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I'm 52 now so I don't punch anyone anymore. But back in the mid '80s to early '90s I was one of a few skatepunks that ran around with some ofe the local Unity Skins. We did a fair bit of nazi punching (and ax handling). This was toward the end of lace codes and wearing patches on bomber jackets. I'm not sure we changed anyone's mind but for a few years, no one was rocking confederate flags or white laces in the open. But I'm just some random guy online so take everything I say with a grain of salt.
(White, red, and yellow laces still give me pause. My teen came home one day wearing yellow laces and we had to have a talk. After some fact checking, and him explaining some stuff, I let it go and got a pair of yellows for my boots. Funny how things change over time and areas).
43 year old here. By the late 90s most of the laces and braces stuff was over in my local scene (Austin, TX). SHARPs learned it was easier to just have a mowhawk or spikes than explaining that yes they were a skinhead but not Nazis or racist.
With that said there were still Nazis that would come around to the clubs from time to time. And it usually ended up with them getting thrown out. Then one night one of them went into the pit and started throwing punches. The whole lot of them got dragged out the back by a bunch of guys a lot larger than me. 10 minutes later they came back in minus the Nazis. After that night I never saw another Nazi at a show again.
See? The system works!
Could you expand on the laces thing? I've never heard of laces (white, yellow or anything else) signifying anything in this topic.
Yeah, absolutely. It's's an old Skinhead/Bonehead thing. You'd rock different colors to say what you sort of believed. Red was neo-nazi, white was klan or white power, blue I think was pro cop, yellow was anti-gay, green was something bad but I don't remember what, may be you robbed everyone. This was kind of nationwide but varied by area somewhat. Like blue could mean pro cop or anticop. This was way before think blue line stuff.
So growing up you'd see a bunch of bone heads strutting around with white laces and you'd know they were all racist shiteaters.
Mostly I think it was a way for skins to decide who to fight. Like I say, I was a punk, so not as much into fighting for fun like most skins were. I just ran with some because being a skater and a punk then was a little harder if you got caught alone. And having friends that liked to fight was just good sense.
Thanks, that's really interesting. I guess black laces were the only safe option!
Just looked it up. White is white pride, red is neo-nazi (and often, willing to spill blood), yellow is anti-racist. Not sure why that last one's a bad thing, though.
Black was neutral, because that's the colour doc martens usually come with.
They are all fun lace colors, and Nazis get to decide nothing.
I don't think nazis are the ones that decided the gay pride colour though (it was purple). I think it was someone else that decided.
Thank you for being less lazy than me! Still though, white laces are pretty common. I wouldn't want to be mistaken for a white supremacist just because of that.
Lace codes (and brace or strap codes I'm reminded above) are largely dead now. It started letting up when it was discovered how dope blue Docs looked with red laces.
Ha - fashion > fascism :-)
I'm just curious what your interpretation of yellow laces is. I'm not a punk but am vaguely aware of lace codes, and every list I see online has yellow as anti-racist, but I know it varied a bit from place to place.
Back a few lifetimes ago in this area it was anti-gay.
What's ax handling? Captain Kirk double hand chop?
Hitting a guy with an ax handle. There's not a lot of nuance or grace in it.
Yeah, ok. Was wondering if it was a move, or the literal interpretation