New Homeland Security memo lists black power, shaved-head Doc Marten wearers ‘extremist threats’

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story


New Homeland Security memo lists black power, shaved-head Doc Marten wearers ‘extremist threats’

By John Byrne

Published: May 1, 2009

It’s not just right-wing “radical” groups on the Department of Homeland Security’s black list anymore.

Another embarrassing Homeland Security memo (pdf here) detailing those the agency believes are extremists has leaked. The first was sent to police and warned of radical groups on the right; the second is sure to offend an even broader array of those involved in activism.

The memo, dated March 26, 2009, is titled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon,” and came after the original memo fingering right-wing groups as a threat.

Among those now listed as dangerous extremists include: Mexican separatists, “black power” advocates, “racial Nordic mysticism” practitioners and black nationalists.

Homeland Security told The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin, who posted the Lexicon, that the memo had been recalled almost as soon as it had been sent out.

Read more: http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/05/01/new-homeland-security-memo-lists-black-power-shaved-head-doc-marten-wearers-extremist-threats/

[rcrush]

1. ok DHS be scared of everyone I get it.

Fuck off already you jack boot wearing fuckers.

[SmokinJoe13]

2. “racial Nordic mysticism”???

WTF is that? A vague reference to the Death Metal culture in the Nordic region of Europe???

[ixion]

4. no... it's at folks who like Runes, or Wiccans or Pagans

in other words, anyone who does anything beside read the bible. :eyes:

[Dogmudgeon]

7. I think it's really about the Nazi wing of Asatru

Asatru is a Nordic pagan organization and movement that has partially been infested with neo-Nazis.

The non-Nazi contingent has been fighting the Nazis for some years now. Anyone can use the word "Asatru" -- it means, roughly, "Wicca" in Norwegian.

Keep in mind that in the 1930s and '40s, the Nazi SS Ahnenerbe courted the Tibetan Buddhists and the 13th Dalai Lama -- successfully. Spiritual tourism and appropriation has always been a popular hobby among "hip" Westerners. Between the astoundingly naive and the criminally expolitative, there has never been a shortage of evil gussied-up as virtue.

--d!

[howlingmadjack]

9. Right about some things.

Yes, Asatru is Norse-Germanic paganism. And yes, they are referring to the various neo-nazi and racist groups within Asatru (similar to the Christian Identity groups in Christianity). However, it does not mean anything like Wicca in Norwegian. It means faith of (or loyalty to) the Aesir. For more information on the difference between Wicca and Asatru (if you're interested) see the article The Pentagram and the Hammer at http://www.ravenkindred.com/wicatru.html

--Jack (non-racist Asatru)

[Dogmudgeon]

28. Thanks for the reference(s)

I had heard "Asatru" was something like "Fidelity (being true) to Wisdom", but I never made a study of it. My brother has an academic interest in Norse-Germanic archeology and history, but he has almost no contact with neo-pagan groups or scholarship. (He's more of a "bones-and-stones" guy.)

There was a neo-Nazi leader who died in a police shoot-out who claimed to be an adherent of Asatru -- happened in the 1980s, I think. It was a hell of a way for people to first hear of Asatru.

--d!

[Dappleganger]

11. That makes no sense

Pagans and Wiccans are some of the most peaceful people I've ever met.

[Echo In Light]

24. Those qualities won't keep you off The List

[Echo In Light]

25. Didn't this used to include 'anyone who frequently cites the U.S. Constitution?'

[wickerwoman]

31. You're confusing pagans and heathens.

This is specifically targeted at neo-heathens (followers of Nordic-based pre-Christian religions many of whom also adopt radical neo-Nazi agendas)and neo-pagans (followers of Celtic, Welsh, Greek or Native American-based pre-Christian nature religions). Wiccans are one kind of neo-pagan.

Many major neo-pagan events ban heathens because of their racial politics.

The memo is also very specific in targeting heathens, not pagans or wiccans.

[Robb]

5. Hippie Thor

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zIp1_OAybdA/R0rvXj2ouKI/AAAAAAAAA64/QBf9XjJRTXM/s400/thor+hippie.jpg

[SkyDaddy7]

14. You made me LAUGH!!!

I was thinking WTF! when I read too! I am still laughing!

[LostinVA]

17. No, there really is such a thing, and it is very, very dangerous

There ar quite a few who call themselves "Nordic/Viking NeoPagans," who are extreme white supremacists/Neo Nazis. Complete with their won set of tattoos (like the tats that idiot Junie Browning had on "Ultimate Fighter" -- they should have made him cover them up).

They are also trying to literally infiltrate and take over Pagan festivals and Celtic festivals/Highland games festivals. They ahd some trouble with them at the Richmond Highland Games a few years ago. The gents participating in the Heavy Athletics made sure they and their friends weren't welcome at future Festivals.

Don;t mock this -- this is one part of the memo that is accurate.

[hootinholler]

29. Damn where's the photo of Palin and the Vikings when you need it? n/t

[smirkymonkey]

36. Yeah, that one had me puzzled too.

I used to have some Rune cards - does that count?

[rcrush]

3. DHS

[HeresyLives]

6. Nice one!

Sums it up beautifully!

[rcrush]

8. I list stupid government memos as an 'extremist threat'

[Dappleganger]

10. Uh oh, I'm in trouble!

At least the hair has grown back, but I wear Docs pretty much year 'round (and ride a MC).

