"I would see a black guy or an Indian or whatever. Or I would see a white guy with a non-white girlfriend... And I would just jump on them, hit them in the head a few times...and then kick them in the face until they stop moving..." (Kinsella, 1994, p.279). These are the words of Daryl Rivist, a member of the Final Solution Skinheads. What are the thoughts that go through these people's minds?
The skinhead movement began in Britan in the late 1960's. The first skinheads were dock workers who wore steeled-toed boots and shaved their heads to escape lice. These skinheads were soccer-loving party animals who listened to SKA music, a sped up form of reggae. One of the popular bands of the time were The Specials, who had all black members except the singer who was white. Their love of Black music identifies the early skinheads as non-racist for how could racists listen to music made by black people.
By the early 1970's, the National Front, a Nazi-affilated political party in France, began to recruit members across Europe. These recruits took on the skinhead style of dress. These where the racist skinheads. Violence also became a part of their style. These skinheads went on "Paki bashings" where they would smash the windows of stores owned by Pakistanis. They would also beat Pakistani families because they saw them as a threat to their white world. This was the begining of the hate and terror which is now a large part of the neo-Nazi skinhead culture.
By 1980, many skinhead groups had established themselves around the world. They where found in such diverse locations as Alaska, Russia and even Africa. Anywhere there were white people, the skinhead movement could be established. By 1997 such groups as the Heritage Front, the Final Solution Skinheads, the Confederate Hammerskins and The Church of Jesus Christ Christian Aryan Nations were operating in North America. Many of these groups say they followed the Bible and where doing "God's work". They where also closely associated with the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and like the KKK, these groups were extremly violent. The Church of Jesus Christ Christian Aryan Nations has their own Bible and their own church. The Aryan Nations, founded by Richard Butler and with over 77 chapters worldwide, want to turn North America into an all white, Aryan state. The current leader of the Aryan Nations is Terry Long.
In 1990, the Aryan Nations held their first "Aryan Fest" in Provost, Alberta. The festivities included a cross lighting, with all members wearing traditional Klan robes. A six metre Nazi battle flag decorated the site. Masked neo-Nazis pointing loaded shotguns at protesting Jews and members of the media were one of the highlights of the Aryan Fest . In one particularly disturbing incident a neo-Nazi put a shot gun to a pregnant woman's belly and said "This is native birth control" (Kinsella, 1994, p.170). The most intriguing fact was that neither the RCMP nor any local police ever arrived to police the area. The Aryan Fest was a chance for all the leaders of the extreme political right to meet and listen to speeches by Hitler over the P.A and plan the Aryan State. The Fest was hosted by the Aryan Nations and B.H.O.R.P (Brotherhood of Racial Purity). In attendance was Terry Long, the current leader of the worldwide Aryan Nations and Carney Nerland, leader of the Saskatchewan chapter of the Aryan Nations. Kelly Lyle, the leader of the Final Solution Skinheads who is considered the most dangerous member of the skinhead movement in Canada, attended along with Bill Harcus, the leader of the Manitoba KKK and Edger Foth, wearing the red and black robe of the Grand Wizard of the KKK. Shortly after the Aryan Fest, Carney Nerland was charged and convicted in the murder of Leo LeChance, a Native trapper. In March of 1992 the Board of Inquiry of the Canadian Human Rights Commission ordered Terry Long to "refrain in the future from displaying swastikas, white power signs, burning crosses and signes or symbols indicating an affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan. The Board of Inquiry then abandoned it's six-month-old arrest warrent against Long. Said commission chairmen Fil Fraser, "We're not in the pound of flesh business" (Kinsella,1994, p.199).
Skinheads are not an uncommon sight in most cities. They can be identified by their cherry red or black Doc Martens laced with white or red laces. White laces symbolize the wearer as a Nazi while red identifies the wearer as a Fascist. Skinheads may also wear red or white suspenders, bomber jackets with racist patches as well as being distinguished by their shaved heads. They often have aggressive-looking tattoos on their neck, face or head intended to strike fear into all who see them. Tattoos of the swastika, skulls or knifes with blood are popular symbols chosen by skinheads. When a person joins a racist group they are required to get a tatoo to show their life-long commitment to the movement. It is important to understand that one of these identification marks is not enough to prove that a person is a neo-Nazi; rather the combination of these symbols is more concrete evidence.
Not all skinheads are racists. S.H.A.R.P's, or SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice, dress in the skinhead fashion but do not hold racist views . They are often involved in vicious brawls with neo-Nazi skinheads. S.H.A.R.P's are not the only group opposed to the wave of hate created by neo-Nazis. Two, mainly youth groups, based in Ontario are Anti-Racist Action (ARA) and Youth Against Hate. ARA has chapters all over North America and uses mass action to oppose the presence of neo-Nazis in their cities. ARA believes that the police are powerless against the neo-Nazis and that mass action is the only way to confront the skinheads. Sometimes these demonstrations result in violent confrontation with both the neo-Nazis and the police. For this reason, the police in many cities oppose the presence of ARA as much as neo-Nazi groups. Other anti-Nazi groups such as The Naziism Exposed Project, Klanwatch and Hatewatch monitor hate activity on the Internet.
