Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, April 30, 2001
EARLY'60s
"Mods" — flamboyantly dressed, defiant British youth — use style as a means of rebellion.
In response to the post-war economy's harsh effect on lower classes, "hard mods" inflate their social status by transferring working-class staples — boots, jeans, braces — to objects of pride.
Hard mods unite with West Indian immigrants, sharing dress and music—namely ska, reggae's faster predecessor. The result: skinheads, the social antithesis of hippies.
MID'60s
SKINHEADtimeline
LATE'60s
"Rude boys," Black members of the subculture, turn to Rastafarianism.
British football hooliganism — attacks on outsiders to protect neighborhoods and local football teams — escalates to violence against hippies, homosexuals and immigrants.
EARLY'70s
The skinhead movement loses steam.
The Specials,a popular ska band in the late '70s
Skinheads share beliefs, music, beer
Continued from page 1A
tend to make a lot of friends."
One group they don't tend to befriend: "hippies," their slang term for people who lack self-respect, patriotism and a willingness to work and fight for their beliefs.
Gabe, 21, a Lawrence construction worker who evolved from punk rocker to skinhead in high school, says being a skin is like identifying with any group.
"Everybody runs with their own gang," says Gabe, a Cherokee Indian. "A lot of the people you run with have a similar set of beliefs." Gabe, who asked that his last name be withheld because of recent job applications, says skinhead beliefs put some people on edge.
"So many people are dying to be offended, and I'm happy to offend them," he says.
Gavin Johnston, who earned a master's in sociocultural anthropology from KU in 1999, spent seven months observing the Lawrence skinhead culture for his master's thesis, *Lawrence Skinheads and the Importance of Key Words and Phrases in Constructing Identity*. Johnston discovered the scene while bartending at The Replay Lounge, a downtown bar known for its diverse atmosphere. He says skinheads and members of other subcultures use status symbols like dress to publicly define their philosophies.
"It's a core idea around which you can build every part of your identity," says Johnston, who now lives in Oakland, Calif.
The look
Travis, a Lawrence skinhead, and Rico, a Kansas City, Mo., from the Dominican Republic, refer to themselves as "traditional" skinheads. Both say they represent a working-class value system of pride and patriotism. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
Like most skinheads, Meagher sports a crew cut rather than a shiny, smooth scalp. He also wears sideburns, common among skins, and working-class apparel like black Doc Martens, high-quality
British work boots. Skins often wear braces, or suspenders, over button-down and polo shirts by Ben Sherman and Fred Perry, brands worn by original skins for thrift and style. Flight jackets, or "flights," might carry an Irish flag patch, a "Flight Racism" button or a cap from a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer favored by skins.
Jered Nunn, 25, a Lawrence skinhead and gas station mechanic, says skinheads press their pants and cuffs to display self-respect through scrupulous presentation.
"A lot of skinheads are as meticulous about their dress as any of the Abercrombie wearers," Nunn says. Meticulous doesn't mean prepy; many skins express their working-class beliefs or cultural heritage with tattoos — permanent ink for what they say are permanent values.
Carrying the skinhead look is harder for women, says Abby Chugden, 27, a Lawrence skinhead. Many female skins wear "chelesse" - shaved heads with bangs and fringe along the hairlines. Chugden once cropped her dark, chin-length hair extremely short. Now a Johnson County Community College student in business communications, she says her appearance has sparked bar fights with "drunk college guys" who targeted her because of her hair.
This is the only scene where I've gotten the respect I deserve," Chugden says. "I can be myself, have short hair and tattoos."
"Music and beer"
While the skinhead look represents history and ideals, music is the heartbeat of the subculture; the punk scene of rowdy music, wild hair and body piercings offered a new home for skins after the movement lost steam during the '70s. Concepts provide a meeting place where skins raise beers to punk bands like Drop Kick Murphys and Main Street Saints or Oi! music about labor and authority. Most skins also enjoy the soul, ska and reggae rhythms preferred by the original skinheads.
"A lot of the subculture is music and beer," Gabe says, sitting on a couch in a South Lawrence house shared by Meagher and another skinhead. A Guinness beer banner hangs on the wall, demonstrating skins' preference for British tradition.
British invasion
British influences, from Celtic music to soccer to Vespas (scotter ridden by the original skins as cheap transportation), abound, revealing skinhead roots in the United Kingdom. In the '60s, "hard mod," economically disadvantaged members of the British mod subculture, shared music and style with "rude boys," rebellious Black youth. The pairing created the first skinheads, who deemed themselves the antithesis of hippies.
Mark Hamm, professor of criminology at Indiana State University and author of American Skinheads: The Criminology and Control of Hate Crime, explains the union.
"The early skinhead was a fusion of White, working class tradition and Jamaican immigrants," Hamm says.
Rico, 35, a Kansas City skinhead from the Dominican Republic, celebrates the scene's diverse heritage.
Hints of Irish culture also permeate the scene; many Lawrence skins identify with Ireland's hardy people and history of oppression. "Ire," Gaelic for "Irish," is tattooed on the chest of one Lawrence skin whose grandmother emigrated from Ireland.
"For me, it's trying to preserve a Jamaican lifestyle and culture," Rico says.
