HISTORY PAGE
Many differnt web pages and books will give you a differnt history. Some with right wing fantesies of racism others just plain off the ball. This was an Enghlish paper one of our members wrote. It is a grouping of gathered information from every history page or book that he could find. We hope it is close to what most skins think.
The skinhead is one of the many misunderstood groups in America. Most people wh hear the word skinhead automatically imagine a group of white boys wearing tight jeans, big steel-toed boots, sporting bald heads, yelling racial remarks, and looking for a fight. I'm not trying to say that there are not racist skinheads, but racists are amog every group in America. I just want to show people that the majority of skinheads are not racist and give people a better understanding of what being a skinhead is all about other than what they are fed by the media. Jeff Hogan, owner of D.I.Y. records in Florida, is a traditional skinhead who says, "Racism is a social disease that is manifested through our educational system. It is a learned behavior that afflicts us and becomes very difficult to unlearn.
Skinheads first came about in the 1960s. The group was coprised mainly of British working class youths who adopted a shorter hairstyle and a more serious attitude about life and play. Skinheads generally veered towards physical labor rather than intellectual or office work. The steel-toed boots and shaved heads originated among dockworkers that needed the boots for job safety and shaved heads to help prevent head lice. A typical day would be getting off work and going to Jamaican dancehalls, where they mingled and became close with the West Indian community. Many of the Jamaicans would also be their co-workers at the docks. At these dancehalls, they adopted the ska music. Ska is still a big musical choice of many skins today. Now they have integrated a faster punk music with ska to create their own sound. Called oi.
Skinheads, in the begining, were not a racist group. The mingling between the two cultures proves this. There were also a great number of Jamaican skinheads. Racism did not come about until the number of Pakistani immigrants into Britain continued to rise. Some skins both black and white, felt their jobs were being threatened by the immigration. Most skins, though, just enjoyed the new culture that was brought into their enviroment. This eventually led to the fall of the first wave of skinheads. A lot of the Jamaican skins started adopting the spirit of the hippies at this time. This was another factor that led to tensions runing high between the Jamaican community and the skinheads. This was because the hippie was in to growing their hair out and smoking pot as a sign of peace. The majority of skins at this time were against drug use and the lazy, carefree attitude the hippie took towards life. With the increased popularity of the hippie movement the skinhead became almost obsolete by the summer of 1969.
In the late 1970s, skinheads came about again with a violent turn. Some teens adopted the skinhead look and took their love for soccer to extreme measures. These skins were called "football hooligans". They would choose their favorite soccer teams and engage in physical confrontations with supporters of the opposing team. During this time the British Nazi Party and other minor racist groups were on the rise. They began recruiting followers from these soccer fanatics and skinhead posers. They became known as "boneheads". They were nicknamed this because they were an insult to where the real skinheads came from and betrayed the real skinhead culture. These boneheads led to many incidents that gave the media fuel to surround the entire skinhead name with hate and racism.
Despite all the media attention to only the racist skins, anti-racist skins continued to fight. They set up "punk against racism" concerts and sometimes physically fought neo-nazi groups out of the streets and shows. It was at this time the real skins also started Two-Tone ska music, which strongly condemned the racist skins. This multicultural ska music promoted multicultural unity. With all the media brainwashing aside, the skinhead is really about living and enjoying life as much as possible. Skinheads do not go around looking for fights. Skinheads work as tradesman, shopkeepers, or even lawyers.
To better illustrate how media affects the way society thinks, I conducted a simple survey of seven people in an English class I was taking. The question that was asked was, "Do you believe there is a misunderstanding of skinheads in America?". Suprisingly there were three people who answered yes because they actually knew some skins and had a basic understanding of the culture. The other four answered no. They reffered to all skinheads as racial rioters, people who stood for white pride, and one of them even blamed skinheads for disconcerting the "stability" in America. These are the types of people who depend on the media and their propaganda for all of their "educated" answers or views.
Another huge misconception of skins today is that they are supposedly unintelligent working thugs. This could not be farther from the truth. Most skins of today realize that you need to be educated if you you want to make your voice heard. We have veered more towards politics also. Politics is probably one of the best ways to get your voice heard among today's people. The biggest way the skins get their messages heard is through music. There are countless numbers of bands that hold skinhead points of view.
Another subject people bring up is the way skins dress. Most people belive that skins look intimidating with their steel-toed boots, cuffed jeans, and suspenders. This just emphasizes the fact that people are afraid of what they do not understand. Every group has their own style; the skins adopted the old working class look. This suits them since most skins believe in traditional ideals and take pride in their working class roots. People also bring up the color of laces and suspenders that skins wear. Some people consider certain colors to mean different things. As far as I'm concerned they are just laces and suspenders. It does not matter what color they are.
I hope this gives some of you a better understanding of what skins are all about. As you cam see there are many things the media so conveniently forgets about. I hope that people will start using the media as a partial information source. Do not be spoon fed by the media with their one-sided stories. Think and educate yourselves.