Nazi Punks, Fuck Off: Part Two
How (and why) Nazis stole Skinhead culture from Caribbean immigrants and a bunch of stuff from Nordic folk traditions
Previous Post: How not to accidentally attend a Nazi Gig
To delight in others’ subjugation
To control via scapegoating and fear
To try and intellectualise evil
To aspire to a tightly bound spear1
The language might be different
The sentiment's the same
You chose the weakest
To shoulder all the blame.
Nazis have to steal from other cultures because their ideology is fundamentally un-sexy
Nazis/fascists/pan-european identitarians/alt-rights/whatever-the-fuck-they-call-themselves-these-days are fundamentally cowards. Their entire philosophy is based around stomping on marginalised folk (immigrants, gays, women, Muslims, Jews, trans people) to assure their own position in a shrinking social hierachy.
It is not cool or sexy to feel threatened by society’s most vulnerable, and even less cool to gang-bash them. It’s the political equivalent of kicking a puppy to feel tough.
Real vagina-drying stuff.
Consequently, they need to steal from other cultures in order to trick new recruits into joining them. But these cultures either had nothing to do with Nazism, or were actively opposed to their racist bullshit from the get-go.
Metal and Punk were axiomatically opposed to the kind of bright-eyed ‘Aryan’ family-values conformist dogshit promoted by the 3rd Reich. This hasn’t stopped them from stealing parts of it to look cool. Skinhead culture is a classic example.
How Nazis stole Skinhead culture:
Most people think of Skinhead culture as exclusively Nazi. This was never the case, and is still not the case. Nazis stole it from the original London Skinheads, whose haircuts & musical appreciation were inspired & invented by Caribbean immigrants to the UK in the 1960s:
I want all you Skinheads to get up on your feet
Put your braces together and your boots on your feet2
And gimme some of that ooooold Moon Stompin’- Symarip [1969], A Rocksteady band formed in the mid-Sixties by seven young British-based musicians of Afro-Caribbean descent.
Here’s a great film on the history of Skinhead culture [Spirit of 69]
Long story short (hair):
Skinhead culture arose from a cross-cultural exchange between Caribbean immigrants to post-war London and the East-End working class.
Early Punk is basically just Reggae but sped up and louder.
The original Skinheads are hard to call racist - they were either Black or loved Black music.
A bunch of the music listened to by the early Skinheads actively dealt with the poor working conditions of UK People of Colour.
Many Skinheads are still avowedly not Racist - see S.H.A.R.P.S (aka SHARPies - Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice).
It was throughout the 70s that Skinhead culture was actively targeted as a recruitment ground for fascism by groups such as the UK National Front.
Most folk never discover this, because the only Skinheads they’ve ever really encountered have been through Romper Stomper or American History X. Which sucks because the real skinhead music is really fucking cool, and it means that Nazis have successfully stolen a subculture in the public consciousness that wasn’t ever theirs.
Again - Fascists/Nazis/Pan-European Identitarians/Alt-Right-types do this with anything cool because the cultures are cooler than racism, and that coolness helps them reach new recruits.
How Nazis Stole Nordic Paganism:
The OG Nazis (Hitler and friends) also stole from a bunch of cooler ancient cultures in order to make their modern, kleptocratic murder-machine seem more appealing - a major one being Germanic/Nordic pre-Christian cultures.3
Prior to the rise of the Nazi party, in late 19th century Germany, there was a school of thought that believed that Futhark Runes (ᚠᚢᚦᚨᚱᚲᚷᚹᚺᚾᛁᛃᛇᛈᛉᛊᛏᛒᛖᛗᛚᛜᛞᛟ), the written language of ancient Nordic and Germanic cultures, were the sacred language of an Aryan race of Priest-Kings from which all modern alphabets descended.
This was, of course, total bullshit, promoted by self-aggrandising faux-aristocratic wankers who believed they had magical powers (like this guy.) The runes were actually of Mediterranean origin, but that didn’t stop the Nazis from patching them all over their uniforms and running with a bastardised set of them anyway:
Stealing runes gave the original Nazi movement an ancient cultural gravitas in which to cloak their abjectly murderous power-grab. It gives modern Nazis an effective means of disguising their allegiance and infiltrating subcultures with a fascination for pre-Christian religions.
Black Metal, since its inception, has been fascinated by pre-Christian Scandinavian religions. This, unfortunately, has made it a hotbed for fascist arseholes who signal their support for Nazism through cryptographic use of the runes above.
Does this mean I should avoid Black Metal/ Skinhead music or using Runes?
Hell no! Black Metal is GNARLY, and Vikings are COOL. Don’t let the hard right own any cultural space, because once they get too much of a foothold in it, people will think those fuckers own it.
Don’t let them have it. Fuck ‘em all. It’s not theirs. If you want some siq runic tattoos, or to make blisteringly cold Nordic metal, go for it. If you’re going to use a symbol that has been heavily co-opted by Nazis, I highly suggest wearing/signalling in other ways that you’re definitely not a racist so potential mates won’t think you’re sketch - but find a way to do it. Take the Power Back.
Remember, Nazis steal from other cultures because they have nothing to offer. Nothing. Even the in-group camaraderie born from ganging up on disadvantaged people and stomping on their faces is ultimately short-lived. If there actually is a Valhalla, Odin would kick them the fuck out.
UPNECKST: Play a game of Spot the Nazi [Nightmare Mode], and how to shut the motherfuckers out of your scene.
A Fasces is an Ancient Roman symbol depicting a blade bundled up in a bunch of sticks, from which ‘Fascism’ got its name. Oh yeah, Hitler and Mussolini stole a bunch of iconography from Ancient Rome too (Imperial Rome was weirdly multicultural at the same time as being authoritarian and shit):
Boots and braces are staples of skinhead fashion. But Remember Kids: Boots and Braces Don’t Make A Racist.
If you’re interested in how Nazis stole the Swastika (a widely used ancient symbol for the solar cycle used everywhere from Europe to Asia and First Nations America), I suggest starting with this.