In 1993 there was a violent riot on Capital Hill between the Ottawa chapter of ARA and the Heritage Front, led by Wolfgang Droege. The Heritage Front held a concert with the racist band RAHOWA (RAcial HOly WAr), which is fronted by the Canadian leader of the Church Of The Creator. The riot ended with blood covering the streets and with George Burdi the Canadian leader of the Church Of The Creator being sentenced for assault which ARA called "a cowardly attack" (On The Prowl, Spring 97, p.2). Why did this happen? It probably had to do with the fact that many of the neo-Nazis were very drunk and hyped up by the band RAHOWA. It was also a political battle. ARA is very left-wing; it's members are mainly Communists, Trotskyists and other left wing extremists. The Heritage Front are an extremely right wing group.
The big question is, why do people join these groups? Teens are easily manipulated and teens seeking an identity are even easier to manipulate. Recruiters use this to their advantage. "Every kid wants a sense of belonging, and what easier group to fit in with then neo-Nazi skinheads? Your white, you're Nazi, you fit the criteria". This quote was take from an interview by Intelligence Report with former skinhead recruiter and thug Thomas Leyden and can be found on the Klanwatch website. His recruiting technique was to distribute anti-black propaganda to high schools. This would result in black kids attacking the white kids. The white kids, not knowing why they were being attacked, would say "I'm not going to get beaten up for this". That is when the skinheads would show up and help them fight. The white kids would think the skinheads were cool because they helped them fight. The recruits would then start to talk to the kids and give them racist music. The recruiters offered them a "family" and "protection" but what the kids didn't know was that they would have to prove themselves by possibly killing a black person or stabbing a gay man to obtain these things. Recruiters also try to explain how immigrants are keeping them from working and how their country doesn't belong to them anymore. Many kids who may not be able to get a job today can now pin the blame on a Jew or a Japanese person. Kingston is not immune to the presence of neo-Nazi skinheads. A chapter of the Heritage Front is located at 208 Division St. In the summer months violent neo-Nazi skinheads descend on Kingston to leaflet the streets and try to recruit local youth.
Another thing that attracts and influences racist youth is the existence of Racist Rock. Resistance Records, a Nazi label based in Detroit, MI and Windsor,ON tries to distribute Racist Rock to record stores across North America. Anti-hate groups such as ARA and B'nai Brith fight to keep Racist Rock out of record stores. Racist Rock bands such as RAHOWA and Skrewdriver have lyrics about killing all non-whites. Skrewdriver's most popular song was "WHITE POWER" with the lyrics:

I stand and watch my country
Going down the drain
We are all at fault now
We are all to blame
We're letting them take over
We just let them come
Once we had an empire
Now we got a slum
White power
For England
White power
Today
White power
For Britain
Before it gets to late.


Ian Stuart, the singer for Skrewdriver, also bellowed out songs called "When the Boats Come In" and the song "Nigger, Nigger." Most of these albums are illegal but one can still obtain this music through mail order and over the Internet. There are also concession stands that openly sell this music at music conventions. Ex-skinhead Thomas Leyden says, "If you fill a room with one thousand Nazi skinheads and ask them what was a major part of them joining, about nine hundred would say the music" (Klanwatch Website). There are different reasons as to why people join a neo-Nazi group. Some join because the movement gives them hope of a better life. Some join because they have had relatives who where Nazis. I once heard a story of a guy who joined a neo-Nazi group because he was gay and didn't want to believe that he was gay.
Skinheads have developed a "fool-proof" way to recruit. They breed. A child raised by a neo-Nazi will have almost no chance of being open-minded. They are basically brain washed into believing that the white race is superior. A good example of someone who was influenced by his upbringing is Wolfgange Droege, the leader of the Heritage Front. Wolfgang Droege was born in Germany and learned the Nazi way from his grandfather. In Edmonton, Alberta, Keith Rutherford was badly beaten with a baseball bat by skinhead Dan Sims. Rutherford, aged 65, was attacked and blinded because he exposed a Nazi war criminal living in his community and had him arrested. The war criminal was Dan Sims grandfather. Sims was a member of the ultra-violent Final Solution Skinheads. Rutherford was neither black nor Asian nor gay nor a communist nor a Jew. He was beaten for doing the world a favour.
Naziism and white supremacy isn't just in the streets and in the clubs; "White Power" is also rooted in schools. People who use words like "faggot" and other words of that kind think that they are acting tough. What these people need to know is that these words are the same words used by Nazi skinheads. Maybe you don't wear a swastika armband or chant "White Power" or listen to Skrewdriver but if you use these words you are no better then the skinheads. Hate is not just confined to students. Teachers such as Paul Fromm and Jim Keegstra have lost their right to teach after the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that they had taught students that the Holocaust was the biggest hoax of the 20th Century. They also taught their students that there was a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. Many of the students in these classes had never met a Jewish person in their life, so naturally they believed what they where taught. If a student wrote an essay that contradicted the teachers beliefs, the student received an F. The lawyer for Jim Keegstra and Paul Fromm was Doug Christie.
