Anyone know anything about the non-nazi skinheads from the 80's?

[Taverner]

Back in the 80's, there were NeoNazi Skinheads, and then regular skinheads, who adopted the skinhead lifestyle without the naziism. They were punks, but were quick to identify themselves as skinheads, not punks.

Anyone know anything about this? Or them?

[Omphaloskepsis]

1. We called them Sharps..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinheads_Against_Racial_Prejudice

[Crazy Guggenheim]

2. I think The SHARP's are pretty much left of center.

On Edit.
Some of them won't put up with the Neo-Nazi Skinheads. and will fight back.

[Kellanved]

3. we still have those

Actually, in a house further down the street lives a colony of non-nazi gay skinheads.

One has to factor it in symbols other than the hairstyle, or rather the lack thereof.

[southlandshari]

4. My freshman year college roommate was one...

She shaved her head and listened to ska music and wore miniskirts and Doc Martens. She was from Atlanta and a huge group of skinhead friends NOT in the neonazi business. Is that what you are talking about?

She terrified my parents. I gave her my pet rat at the end of freshman year. She was fun!

:hi:

[jane_pippin]

5. I don't, but this novel is about a kid who finds himself caught between

the two:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684862220/qid=1127850088/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-8518465-6495046?v=glance&s=books

It's not a bad story--A coming of age tale with quite a few twists.

[myrna minx]

6. In Minneapolis we had the Baldies.

They were anti-fascist. I tried to google "minneapolis baldies" and unfortunately I don't have time right now to find a good link for you. I'll try later.

[no name no slogan]

10. I had a friend who was a baldie

They were quite cool, and very anti- Nazi Skins. :hi:

[UncleSepp]

7. "Trads" today - new term for me - my nephew's one now

Skinhead didn't start out as a racist thing, it started out as a working class thing in the 1970s. The racists came in, and antiracist reactionaries also formed. To add to the interest, there were and are groups of communist skins. There's a division between political and apolitical. The political fall left, right, and center. The apolitical... well, politics isn't a defining feature of the skinhead life for them. There exist also people who have adopted a skinhead look and feel, ranging from simple style to outright fetish. The hypermasculine image and mode of behavior as well as the sense of belonging has attracted gay men to become skinheads, and even those fall across all parts of the political or nonpolitical spectrum.

All of the groups are still there - the boneheads, the SHARPs, the traditional working-class skins, and the reds. I think it's important to note that not all skinheads are racist, not all racist skinheads are Nazis, and not all non-racist skinheads are SHARPs.

[Beware the Beast Man]

8. There were some SHARPs on the scene when I was a teenager.

They usually fell in with the Straight Edge crowd. No offense, but I thought the straight edge kids were pushy, preachy assholes.

[ghostsofgiants]

9. I am neither pushy nor preachy...

Asshole on the other hand is up for debate.

[asthmaticeog]

11. The sXe types where I grew up were also pushy, preachy assholes.

And every damn one of them took up drinking when they hit legal age. :eyes:

Thing was, for a few years back then, I didn't use drugs or alcohol either. But no way in hell would I identify with those jackasses. You don't want to indulge, fine, but when you make a lifestyle of going around shitting on people who do, fuck you sideways.

[Orsino]

12. I taught one in the eighties...

...at a pretentious boarding school. He called himself a skinhead, though school policy required him to grow a little hair, and was quick to distinguish himself from the typical violence and racism. He was a big fan of the Cro-Mags, and seemed mightily impressed that one of his teachers had even heard of the band.

[bhunt70]

13. Punks and Skins aren't synonymous.

some people on each side would take offense (at least back then)

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

14. I used to run with a few skinheads back in the day....