ORIANS: Skinhead reputation has strayed from integrationist roots

Skinheads today are mostly associated with the neo-Nazi movement in America. They're racists who wear clothing reminiscent of the Hitler youth — red swastika armbands and all.

However, the modern view of skinheads give them a bad rap. Skinhead culture wasn't originally a masculine Aryan movement. In fact, Nazi ideology and bigotry hijacked the skinhead culture and created the strong associations with fascism.

Skinheads can be traced back to 1960s England, where the working class rose up against the institutionally enforced class system in a symbolic and physical rebellion. Short hair was favored by the mods and skin punks as both a stylistic preference in rebellion to hippie culture and for utilitarian means. After all, long hair can be quite troublesome in an industrial plant or street fight.

Skinhead was a punk movement, through and through. It was a reaction to the upper class gaining access to better education and employment, leaving behind the lower and working classes to fend for themselves. With these white skinheads and mods in the trenches were the rude boys from Jamaica. As a result, ska and rocksteady grew up hand in hand with the skins. The second wave of ska music, as a result, is referred to as "two-tone," as reference to the peaceful union of black and white cultures. England, after all, has had just as many race relation issues as America.

The lead singer of the Specials, one of the main two-tone bands, was a total skinhead. The very first skinhead I met in Des Moines, Iowa, was Japanese. Skinhead is not a race thing at all. It never was.

So when did it all go wrong? Why is it that Nazism is so strongly attached to something that had strong integrationist roots?

When the movement came to America, it latched itself onto the hardcore punk scene. Agnostic Front was among these Oi! bands that led the American skinhead movement. And let's be honest, hardcore punk is as associated with anger as the Green Lantern Corps. is associated with strong will — the two were practically made for each other.

Nazis saw this and exploited it. They took this angst and frustration originally fueled by the domination of the upper class and forced it onto immigrants, Jews and blacks. Much like Hitler convinced the Germans that the Jews were the roots of their plight and not the poor decision-making of many countries' governments, these neo-Nazis took a wonderful subculture and ruined its reputation for everyone else.

The idea of one apple in the bunch spoiling the whole barrel is very relevant to what happened to the skins. Today, the roots skins cling to the Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) ideals. It's a neverending fight between the true skins and the neo-Nazis. Unfortunately, in pop culture, the neo-Nazis won.

So here I am, reciting my skinhead history for the umpteenth time in an effort to truly restore something that used to be a wonderful asset to England's race relations. The next time you see a skinhead on "Law & Order" or hear about their hatred, remember that there used to be a time when racism and skinheads were separated.

In the words of No Doubt's Gwen Stefani, "Oi! to the world!"

neilorians@dailynebraskan.com