Doug Christie had earned a bad reputation for defending members of The Silent Brotherhood, a violent offshoot of the Aryan Nations, Citizens for Foreign Aid Reform led by Paul Fromm and Ernst Zundel, a Toronto publisher of hate literature. Zundel is the biggest publisher of hate propaganda in the world. Zundel was first charged in 1984 with the distribution of hate literature. In a pamphlet titled "Did Six Million Really Die?", Zundel declared that the Holocaust was a lie. Since that time, Zundel has repeatedly faced charges dealing with his publishing of hate literature. Zundel also faced charges in May 1997 resulting from his website "Voice of Freedom".
Racism is also embedded in the Canadian military. In 1990, Defense Minister Kim Campbell knowingly sent members of the armed forces who where confirmed neo-Nazis to defend blacks in Somalia. During the Airborne Regiment's tour of Somalia, soldiers were allowed to chant "Seig Hiel", sing racist songs and display Nazi battle flags. One soldier, Matt McKay, was quoted as saying he went to Somalia to "shoot me a nigger" (Kinsella,1994, p. 345). David Dingwall confronted Defense Minister Campell in the House of Commons over this issue. "I ask the minister of national defense, why does the minister prevent Jews, Muslims and women from serving Canada in the Middle East, but permits a known white supremicist to serve in Somolia?" (Kinsella,1994, p.342). When shown a photograph of Corporal McKay wearing a Hitler t-shirt and standing below a swastika banner, Defence Minister Campell dismissed his behaviour as 'youthfull folly' (Kinsella,1994, p.343). It is not only the Conservative party which has been accused of harbouring white supremicists. The Reform party has attracted many skinheads and racists to it's membership. Wolfgange Droege, leader of the Heritage Front, was hired, on at least two occassions, to act as personal security for Preston Manning during trips to Toronto. While Preston Manning has expelled white supremicist from the party, the question remains why so many racists are attracted to the Reform Party.
This is only a fraction of the violence. What about the people who face violence at the hands of skinheads every day? Thomas Leyden, a former skinhead, said that in his fifteen years as a neo-Nazi he put about two hundred people in the hospital. That is just one person! In Toronto, if skinheads see anti-racists sporting anti-racist patches they will attack them and maybe even kill them. Only because they disagree. Skinhead violence isn't just fists. It can range from fists to walking into a store with a machine gun and shooting people. A very popular punishment for "enemies" of the skinheads is called "curbing". A group of skinheads will hold the victim's mouth against the curb of a sidewalk and take turns kicking the back of the victim's head until all their teeth are knocked out and their cheeks split. Still many people see skinheads as just a few people who hate others. These people need to understand that skinheads are more dangerous then that. They want to eliminate everyone who isn't white or heterosexual. What percentage of people in your home town will be left after the neo-Nazi's have their "Second Holocaust"?
Many people state that the free speech laws go to easy on neo-Nazis. They say skinheads hide behind the mask of free speech. While the flyers they distribute don't openly declare "death to the Jews and the Blacks", the pictures of swastikas and S.S soldiers are enough to convey the real message. In Germany, anything related to Nazism is illegal. Even games promoting the killing of Nazi's are illegal. To escape this, neo-Nazis carry the Imperial Warflag rather then the traditional swastika. The two flags are exactly the same except the Imperial Warflag has replaced the swastika with an eagle. Skinheads also use Celtic runes, especially the Celtic cross, which they view as a symbol of their Anglo-Saxon heritage. Despite the illegality of Naziism in Germany, it is on the rise. On August 12, 1997 two hundred and twenty neo-Nazis where arrested during a demonstration celebrating Rudolf Hess, war criminal and murderer of Jews, who the skinheads view as a hero to their white world. Most where carrying propaganda and illegal copies of the old German national anthem "Deutschland Uber Alles". Many arrested were carrying weapons. Today neo-Nazis in Germany and across the world are taking on a more acceptable appearance. Modern followers of Hitler drive B.M.W's and wear suits. Your legal partner may even have neo-Nazi credentials. The identification of neo-Nazis has gone beyond the traditional boots and braces and shaved head.
The truth is clear, these people exist only to drink, fight and hate. They blame foreigners for their own laziness and stupidity. Many of these people join these groups to find the family they never had. They are brainwashed into becoming mindless zombies. Many people read news reports about riots with the police, such as the riot in Ottawa in 1993 or see news photos about the Aryan Fest in Alberta and they feel the power. Many people want power and want to be feared. There are, many people who still do not believe that these groups are a severe problem in the world today. The skinheads want to resurrect Hitler's beliefs and his regime, they want a Forth Reich. The bottom line is that these people hate anyone who isn't white, heterosexual or right-wing in their political belifes. They will stop at nothing to get what they believe in.

Apparently I labeled SKREWDRIVER wrong....They don't want to eliminate other races????

ANY COMMENT?