Skinhead Nation II

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My last post here may have seemed innocuous enough….I’m a skinhead, my pal Barnsley Sime is a skinhead, Madness were beloved of skinheads and the two bums in the picture are skinheads at both ends..;-)

There was a purpose though. There is a ‘Skinhead Nation’. It’s worldwide and covers a multitude of nations and lifestyles.

Skinheads tend to have a ‘bad name’ in certain quarters, not least in Great Britain.

In the late 1960’s Jamaican Ska was the music of choice for many skinheads – including an 11 / 12 year old Four Dinners who knocked about with a ‘gang’ several years older than he was. Two members of the ‘gang’ were sons of Jamaican immigrants.

Racism certainly existed then – particularly against Asians – but it was, in comparison to the late 70’s fairly low key.

I do recall a couple of Asian lads straying into ‘our turf’ when I was nearly 13 and getting a good kicking from the older members of the ‘gang’ – including the two black lads.

Now racism is not a straightforward thing – necessarily.

The Ku Klux Klan are racist against blacks. Simples.

South Africa was racist against anyone who wasn’t white. Simples.

Over here there have always been many many ‘grey areas’….unless you’re racist against grey perhaps…;-)

When I saw the ‘gang’ kick the crap out of two Asian lads I didn’t care. They were alien. Not of my world and they’d trespassed in.

I had no idea I already new an Asian lad at school. He was a year above me therefore was not someone to communicate with. For three years I assumed he was Spanish or something with his tanned skin. He turned out to be the son of Sonny Ramadin, the Asian born West Indies cricket spin bowler.

After passing through phases of Bowie and punk I returned to my skinhead roots in the early 1980’s.

It was a whole new ball game.

The National Front were in ascendence. A far right unequivocably fascist party who openly supported the doctrines of Adolf Hitler, denied the holocaust and considered ‘Paki’s’ (short for Pakistani but used then as an umbrella term for anyone of Asian origin or antecedents) in the same way the Nazi’s viewed Jews.

It was a worrying time for many Brits. Asian Southall rioted, African Carribean Brixton rioted, Lancashire towns like Burnley and my home town of Oldham burned in the fiercist race riots this country has ever witnessed.

I witnessed the Southall riots at first hand.

A skinhead band, The 4 Skins, played a gig at The Hamborough Tavern on the borders of Southall. Hundreds of skins turned up to watch – some, but by no means all, wearing swastikas and chanting anti-Asian slogans.

The Asians were understandably not impressed and, not surprisingly, trouble kicked off after The Hamborough Tavern was petrol bombed in mid gig.

An old man who was a friend of my then landlord lived in Southall with his Labrador, Betsy. He was afraid and my landlords friend who owned an ice cream van was despatched to rescue him and bring him back to my landlords home. I went along in the back of said ice cream van.

As we drove directly through the rioting Asians and skinheads I observed the Police feeding ammunition of bricks and concrete to the skinheads behind them who promptly launched salvo after salvo over the heads of the riot shielded police at the Asian rioters who had included in their arsenal a few molotov cocktails.

My landlords friend promptly turned on his ice cream van music, opened his window and, as we weaved through the mayhem, against a backdrop of the theme from ‘The Magic Roundabout’ childrens TV show began advertising at the top of his voice ‘Riot Ice Cream! 50 pence a cornet! Get your riot burgers and hot dogs here!”

After duly collecting the old man and Betsy the Labrador and heading back towards the relative safety of Hounslow a couple of Asian rioters, possibly spotting this particular skinhead peering over the ice cream maker, attempted to board the ice cream van through the side window – Betsy the Labrador promptly bit them both on the hands and we continued away unscathed.

National Front ‘breakaway’ groups had been formed. Viking Youth to recruit ever younger members to the cause and, even more alarmingly, Combat 18 who appeared to have an ultimate agenda of using terrorist tactics against immigrant communities.

The average indigenous Brit watched on – slightly alarmed at the apparent rise of Fascism but far more alarmed at the apparent determination of ‘aliens’ to change their country and way of life.

Would it get worse before it got better?

Would it get better?….and if so for who?

…to be continued….

About Post Author

Four Dinners

An outspoken contributor from the UK.
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Admin
13 years ago

Very interesting Dinners.

Demeur
13 years ago

You have to stop for sec and consider that white guys in this world are in the minority. In this country in just a few short years whites will be the minority. This is a fact that we’ll have to get used to like it or not. Oh and customs do change. I seem to recall some Romans in your country a while back who brought their customs and changed yours.

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