The Skinhead International: Denmark
The Skinhead phenomenon came on the Danish scene in the early
1980's when its young minions were generally referred to as
"Gronjakker" ("green jackets," their distinctive
military-style attire). their activity then was centered in
Osterbro in the east of Copenagen, an area where immigrants
were moving into apartments that native Danes had difficulty
obtaining. "Green jackets" became embroiled in the
controversy, engaging in physical assaults and racist
harangues. Some of their leaders received stiff jail sentences
for these attacks.
Today the Skinheads' numbers are down. They do have a
publication, The Danish National Front, and many of them are
active members of the right-wing Den Danske Forening (Danish
Society). Skinheads show up every year on June 5,
"Constitution Day," when public meetings take place around the
country. In recent years Skins have been employed on these
occasions as bodyguards for the right-wing politician Mogens
Glistrup.
On June 11, 1994, Skins organized Denmark's first Skinhead
concert. Held in Gladsaxe, a Copenhagen suburb, the event drew
some 300 Skins from Denmark, Sweden and Germany to hear two
bands: Bound for Glory, from the United States, and Svastika,
from Sweden. Members of the Danish Nazi party, DNSB, were
invited to attend, and did so.
Denmark's Skinheads may have met their match (of a sort) in
"De Autonome" ("The Autonomous"), a group of "anti-fascist"
militants better organized than the Skins and quite willing to
employ violence in their cause. These militants have been
accused of setting fie to one of the buses used by Sinheads
for transportation to the concert at Gladsaxe.
(Anti-Defamation League, 28-29)
Anti-Defamation League. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide
Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: Anti-Defamation League,
1995. Anti-Defamation League, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY
10017.
Disclaimer: not all skinheads are neo-nazis or white
supremacists. There are many skinheads who are non- or anti-racist, and
who come from a variety of different religious and cultural backgrounds.
Nizkor recognizes their achievements in anti-racism: they are part of
the traditional, non-racist skinhead subculture and are not the
perpetrators of the hate crimes discussed here.
Unless otherwise specified, the word "skinhead" within these pages
refers only to neo-Nazi and white supremacist skinheads, the
perpetrators of hate crimes and participants in racist organizations.
We cannot edit the body of the text above, because it was not written by
Nizkor, and to change the wording would be fraudulent. Please keep in
mind that not all skinheads are racist.
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
ftp.
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