Racism is a belief or doctrine that differences in physical appearance between people (such as those upon which the concept of race is based) determine cultural or individual achievement, and usually involve the idea that one's own 'race' is superior.Because racism carries connotations of race-based bigotry, prejudice, violence, oppression, stereotyping or discrimination, the term has varying and often hotly contested definitions. Racialism is a related term intended to avoid these negative meanings. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another race or races. The Merriam-Webster's Webster's Dictionary dictionary defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, and that it is also the prejudice based on such a belief. The Macquarie Dictionary defines racism thus: the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others.
Twin pop stars with angelic looks are new face of racism
By Catherine Elsworth 25/10/2005
America's
white supremacist movement has an angelic new face: twin
teenage pop stars whose songs preach messages of racial hatred.Prussian Blue, a "white power" band now recording its second album, is described as a sinister version of the Olsen Twins, the squeaky clean child actresses of the 1990s. It is attracting more and more fans among young white nationalists.
Lamb and Lynx Gaede, blonde, blue-eyed 13-year-olds from Bakersfield, California, have been entertaining all-white crowds with their music since the age of nine. Lamb plays the guitar and Lynx the violin.
Their songs have titles such as Sacrifice, a tribute to Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, that praises him as a "man of peace who wouldn't give up".
Performing for such groups as the neo-Nazi National Alliance at Holocaust-denial events and festivals entitled Folk the System, the girls execute Sieg Heil salutes while belting out lyrics such as "Strike force! White survival. Strike force! Yeah."
"We are proud of being white," Lynx told ABC News. "We want our people to stay white…we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race."
advertisementThe twins have such a high profile among white supremacists that David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader and presidential candidate, uses them to attract support.
Critics have condemned the twins' message and say that they have been brainwashed by their mother.
"It breaks my heart to see those girls spewing out that kind of garbage," said Ted Shaw, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People's Legal Defence Fund.
The twins' act was recently withdrawn from the Kern County fair because of "security concerns". Their mother, April, 38, a former member of the National Alliance, told the Bakersfield Californian that her daughters were upset. They "simply want to perform their songs: songs about Vikings and German history", she said.
Miss Gaede has brought her daughters up on racist beliefs using textbooks from the 1950s. She is separated from their father, who is said to have similar views and has a swastika on his belt buckle.
Prussian Blue, under contract to the white supremacist label Resistance Records, is one of a number of extremist pop bands, such as Blue-Eyed Devils and Angry Aryans.
The twins' first album featured songs called Road to Valhalla and Aryan Man, Awake. They depict a world "where freedom exists for only those with darker skin" and encourage the Aryan man to awake and "turn that fear to hate".
The twins recently came under fire for stipulating that money they donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina should go to whites only. In a recent interview with the magazine Viceland, they were asked what was the "most important social issue facing the white race right now". They replied: "Not having enough white babies born to replace ourselves and generally not having good quality white people being born."
Young Singers Spread Racist Hate
Duo Considered the Olsen Twins of the White Nationalist Movement
Oct. 20, 2005 —abcnews.go.com
Duo Considered the Olsen Twins of the White Nationalist Movement
Oct. 20, 2005 —abcnews.go.com
| Thirteen-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx
Gaede have one album out, another
on the way, a music video, and lots of fans. They may remind you of another famous pair of singers, the Olsen Twins, and the girls say they like that. But unlike the Olsens, who built a media empire on their fun-loving, squeaky-clean image, Lamb and Lynx are cultivating a much darker personna. They are white nationalists and use their talents to preach a message of hate. |
|
| Known as "Prussian Blue" -- a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes -- the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine | |
"We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white," said Lynx. "We want our people to stay white ... we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race."
Lynx and Lamb have been nurtured on racist beliefs since birth by their mother April. "They need to have the background to understand why certain things are happening," said April, a stay-at-home mom who no longer lives with the twins' father. "I'm going to give them, give them my opinion just like any, any parent would."
April home-schools the girls, teaching them her own unique perspective on everything from current to historical events. In addition, April's father surrounds the family with symbols of his beliefs -- specifically the Nazi swastika. It appears on his belt buckle, on the side of his pick-up truck and he's even registered it as his cattle brand with the Bureau of Livestock Identification.
"Because it's provocative," explains April of the cattle brand, "to him he thinks it's important as a symbol of freedom of speech that he can use it as his cattle brand."
Teaching Hate
Songs like "Sacrifice" -- a tribute to Nazi Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy Fuhrer -- clearly show the effect of the girls' upbringing. The lyrics praise Hess as a "man of peace who wouldn't give up."
