Newspaper Page Text
Page 13
The Latest In Fascism: Skinheads
Part 2 of a 2-Part Series
Skinhead violence, fairly quiet through
most of 1987, is once again on the rise. In
addition to the confrontation during the
Democratic Convention, a woman and two of
her companions were recently assaulted in
Little Five Points for refusing to give money to
a group of Skins when accosted. The woman
was reportedly beaten with a beer bottle,
harangued with homosexual epithets and two
Skins from Philadelphia were arrested in the
incident
Two high
school aged
Skinheads
were arrested
this spring in
connection
with the
spray
painting of
swastikas
and anti-
semitic
epithets on
the walls of a
local Jewish high school. Similar symbols
and slogans have been used to deface a Martin
Luther King Jr. peace mural in Little Five
Points.
But in other areas of the country, Skinhead
violence has escalated to truly frightening
proportions. Skinheads are believed
responsible for the torture of a former member
of their ranks. Greg Withrow claims he was
nailed to a cross for being, in the eyes of the
Skins, a "traitor."
In Florida, a pair of teenage brothers who
belonged to a Skinhead gang are facing
murder charges in the beating and stabbing
death of a 41-year-old black man. According
to the Sl Petersburg Times, Scott and Dean
McKee,after a night of drinking with tliejr,....
Skinhead buddies, attacked Isiah Walker, who
was asleep on a bedroll outside the Tampa
Museum. When Walker awoke and fought
back, the McKees stabbed him through the
heart.
One of the central questions being asked by
those concerned with the increasing threat of
the Skinheads is, "How organized are they?"
In April, posters inviting Skinheads to an
undisclosed location in suburban Atlanta for
"War Games" proliferated on bulletin boards
and telephone poles in the Little Five Points
area. Skinheads have appeared as guests on a
radical right television program hosted by
California Klan leader Tom Metzger.
There is no indication, observers say, that
Atlanta's Skins are intimately connected with
either national neo-Nazi or Klan activities, but
their gang mentality and participation in local
Klan activities is well-documented. In
California, Chicago and New York, Skinhead
activity is reported to be turf-oriented in the
style of organized gangs. Atlanta's Skins
appear to be attempting to stake a similar
claim to the Little Five Points area, but both
organized and individual efforts to resist seem
to have stymied these takeover moves so far.
Reactions of merchants in the Little Five
Points area
to the
presence of
the Skins
range from
disgust to
fear. None
will talk on
the record
about the
Skins, but
nearly all
perceive
f ‘ them
» as an
ongoing problem for Little Five Points as it
moves toward acceptance and respectability
as a viable restaurant, shopping and enter
tainment district for Atlanta. The presence of
the Skins damages the image of Little Five
Points as a peaceful, happy community.
While wrecking this image, the Skins have
taken full advantage of its reality. And the
apathy of public safety officials has only
exacerbated the problem. For example, what
if the Skins were hanging out at, say, Lenox
Square, harassing the patrons of The Fish
Market and beating up the manager of
Mick's? It is unlikely police and the district
attorney would be describing the violence as
"a few incidents" and turning the other way.
i As it stands, however, the Skins presently
have turned the tide of public relations in their
favor. Styling themselves as super-patriots
and a tiny minority harassed because of their
appearance, they spread a message of hatred,
violence and intolerance in the midst of a
community built from peaceful coexistence
and cooperative spirit ADD has essentially
dissolved, although some of its former
members are keeping an eye on Skinhead
activities and are still alarmed by what they
know, and the Center for Democratic
Renewal continues to monitor the Skins along
with other radical right groups.
"The Skinheads seem to have confused
fascism and America in their minds," explains
a previously mentioned Little Five Points
activist "sort of an Ollie North mentality."
- Amanda Bates
Canadian Bill Mole was greeted by Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young when
Mole dropped by City Hall during the U.S. leg of his "Global Walk for
AIDS Research."
