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Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice

October 17, 2023

Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) are anti-racist skinheads who oppose white power skinheads, neo-fascists and other political racists, particularly if they identify themselves as skinheads. SHARPs claim to reclaim the original multicultural identity of the original skinheads, hijacked by white power skinheads,[1] who they sometimes deride as "boneheads".[2]

Logo featuring a Corinthian helmet, commonly used by those associated with SHARP

SHARP professes no political ideology or affiliation beyond the common opposition to racism. The group stresses the importance of the black Jamaican influence in the original late-1960s skinhead movement, much akin to Trojan skinheads.

History Edit

Background Edit

The original skinhead subculture started in the United Kingdom in the late 1960s, and had heavy British mod and Jamaican rude boy influences, including a love for ska and soul music.[3][4][5][6] Although some skinheads (including black skinheads) had engaged in "Paki bashing" (random violence against Pakistanis and other South Asian immigrants), skinheads were not associated with an organized racist political movement in the 1960s.[7][8][9] However, in the late 1970s, a skinhead revival in the UK included a sizable white nationalist faction, involving organizations such as the National Front, British Movement, Rock Against Communism and in the late eighties Blood and Honour. Because of this, the mainstream media began to label the whole skinhead identity as neo-fascist. This new white power skinhead movement then spread to other countries, including the United States.

Emergence Edit

 
Boneheads (nazi skinheads) and other white supremacists have used this symbol, along with many other hate symbols, in opposition to SHARP.[10]

Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice was founded in 1987 by Marcus, a skinhead from New York City.[11][1] It emerged as a response by suburban adolescents to the bigotry of the growing White Power Movement in 1982. Traditional skinheads (Trads) formed as a way to show that the skinhead subculture was not based on racism and political extremism.[12] NYC Oi! band The Press and Jason O'Toole (vocalist of the hardcore punk group Life's Blood) were among SHARP's early supporters. In 1989, Roddy Moreno of the Welsh Oi! band The Oppressed visited New York City and met a few SHARP members. On his return to the United Kingdom, he designed a new SHARP logo based on the Trojan Reggae labels design and started promoting SHARP ideals to British skinheads.

SHARP then spread throughout Europe and in other continents.[13] In the UK and other European countries, the SHARP attitude was more based on the individual than on organized groups. In the 2000s, SHARP is thought to have become more of an individual designation than an official organization.

Skinheads, especially in the United States and Indonesia align themselves with groups and organizations to this day. Most of which designate themselves as crews.[14] Many strive for an individualist presentation with collectivist goals. As well they are generally imposed into community service, protesting, activism both violent and peaceful. You may find SHARPs a part of local mutual aid or activist groups such as Black Lives Matter or Anti-Racist Action, in which the latter was even in part founded by skinheads, the most well known of which being Mic Crenshaw.

 
The Baldies Syndicate Logo, 1989.

The United States scene has been entirely agitated by the racist overture and have resorted to all forms of anti-racism and anti-fascism to redeem their style and culture.

Violence [15] has been rampant within either of the Skinhead factions for decades now. Between fighting in Clubs and Venues as well as the streets. From Mosh pit shuffles to murder.[16] The American scene has been alive and vibrant since the 80's. Some of the most well known Anti-Racist Skinhead crews being that of The Baldies Syndicate,[17] American S.H.A.R.P (Colloquially known as A.M.S). S.H.A.R.P still remains quite active to this day, Besides the aforementioned groups many exist globally and have active membership.

 
American Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice Logo.
 
SHARP Skinhead, Sweden 2000.
 
Anarchist, anti-fascist and anti-racist skinheads in Hannover, Germany

Many people may confuse SHARP members with racists, since their appearance is superficially similar: shaved heads, denim, lace up boots, button-down shirts and suspenders (called braces). One glib differentiation that might be imagined to separate the two would be music interests. SHARPs may listen to culturally influenced music such as: soul, reggae, and ska; but also punk, hardcore and Oi!. Racist skinheads would disagree with some or all of these musical choices; but may listen to punk, hardcore, Oi!, as well as Nazi punk and National Socialist black metal.

