will tell you the opposite about their rival group)
and both are still steeped in the rich history of youth culture.
This article was made possible by
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/5712/skinhead_faq.html
http://beefeaterscrew.xoasis.com/skinhead_history.htm
and Nick Knights book, SkinHead ( Omnibus Press, 1982 ).
Nick Razer
Comment
on this in fhe forums