*closes window shutters and bars the doors*

[LostinVA]

18. I wear Docs all winter long

[TygrBright]

12. 'scuse me, while I go order myself some nice new Docs. n/t

[OneBlueSky]

13. “Skinheads can be categorized as racist, antiracist, or ‘traditional,’ . . .

which emphasizes group unity based on fashion, music, and lifestyle rather than political ideology. Dress often includes a shaved head or very short hair, jeans, thin suspenders, combat boots or Doc Martens, and a bomber jacket.”

well, thank God and DHS for finally clearing that up for me! . . . one of things I've stayed awake nights wondering about is how to categorize skinheads . . .

but, alas, the good folks at Homeland Security aren't quite as specific as they need to be to put my mind at ease . . . I mean, wouldn't a "traditonal" skinhead have to be either racist or antiracist? . . . or is there some middle ground that I'm missing -- something like "race-neutral," or "unconscious," or something? . . .

this whole thing also raises the question re: which kind of skinhead is, indeed, "traditional" -- the racist skinheads, or the anti-racist skinheads? . . . which ones are more emblamtic of our rich cultural heritage and, therefore, more traditional? . . . and who defines this tradition, anyhow? . . .

damn, just when I thought I had a breakthrough, I had to go ahead and so something stupid like think . . . and now my head hurts . . . screw the government, anyhow! . . . :silly:

on edit: wonder which category Moby falls into? . . . or other famous bald people (skinheads)? . . . there should be hearings! . . .

[asjr]

15. Someone please help me out here. I am

stupid most of the time, but what in hell are Doc Martens?

[noiretextatique]

19. a brand of boots and shoes

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

[sofa king]

16. Great. Good to know I'm still being profiled.

I used to be a DC lobbyist, and since I worked for tribes and they were cool with long hair, that's how I wore mine.

Every day that I would wander into one of the Congressional buildings, I'd pick up a tail that followed me wherever I went. I used to say I was the best-protected man on Capitol Hill. (I also got guaranteed "special attention" at airports, which meant I had to show up an hour and a half early.)

Ten years down the road and I'm a total loser. I can't afford haircuts so I use the one attachment left for an old pair of clippers, and shave myself down to about an eighth of an inch, every week.

So there we are. From radical hippie to skinhead, according to the bullshit profiles The Man uses. If any of you white males out there wish to have a small taste of what it is like to be a person of color and treated as a suspect for no reason, try growing out your hair--or, it would appear, shaving it all off.

[AtheistCrusader]

20. Apparently male pattern baldness and a pair of boots is all you need

for inclusion in some political or hate group.

Fuck it, I'm going to buy a wig.

[rcrush]

30. I stopped shaving and cutting my hair about a year ago.

I have this nice big birds nest beard going on and I'm gettin a pony tail. Is my phone tapped?

[Canuckistanian]

21. Skinheads are "left-wing"?

Uh, don't think so. Most are RW Nazi worshippers.

[Forkboy]

23. Some are.

Red and Anarchist Skinheads (RASH) is a left-wing anti-racist, anti-fascist skinhead group.
Logo of Red and Anarchist Skinheads (RASH), originally New York City. It features the Antifascist Circle in the centre.

RASH includes redskins and anarchist skinheads. It was officially launched on January 1, 1993 by members of the Mayday Crew, a left-wing skinhead and punk group based in the New York City area. The Mayday Crew was formed due to in-fighting between members of New York City's Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) chapter, over the murder of a homosexual man by anti-racist, yet right-wing, skinheads. Shortly after the initial call went out for the formation of a network, chapters formed in other countries around the world, mostly from existing left-wing skinhead crews. According to one RASH website, some of the goals of the network were to:

To dispel the myth, in both the media and in mind of the general public, that all skinheads are racist.
To keep alive and expand the true skinhead subculture through means such as music (Oi!, Ska, Reggae, Soul, Hardcore, Street Punk, etc.), fashion, fanzines, fliers, concerts, dancehalls, and gatherings.
To create a space for left-wing ideas to exist in the skinhead scene.
To combat, physically and politically, the existence of far-Right ideas in the skinhead scene.
To win back the good name of our subculture from the boneheads and racists.
To articulate the connection between the young, working-class, multi-racial skinhead subculture and left-wing ideas.
To organize for the physical self-defense of left-wing skinheads from attack by all those who declare themselves our enemies.
To participate as an active, organized force of anti-racist skinheads in the radical Left and anti-fascist movements.
To make sure our vision of the anti-fascist radical Left (working-class, multi-racial, street based and militant) continues to exist.<1>

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

[Canuckistanian]

32. I've never heard of that

I never knew there was a skinhead "culture" outside of racism and hatred of minorities.

[Forkboy]

33. That's how the early skinheads were. The neo-nazi movement basically took it over.

That's why groups like SHARP started, to take the image back to what it originally was.

I'm old enough to remember skinheads before they were nazis. ;)

[arcadian]

34. Doctor Martens, Doctor Martens, Doctor Martens Boots!

[Forkboy]

35. "Stuff the revolution, where's my 200 quid?"

:rofl:

[wuvuj]

22. What about people...

...who think Homeland Stupidity is evil? Don't we get counted? Come on...be fair.

[fascisthunter]

26. These People are Incredibly Ignorant

a bunch of pented-up-throw-back, bubble-living-morons.

[Echo In Light]

27. Who LOVE having a BIG list of "undesirables."

Count on it