"It really breaks my heart to see those two girls spewing out that kind of garbage," said Ted Shaw, civil rights advocate and president of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund -- though Shaw points out that the girls aren't espousing their own opinions but ones they're being taught.
On that point, April Gaede and Ted Shaw apparently agree.
"Well, all children pretty much espouse their parents' attitudes," she said. "We're white nationalists and of course that's a part of our life and I'm going to share that part of my life with my children."
Since they began singing, the girls have become such a force in the white nationalist movement, that David Duke -- the former presidential candidate, one-time Ku-Klux-Klan grand wizard and outspoken white supremacist -- uses the twins to draw a crowd.
Prussian Blue supporter Erich Gliebe, operator of one of the nation's most notorious hate music labels, Resistance Records, hopes younger performers like Lynx and Lamb will help expand the base of the White Nationalist cause.
"Eleven and 12 years old," he said, "I think that's the perfect age to start grooming kids and instill in them a strong racial identity."
Gliebe, who targets young, mainstream white rockers at music festivals like this past summer's "Ozzfest," says he uses music to get his message out.
But with names like Blue-Eyed Devils and Angry Aryans, these tunes are far more extreme than the ones sung by Lamb and Lynx.
"We give them a CD, we give them something as simple as a stick, they can go to our Web site and see other music and download some of our music," said Gliebe. "To me, that's the best propaganda tool for our youth."
A Taste for Hate
Gliebe says he hopes that as younger racist listeners mature, so will their tastes for harder, angrier music like that of Shawn Sugg of Max Resist.
One of Sugg's songs is a fantasy piece about a possible future racial war that goes: "Let the cities burn, let the streets run red, if you ain't white you'll be dead."
"I'd like to compare it to gangsta rap," explained Sugg, "where they glorify, you know, shooting n****** and pimping whores."
Sugg shrugs off criticism that music like his should not be handed out to schoolyard children, arguing that "it's just music, it's not like you're handing out AK-47s."
Perhaps not, but Shaw says it's the ideas in the music that are dangerous.
"When you talk about people being dead if they're not white," said Shaw, "I don't think there is much question that that is hateful."
A Place to Call Home
Despite the success of Prussian Blue and bands like Max Resist within the White Nationalism movement, most Americans don't accept their racist message.
Like many children across the country, Lamb and Lynx decided to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina -- the white ones.
The girls' donations were handed out by a White Nationalist organization who also left a pamphlet promoting their group and beliefs -- some of the intended recipients were more than a little displeased.
After a day of trying, the supplies ended up with few takers, dumped at a local shop that sells Confederate memorabilia.
Last month, the girls were scheduled to perform at the local county fair in their hometown. But when some people in the community protested, Prussian Blue was removed from the line-up.
But even before that, April had decided that Bakersfield was not "white" enough, so she sold her home, and hopes that she and the girls can find an all-white community in the Pacific Northwest.
Why racism is rampant in most
countries
by Can Tran
by Can Tran
Over the last few years supremacist movements have been gaining plenty of momentum in the United States. In particular the various white supremacist movements due to constant media coverage. Of course there are black supremacist movements that are just as bad; however, the white supremacist groups have taken numerous big steps. In turn, these steps have given them plenty of momentum. One prime example is how they've had conformed into the mainstream. Instead of the stereotypical Neo-Nazi skinhead types though they're still out there, most of them had change their appearances drastically. From "punks," these modern day supremacists dress as modern day clean cut professionals. Instead of punk wear, it's now business formal and business casual. They've conformed to the mainstream and have blended into the environment like a chameleon.
They've even took advantage of this day and age known as the electronic age. These groups have managed to infiltrate two powerful and influential mediums of entertainment: music and video games. It started out around 1999 when the head of the National Alliance, William Pierce bought shares from Willis Carto and Todd Bloggett of a company known as Resistance Records. Resistance Records happens to be the most notable of the Neo-Nazi record labels. Other known record labels include: Final Stand Records, Mousetrap Records, Panzerfaust Records, Ragnarok, Unholy Records, and VAWS. But in the United States, Resistance Records has played an instrumental role in the White Nationalist Movement's quick climbing momentum gain.
Though Resistance Records is founded in Ontario, Canada and incorporated in Detroit, Michigan, the current headquarters is located in West Virginia. Resistance Records happens to be on Southern Poverty Law Center's watch list and is considered a hate group with good reason. Though it's a business, it's pretty much a hate group. Resistance Records' is in the business of spreading hate and prejudice through music. Music is supposed to bring people together, not drive a spike between people.