In a deliberate attempt to reject the growing racist subculture, since the early eighties SHARPs promulgated an anti-racist identity through small amateur fanzine publications like Hard As Nails. During the pre-Internet era, these publication established a network of likeminded individuals with similar musical and stylistic attitudes, who considered anti-racism an indispensable part of a living skinhead scene. Another strand of the same Trad revival sought to affirm explicit links with the foundation of Mod subculture and its apolitical, black-positive standards of fashion. The scooter scene, with its runs and Northern Soul dances, had never gone entirely away; and in the post-punk rediscovery of the past, under the influence of The Jam and Quadrophenia, it seemed a fresh and self-renewing direction for skinhead itself to go in.

By 1989, this Trad scene was ripe for the injection of a cultural influence like SHARP, much as its own appearance had been symptomatic of an American internal revolution in US skinheads' attitudes to race and their own subculture.

An outgrowth of SHARP, Red and Anarchist Skinheads (RASH), formed in the United States in 1993 against anti-gay sentiment in the nonracist skinhead community.[18]

Image Edit

 
Original logo of SHARP.

The original logo was an American flag surrounded by the SHARP lettering. The second SHARP logo is based on the logo of Trojan Records, which originally mainly released black Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae artists. Some variants of this design also incorporate the checkerboard motif of 2 Tone Records, known for its multiracial roster of ska- and reggae-influenced bands.[19]

The way in which SHARPs dress is to project an image that looks hard and smart, in an evolving continuity with style ideals established in the middle-to-late 1960s. This style and demeanour originated from the UK, growing out of the pre-existing mod movement, taking cues and influences from Jamaican ska and rude boy culture. They remain true to the style's original purpose of enjoying life, clothes, attitude and music.

See also Edit

Footnotes Edit

  1. ^ a b Brown, Timothy S. (2004). "Subcultures, Pop Music and Politics: Skinheads and "Nazi Rock" in England and Germany". Journal of Social History. 38 (1): 170. doi:10.1353/jsh.2004.0079. ISSN 0022-4529. S2CID 42029805.
  2. ^ Campbell, Alex (2006). "The search for authenticity: An exploration of an online skinhead newsgroup". New Media & Society. 8 (2): 269–294. doi:10.1177/1461444806059875. ISSN 1461-4448. S2CID 40582514.
  3. ^ Brown, Timothy S. (2004). "Subcultures, pop music and politics: skinheads and "Nazi rock" in England and Germany". Journal of Social History.
  4. ^ Old Skool Jim. Trojan Skinhead Reggae Box Set liner notes. London: Trojan Records. TJETD169.
  5. ^ Marshall, George (1991). Spirit of '69 - A Skinhead Bible. Dunoon, Scotland: S.T. Publishing. ISBN 1-898927-10-3.
  6. ^ Special Articles 2008-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Marshall, George. Skinhead Nation. ST Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-898927-45-6, ISBN 978-1-898927-45-7.
  8. ^
  9. ^ . Time. 1970-06-08. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  10. ^ "Hate on Display: Anti-SHARP Imagery". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  11. ^ Elósegui, María; Hermida, Cristina (2017). Racial Justice, Policies and Courts' Legal Reasoning in Europe. Springer. p. 143. ISBN 978-3-319-53580-7.
  12. ^ (archived)
  13. ^ . 2007-07-09. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007.
  14. ^ "It Did Happen Here Podcast Transcript Episode 8". itdidhappenherepodcast.com. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  15. ^ "Jon Bair killed a neo-Nazi 28 years ago, and he has a message for Portland". opb. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  16. ^ "Portland Police arrest man for the 2019 murder of leftist activist". opb. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  17. ^ "Twin Cities PBS' Minnesota Experience Series Premieres 'The Baldies'". Twin Cities PBS. 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  18. ^ Bronner, Simon J.; Clark, Cindy Dell (2016). Youth Cultures in America [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 622. ISBN 978-1-4408-3392-2.
  19. ^ "UK Discography | 2 Tone Records". Retrieved 2022-09-01.

