Page 358 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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338———Skinheads

skinheads in Portland, Oregon, in 1988. In 1990, a protective subculture that provides emotional and
civil court determined that the skinheads had been ideological resources to the marginalized young. This
directed to murder by WAR based in southern can include the commission of hate crimes. For exam-
California. Tom and John Metzger, the leaders of ple, criminal acts committed against minority groups
WAR, were ordered to pay the victim’s family can be perceived as “solving the problem” of harass-
$12.5 million. ment of a white youth by minorities, or limit job
By the early 1990s, there were approximately competition from minorities.
3,500 racist skinheads active in the United States, On a more global level, skinheads are often por-
according to Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith trayed as foot soldiers in a future racial “holy war.”
estimates. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) They are street warriors who are to agitate against
charted a rise in skinhead groups and skinhead crimes minorities, feminists, homosexuals, and “race trai-
in the United States in the 1990s. With the collapse of tors,” pushing toward a “final conflict.” The solution
the Soviet Union in 1991, skinhead terror arose in here being a “final solution” in which skinheads use
Eastern Europe; its targets were recent immigrants terror to ultimately purge North America and northern
and Romanies (gypsies). Europe of all enemy elements. This militaristic vision
Not all skinheads engage in racial terrorism. The is often attractive to young men looking to assert the
1990s saw the growth of the SHARP subculture in the masculinity they feel has been lost.
United States. SHARPs (Skinheads Against Racial Skinheads have been linked to hundreds of racist,
Prejudice) were similar to the original nonracist skin- sexist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic attacks since
heads of the 1960s. They feel that the skinhead sub- the mid-1980s. Although individuals are the victims,
culture has been hijacked by racists and the media and terror is the larger goal. Criminologists Jack Levin
often use violence to purge the skinhead scene of and Jack McDevitt point out that the ultimate goal
Nazis and other undesirables. As their styles are simi- of hate crimes is to terrorize entire communities.
lar, racist and antiracist skinheads are easily mistaken The victim himself or herself is a relatively random
for each other. representative of a target group and meant to be a
Skinheads and racial terrorism are linked by reli- symbol. When two skinheads murdered a gay man in
gion, subcultural solutions, hate crimes, and intimida- Sylacauga, Alabama, in 1999, the message was to all
tion. The majority of skinheads seem to be attracted gay men to be on notice, just as Klan cross-burnings
by the subculture’s rebellious style or political expres- are meant for all African Americans. Criminologist
sion; however, a core element of the subculture sees Mark Hamm points out that the three players in a hate
itself as a movement, dedicated to a massive social crime are the perpetrator, the audience the perpetrator
revolution and the end of America as we know it. This is performing the crime for (e.g., fellow skinheads),
desire for radical change is based on the idea that the and the group the victim belongs to (not the actual
American government is controlled not by the Ameri- victim).
can people, but by a secret cabal of Jewish elders Groups, such as Nazi Low Riders in California or
whose primary goal is the destruction of the white the Hammerskins in Texas, have been described as
race. Often referred to as ZOG, the Zionist occupation instituting a “reign of terror” in local communities.
government is believed by the skinheads to use the Skinheads use their aggressive ideology, imposing
dominant institutions, including the media, to under- image, and history of violence to threaten those who
mine the power of northern Europeans, referred to as oppose them. Their speech and music, constitutionally
“Aryans.” protected, is filled with messages about burning down
synagogues, killing race traitors, and starting
“Rahowa” (racial holy war). Skinheads claim to be
SUBCULTURAL SOLUTIONS
proud of their race but often use aliases and rarely
The appeal of the skinhead subculture for many arises meet in public. One of the most powerful skinhead
from its goals. The skinhead creed can influence ter- groups, the Aryan Brotherhood, primarily recruits
rorist behavior on local levels and more generally. The among white prison inmates.
research of Randy Blazak has shown how skinhead
“problem solving” operates on two levels. On the See also ARYAN NATIONS; KU KLUX KLAN; WHITE
immediate local level, skinheads create a gang-like SUPREMACY