Gay Center Reps Reject
Commissioner's Compromise
Atlanta Gay Center representatives have
declined an offer from Public Safety
Commissioner George Napper to fill two
empty slots on the newly revamped Police
Advisory Committee.
The offer came at an August 3rd meeting
between Napper and AGC representatives Bill
Gripp, Michael Wilson, and Jean Levine.
Cathy Woolard, president of the ACLU's
Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter (GayCLU)
and organizer of the revised committee, was
also in attendence.
Levine said Napper's offer was turned
down for two reasons-first, because AGC
leaders objected to the way other committee
members were selected, and second, because
they had not been authorized by their mem
bership to accept.
"We had not been elected by the Gay
Center," she said, although she was unable to
explain why the membership had not been
consulted. By her own account the AGC
board had known since mid-July that Napper
would make the offer.
Already named to the committee are ten
individuals chosen by Woolard as being
representative of the community. None is
affiliated with the AGC, whose leaders
Woolard said she finds "difficult to work
with."
The AGC's own proposal for revising the
committee, which Levine called "more
democratic," was rejected last month by
voting members of the Metropolitan Atlanta
Council of Gay and Lesbian Organizations
(MACGLO), who opted instead to endorse
Woolard’s proposed committee. Wilson,
representing the AGC, was the lone dissenter
in the 21-1 vote.
Although Napper left the door open for
AGC leaders to join the committee at a later
date, there would seem to be little hope that
they could work harmoniously alongside
Woolard after months of dissension between
the two factions. Instead, the AGC's Task
Force on Anti-Gay Violence continues to
meet with Napper, much to Woolard’s
frustration.
"The Gay Center's Task Force has really
been a detriment to getting things done," said
Woolard. "It's real clear to me that the inter
ference from the Gay Center is inhibiting the
police department from following through on
things."
Levine said AGC Task Force members
were "disappointed" in MACGLO's decision
to endorse Woolard’s proposal, but added that
the Task Force still has its own agenda to
pursue. "The Gay Center does continue to
receive reports of anti-gay violence, and we
feel it's necessary to inform the
commissioner," she said.
Woolard, who said the new members of
the Police Advisory Committee have already
met with Napper several times and will do so
again in early September, emphasized that the
struggle between the two groups could only
be settled by members of the community.
"I think it's incumbent upon the
community to let [Napper] know who they
feel is representing them."
-David Tucker
LOW BACK PAIN
It back pains are a way ot life tor you. the
reasons can be varied and complex. Some
may be pathological, but very often the |
cause is muscles which are either over
under-exercised which are producing spinal I
distortion. Vertebrae slip into abnormal
positions, resulting in "pinched'' and
irritated nerves, which cause pain and even |
loss of function of the affected body part
Poor posture, or even emotional tension, can j
be the root cause.
INSURANCE
CASES ACCEPTED
HEALTH INSURANCE - IMAJOR MEDICAL!
LIABILITY - (AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS)
WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION • (ON JOB!
Ami
SPIN
•RICAN
AL CARR
CHIROPRACTIC REHABILITATION
6021 SANDY SPRINGS CIRCLE • SUITE 210
ATLANTA (SANDY SPRINCS), GA 30328
TELEPHONE (404) 252-4711
Dr. Patricia K. Herman
Full Sptne and Extremities
Sharon U Sanders
psychotherapy
1549 Clairmont Rd
Suite 108
Decatur GA 30033
(404) 373-0278
Call For Free Estimate
DEPENDABLE REMODELING
Quality Work Reasonably Priced
C.J CLARK
•Insurance •Investments
• Financial Planning • IRA 's
• Estate Planning • Tax Planning
2920 Brandywine Road • Suite 250
DAN
Financial
R. EASTON
Services Specialist
La Vista Center
(404) 634-3835
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1535 LaVista
Road, N.E.
Atlanta GA
30329
PAMELA J. COLE