Further reading Edit

  •   Media related to SHARP at Wikimedia Commons

October 17, 2023
skinheads, against, racial, prejudice, sharp, anti, racist, skinheads, oppose, white, power, skinheads, fascists, other, political, racists, particularly, they, identify, themselves, skinheads, sharps, claim, reclaim, original, multicultural, identity, origina. Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice SHARP are anti racist skinheads who oppose white power skinheads neo fascists and other political racists particularly if they identify themselves as skinheads SHARPs claim to reclaim the original multicultural identity of the original skinheads hijacked by white power skinheads 1 who they sometimes deride as boneheads 2 Logo featuring a Corinthian helmet commonly used by those associated with SHARPSHARP professes no political ideology or affiliation beyond the common opposition to racism The group stresses the importance of the black Jamaican influence in the original late 1960s skinhead movement much akin to Trojan skinheads Contents 1 History 1 1 Background 1 2 Emergence 2 Image 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 Further readingHistory EditBackground Edit The original skinhead subculture started in the United Kingdom in the late 1960s and had heavy British mod and Jamaican rude boy influences including a love for ska and soul music 3 4 5 6 Although some skinheads including black skinheads had engaged in Paki bashing random violence against Pakistanis and other South Asian immigrants skinheads were not associated with an organized racist political movement in the 1960s 7 8 9 However in the late 1970s a skinhead revival in the UK included a sizable white nationalist faction involving organizations such as the National Front British Movement Rock Against Communism and in the late eighties Blood and Honour Because of this the mainstream media began to label the whole skinhead identity as neo fascist This new white power skinhead movement then spread to other countries including the United States Emergence Edit nbsp Boneheads nazi skinheads and other white supremacists have used this symbol along with many other hate symbols in opposition to SHARP 10 Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice was founded in 1987 by Marcus a skinhead from New York City 11 1 It emerged as a response by suburban adolescents to the bigotry of the growing White Power Movement in 1982 Traditional skinheads Trads formed as a way to show that the skinhead subculture was not based on racism and political extremism 12 NYC Oi band The Press and Jason O Toole vocalist of the hardcore punk group Life s Blood were among SHARP s early supporters In 1989 Roddy Moreno of the Welsh Oi band The Oppressed visited New York City and met a few SHARP members On his return to the United Kingdom he designed a new SHARP logo based on the Trojan Reggae labels design and started promoting SHARP ideals to British skinheads SHARP then spread throughout Europe and in other continents 13 In the UK and other European countries the SHARP attitude was more based on the individual than on organized groups In the 2000s SHARP is thought to have become more of an individual designation than an official organization Skinheads especially in the United States and Indonesia align themselves with groups and organizations to this day Most of which designate themselves as crews 14 Many strive for an individualist presentation with collectivist goals As well they are generally imposed into community service protesting activism both violent and peaceful You may find SHARPs a part of local mutual aid or activist groups such as Black Lives Matter or Anti Racist Action in which the latter was even in part founded by skinheads the most well known of which being Mic Crenshaw nbsp The Baldies Syndicate Logo 1989 The United States scene has been entirely agitated by the racist overture and have resorted to all forms of anti racism and anti fascism to redeem their style and culture Violence 15 has been rampant within either of the Skinhead factions for decades now Between fighting in Clubs and Venues as well as the streets From Mosh pit shuffles to murder 16 The American scene has been alive and vibrant since the 80 s Some of the most well known Anti Racist Skinhead crews being that of The Baldies Syndicate 17 American S H A R P Colloquially known as A M S S H A R P still remains quite active to this day Besides the aforementioned groups many exist globally and have active membership nbsp American Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice Logo nbsp SHARP Skinhead Sweden 2000 nbsp Anarchist anti fascist and anti racist skinheads in Hannover GermanyMany people may confuse SHARP members with racists since their appearance is superficially similar shaved heads denim lace up boots button down shirts and