A most notable group that have been making headway the last few years is a duo that falls under the genres of "folk" and "bubblegum pop" known as "Prussian Blue." It's not to be confused with the English rock band of the same name. The duo are twin sisters whom have both blond hair and blue eyes. Their names are Lynx and Lamb Gaede (gay-dee). I myself haven't heard about the group until about 2005 doing some internet research. The Gaede sisters are signed under the Resistance record label as one of their flag groups.
It's not surprising that the duo has ties to white national groups in particular the National Vanguard which is an offshoot of the National Alliance. The Gaede sisters' ideals are similar as being white supremacist. They believed that Hitler was a man of peace and the Holocaust was either exaggerated or fabricated. I wrote an similar article on the causes of racism. How the Gaede twins were raised was that they were home schooled by their mother April Gaede. April considered her daughters to have good "eugenics." From what I've read, the text books that the Gaede sisters used when they were home schooled with were from the 1950s. Their grandfather happens to be a huge Neo-Nazi wearing a belt buckle with the Nazi symbol.
Groups like Prussian Blue usually made their debuts at Eurofest which happens to be a festival in Europe for white nationalists. Along with the record label, they have a magazine known as "Resistance." To this very day, one can get a copy through the National Alliance. It's shows how white nationalist movements like the National Alliance managed to infiltrate the mainstream. With labels like Resistance, it would only be a matter of time before hate music becomes fully mainstream. But with advocacy groups keeping a hawk's eye on those groups, hopefully the momentum of those national groups will wane within time and fade.
However with groups like Prussian Blue, it's only a matter of time before they pave the way for more Neo-Nazi youth music groups. Currently they're residing in Montana after moving away from Bakersfield, California after the mother claimed that it wasn't "white" enough. But Montana's trying to pass legislature banning the group from the state. It says in the Wikipedia article on Prussian Blue that the Montana Human Rights Network is having a protest rally against Prussian Blue's views.
The father of the duo is trying to reclaim custody rights after he had lost his last court case.
Asides from music, Resistance Records have penetrated the other powerful market which is electronic gaming. Video games is one medium that you must take seriously today. Especially when we're currently living in the electronic age where electronic hardware and software is more accessible and commonplace. They have one game known as "Ethnic Cleansing" that's currently on the watch lists of both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.
It happens to be the favorite game of the Gaede sisters. The brief synopsis of Ethnic Cleansing is third person shooter. The player has two choices of characters: a skinhead or a Klansman. In the game, you run through the ghettos killing off Black and Latinos who are portrayed with such crude stereotypes. At the end, the player has to enter the subway system to murder the Jews under the control of the Israeli Prime Mister, Ariel Sharon. The game is only available through Resistance Record's online store.
They recently made a sequel known as "White Law." As Wikipedia explains, you play an ex-cop booted from the force due to political views. Instead of Blacks, Latinos, and Jews, you kill police officers and reporters.
These are rough examples of how music and games are being used to spread hate to others. This can definitely count as a cause of racism. With games and music produced by Resistance Records being easily accessible, one should be extremely careful. It just shows how the White supremacist groups managed to penetrate the mainstream entertainment markets. Won't be long until other racial supremacist groups pick up on what they're doing and try the same thing. If and when that happens, it will be far more difficult to quell the spread of hate and prejudice.
There are steps to take to counteract such a spread. As parents, observe and keep watch of who your child(ren) hang out with, what they watch, and what they listen to. As teachers, observe the cliques that your students are in, their views, their parents' views, etc. But don't be intruding and tyrannical, it'll cause children to turn rebellious.
One prime example to watch as a parent if you see your children with posters and other merchandise from such groups like Prussian Blue. Supremacist music is pretty easy to detect. Though I'm using Prussian Blue as an example, they're influence has the potential to be extremely dangerous and possibly far reaching. And they're only in their early teens. Their songs has the notable keywords such as "Aryan" or "Rudolph Hess."
In a nutshell, it makes fighting hate and prejudice a bit more challenging. It just means we have to work much harder and together more than ever. Keep in mind it would be an ongoing fight. When one racist is gone, more will stand up in that person's place. With mainstream racists, the number had just multiplied exponentially. Hate and prejudice becomes more rampant as an undesirable added effect and will spread faster.
Prussian Blue website: http://prussianbluestore.com/
See also
Ban racist Tintin
European racism
Blackshirts and the Battle of Cable Street
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