Those interested in the subcultures of youth and anyone monitoring the rise of racism or watching extremism in the country are concerned with a growing group of Californians. Remotely related to the Skinheads of Great Britain (from the late 1960s to the present), they combine some manifestations of the current punk scene with a philosophy of white supremacy.

In 1979 Greg Withrow (then a teenager) organized the youth organization, White Student Union, in Sacramento. It was founded as a youthful arm of the national White Aryan Resistance (WAR). In the late summer of 1987, a San Francisco offshoot of WSU, the Bay Area Skinheads, attained national notoriety when one of them in San Jose threatened to hang a black woman from a tree unless she paid him a toll for crossing a footbridge. A teenager who objected to an anti-Semitic poster displayed by Skinheads was thrown through a plate glass window. The gang nailed Greg Withrow to an eight-foot board. It was his punishment for falling in love with a Hispanic woman and rejecting the Skinhead’s philosophy of hate. The Aryan Youth Movement-White Supremacy Student Union claim to be "warriors" fighting nationwide for white supremacy.

Skinheads like loud, punk, and heavy-metal music, "shave their heads, wear leather jackets, decorate their bodies with tattoos and paint graffiti." Their tattoos may include Nazi insignia and swastikas, and their graffiti messages include: "White Unity," "No Jews," and "N-----s Suck."

The neo-Nazi National Front in Britain has sponsored a rock group called Screwdriver. The message of its songs is racist, nationalistic, and fascist. Songs like their "White Pride" became popular in America in 1986-87. Steven Snyder, prosecutor of several white supremacists on charges of sedition and murder out of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Ft. Smith, Arkansas notes, "One aspect of the group we indicted was that they were planning to get into the promotion of Aryan rock bands in the U.S., to attract more young people."

Tim Yohannan owns a nightclub in Berkeley, California and publishes a magazine for punk-rock fans. He estimates that half the "skins" of San Francisco are the "Nazi" type and sees them intimidate other subculture youth. "In a lot of cities, they’ve almost managed to destroy the punk scene...A lot of skinheads seem fairly well indoctrinated. From talking with them, you can tell they’ve been reached—by the Klan, by WAR, or by some other group."

Skinhead Wayne McDonald and friends of Fremont, California allowed reporters into his bedroom. There they found a large picture of Elvis Presley, a KISS poster, American and Nazi flags, and a shelf of books and videos about Adolf Hitler. "Still, he insists he is not associated with the Nazi movement."

David Lowe of New York’s Anti-Defamation League makes this assessment of the ambiguous group: "I would say it’s a small movement. But there is the potential of growth because you are dealing with impressionable young people. It’s something to be watched."

San Jose police officer, Ronald Martinelli, has had experience with the gang and states it bluntly: "We have to look beneath the way they attire themselves and accept the fact that we have white supremacist youth gangs in California."

1. When groups like this feel alienated from society and when communication with adults and average teenagers breaks down, extremism and violence are very real possibilities. Such groups need people who will care enough to establish relationships and dialogue. Wanton, illegal acts should, of course, be quickly prosecuted.
2. Extremist groups cannot arise without connection to frustrations felt by average teens. Schools and religious institutions should discuss this type of gang phenomena. There are few large high schools or private schools in America that do not have some racist and violent thinking among a few students. They, too, need to be included in the dialogue and discussion.

IMPLICATIONS

Hackett, G. & Abramson, P. (1987, September 7). Skinheads on the rampage: Terror tactics by neo-nazi youths in California. Newsweek. Sullivan, C. (1987, October 14). White supremacists: Neo-nazi drive to recruit U.S. youth has some success among ‘skinheads.’ The Christian Science Monitor.

OVERVIEW