suspenders called braces One glib differentiation that might be imagined to separate the two would be music interests SHARPs may listen to culturally influenced music such as soul reggae and ska but also punk hardcore and Oi Racist skinheads would disagree with some or all of these musical choices but may listen to punk hardcore Oi as well as Nazi punk and National Socialist black metal In a deliberate attempt to reject the growing racist subculture since the early eighties SHARPs promulgated an anti racist identity through small amateur fanzine publications like Hard As Nails During the pre Internet era these publication established a network of likeminded individuals with similar musical and stylistic attitudes who considered anti racism an indispensable part of a living skinhead scene Another strand of the same Trad revival sought to affirm explicit links with the foundation of Mod subculture and its apolitical black positive standards of fashion The scooter scene with its runs and Northern Soul dances had never gone entirely away and in the post punk rediscovery of the past under the influence of The Jam and Quadrophenia it seemed a fresh and self renewing direction for skinhead itself to go in By 1989 this Trad scene was ripe for the injection of a cultural influence like SHARP much as its own appearance had been symptomatic of an American internal revolution in US skinheads attitudes to race and their own subculture An outgrowth of SHARP Red and Anarchist Skinheads RASH formed in the United States in 1993 against anti gay sentiment in the nonracist skinhead community 18 Image Edit nbsp Original logo of SHARP The original logo was an American flag surrounded by the SHARP lettering The second SHARP logo is based on the logo of Trojan Records which originally mainly released black Jamaican ska rocksteady and reggae artists Some variants of this design also incorporate the checkerboard motif of 2 Tone Records known for its multiracial roster of ska and reggae influenced bands 19 The way in which SHARPs dress is to project an image that looks hard and smart in an evolving continuity with style ideals established in the middle to late 1960s This style and demeanour originated from the UK growing out of the pre existing mod movement taking cues and influences from Jamaican ska and rude boy culture They remain true to the style s original purpose of enjoying life clothes attitude and music See also EditAnti Fascism Anti Racism Love Music Hate Racism Rock Against Racism Hardcore Skinhead The Oppressed Working ClassFootnotes Edit a b Brown Timothy S 2004 Subcultures Pop Music and Politics Skinheads and Nazi Rock in England and Germany Journal of Social History 38 1 170 doi 10 1353 jsh 2004 0079 ISSN 0022 4529 S2CID 42029805 Campbell Alex 2006 The search for authenticity An exploration of an online skinhead newsgroup New Media amp Society 8 2 269 294 doi 10 1177 1461444806059875 ISSN 1461 4448 S2CID 40582514 Brown Timothy S 2004 Subcultures pop music and politics skinheads and Nazi rock in England and Germany Journal of Social History Old Skool Jim Trojan Skinhead Reggae Box Set liner notes London Trojan Records TJETD169 Marshall George 1991 Spirit of 69 A Skinhead Bible Dunoon Scotland S T Publishing ISBN 1 898927 10 3 Special Articles Archived 2008 12 17 at the Wayback Machine Marshall George Skinhead Nation ST Publishing 1996 ISBN 1 898927 45 6 ISBN 978 1 898927 45 7 Monty Montgomery of the Pyramids Symarip interview Britain The Skinheads Time 1970 06 08 Archived from the original on September 30 2007 Retrieved 2010 05 23 Hate on Display Anti SHARP Imagery Anti Defamation League Retrieved 17 December 2016 Elosegui Maria Hermida Cristina 2017 Racial Justice Policies and Courts Legal Reasoning in Europe Springer p 143 ISBN 978 3 319 53580 7 Skinhead Nation chapter The Big Apple Bites Back archived Skinhead Nation The Big Apple Bites Back 2007 07 09 Archived from the original on 9 July 2007 It Did Happen Here Podcast Transcript Episode 8 itdidhappenherepodcast com Retrieved 2022 08 31 Jon Bair killed a neo Nazi 28 years ago and he has a message for Portland opb Retrieved 2022 08 31 Portland Police arrest man for the 2019 murder of leftist activist opb Retrieved 2022 08 31 Twin Cities PBS Minnesota Experience Series Premieres The Baldies Twin Cities PBS 2021 10 15 Retrieved 2022 08 31 Bronner Simon J Clark Cindy Dell 2016 Youth Cultures in America 2 volumes ABC CLIO p 622 ISBN 978 1 4408 3392 2 UK Discography 2 Tone Records Retrieved 2022 09 01 Further reading EditSkin of a Different Color Not every skinhead in Portland this weekend was a white supremacist 10 October 10th 2007 nbsp Media related to SHARP at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice amp oldid 1166343380, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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