Russian Fascist? Anti-Fascist? It’s All in the Numbers
In my younger days, I used to hang out with a group of SHARPs (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) skinheads from El Monte, California. We used to go to clubs, drink, share our appreciation for punk and ska music, and our mutual hatred for racist skinheads. SHARPs came in a variety of political shades. Some were self-identified communists, socialists and anarchists. Others, at least the ones I befriended, were Latino youths who, instead of getting mixed up in traditional gangs, gravitated to a more political variant. They would get into street fights with racist skinheads or would vandalize known skinheads’ houses and cars. They were a rough bunch. I remember one night after clubbing, a bunch of them went searching for a local Armenian gang with baseball bats and steel pipes in hand. That night, the Armenians beat up one of their ..read more