More information
For links to skinhead Web sites and music by Kelly's Heroes, a band punk which includes four Lawrence skins.
See www.kansan.com
This ethnic pride exists alongside stalwart patriotism. Skins describe themselves as "proAmerica," but embrace legal immigration. While patriotism may seem incongruous with skins' defiance of authority, their pride is in American ideals, not policies. "Love thy country, fear thy government," says Alderson, who owns a U.S. flag.
Respect for the flag caused a rift two years ago on the local scene, which now totals 15 to 20 skins and has two main factions. Once termed by some as "North" and "South," the two sides say the references were merely for the sake of distinction.
Claiming skinhead
"It's not like some stupid gang," says Dan Robb, 28, a Lawrence construction worker.
the two sides have differing perspectives. Tom Paskiewicz, 34, a skin since 1985, objects to "claiming," the ritualized way most skins officially join the Lawrence "crew." To "claim," a new member shaves his head at a party and proves his dependability as a "freshcut" for an indeterminate period. That proof may be sticking up for friends in a fight or demonstrating a long-term commitment to the scene, Meagher says.
Paszkiewicz, who says he was a crew leader before the split, now thinks the freshcut system implies inequality.
"No skinhead should ever be a follower," says Paszkiewicz, who operated the Outhouse when it was a successful punk music venue in the late '80s and recently moved to Kansas City to pursue an education degree.
But Alderson and his friends aren't looking for followers. They do not recruit members but expect those who express interest to gain trust during a trial period.
"It shouldn't be something that's pushed on you," Alderson says.
Name game
"The ever-evolving subculture and occasional dissension complicate definitions of 'skinhead.'"
Johnston found the term elusive while researching his thesis, which centered on the use of words in forming identity.
"I don't think it damages their credibility in any way," he says. "It's like trying to define faith — it's not a very easy task."
Niel bristles at attempts to categorize skinheads.
"We don't all have the same brain," he says.
Jack Weller, assistant professor of sociology at KU, remembers "Smiley," 24, a skinhead and computer programmer, as a good student in his course about marginal groups and subcultures. Smiley, who obtained a sociology degree and was accepted into the master's program at KU in 1980, recalls watching a film on racist skins during one class period.
"That day, I was totally decked — boots, braces, Fred Perry," Smiley says with a grin. "Everybody got scared of me."
wetter warns, "Authorities, social scientists and even reporters need to be careful not to generalize about a subculture on the basis of information about the actions of only a few or on the basis of surface appearances."
Misshapen media
"Skinhead is probably the most hated word on the planet." "Svyko" says with a shrug.
syko (pronounced "psycho"), 34, has been a skinhead for 18 years in cities from Los Angeles to New York City. Syko, Abby Chugden's husband and a Lawrence cook studying electronics at JCCC, says he occasionally faced animosity as he hitchhiked from scene to scene.
Skinheads claim such public disgust results from misleading media images.
"Nazis get all the press," Nunn says. "Nonracist, working-class guys with their heads shaved don't sell papers."
Neo-Nazis earned media attention in the '80s, when the fascist British National Front lured some skins to racism and adopted the skinhead look.
"The stereotype of having a shaved head would kind of scare people, so that was a very easy outlet for racist people to invoke fear in someone." Alderson says.
Neo-Nazis gained the label "skinheads" from reporters and talk show hosts who failed to mention the nonracists. This year's The Believer, about a Jew who becomes a Nazi skin, won best dramatic film at the Sundance Film Festival.
Johnston says unbalanced media coverage and scholarly texts complicated his thesis research.
"Ninety-five percent of the literature I saw out there was all about Nazi skins." Johnston says.
In 1995, the Anti-Defamation League estimated that the United States had 3,000 to 3,500 neo-Nazis, but traditional skinheads say they are the larger group.
Fighting back
Skinheads have spoken out against misrepresentation of their culture. After police questioning regarding the harassment of a Black pizza delivery woman at a KU fraternity house in 1990, Lawrence skins united with Hillel, KU's Jewish organization, to protest the incident. In 1987, Lawrence skins traveled to Minneapolis to help create the Anti-Racist Action, now active in more than 150 cities. The same year, New York City skins formed Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP).
Some skins began calling themselves "traditional," refusing to shun their identities because of the racist intrusion. Alderson's flight jacket, which sparked the party confrontation, now bears a "traditional" patch; Nathan carries a "tradition" tattoo on his arm.
"They know who first laid claim to that subculture," says Professor Hamm. "They say, 'This was ours first.'"
Skinheads vehemently defend their territories from neo-Nazis, or "boneheads."
Paszkiewicz says many skins take pride in "getting a Nazi" — a severe beating and a warning to stay out of town. He adds that Lawrence has been at the top of the White Aryan Resistance's list of cities to avoid.
When they do show up, neo-Nazis sometimes prey on skinheads. In 1998, Las Vegas neo-Nazis murdered two skinheads — one White, one Black, and both Anti-Racist Action members; one of the Nazis was sentenced to death in January. In 1992, a pair of neo-Nazis in Olympia, Wash., stabbed and beat to death a 17-year-old, nonracist skinhead who was part Asian.
Nathan, who asked that his last name be withheld because of past run-ins with neo-Nazis, left his Columbia, Mo., home when his nonracist comrades moved.
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