Skinheads in the United States
Skinheads in relation to Crime and Race
Skinheads is included in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime (1), beginning with: In the mid-1980s, neo-Nazi skinheads emerged as the new face of racial hatred in the United States. Sporting close-cropped hair or shaved heads, suspenders, steel-toed boots, and Nazi-themed tattoos, these youth vaulted to the forefront of public concerns about racism, largely because of their commitment to violence and their confrontational style. The skinhead subculture began in England in the late 1960s, emerging as an affirmation of British working-class values and style. Unlike other youth subcultures of the day, skinheads rejected trendy upscale fashion, opting instead for an exaggerated working-class uniform—simple button-down Fred Perry or Ben Sherman shirts, “sta-prest” trousers or denim jeans, suspenders (or “braces”), and Doctor Marten work boots. The ideology of early skinhead groups was a reflection of their clean-cut style, strictly adherent to a version of proletarian values that emphasized traditional masculinity and territoriality. Interestingly, the first skinheads lacked the explicitly racist ideology of their successors.
Resources
Notes and References
- Entry about Skinheads in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime