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Adult Problems - Your "Ironic" White Power Skrewdriver T-Shirt Might Make You An Asshole

Can you really separate the music from the message?

Let’s talk about white pride, black metal, and fashion. The three are more intertwined than maybe they should be, but what can you do? You've got to live in the world. It’s a boring conversation to have all the time but, with the Sikh temple shooting by the former singer of a white pride hardcore band, it’s time for our bi-annual discussion of just how justifiable it is to sport that “apolitical” black metal shirt, how ethically fucked it is—in exacting measurements—to "ironically" spin Skrewdriver’s “White Power” or anything off their first record ‘cuz “that’s totally not the racist one.”

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To many people, I’m sure the answer is self-evident. Only assholes would wear a racist shirt. But punk’s initial impulse for embracing fascist imagery, to shock the hypocritical baby boomers, was arguably entirely reasonable. And though that was, like, a trillion years ago, it’s unfortunately grayer than maybe it would seem. Pounding the white out of the lone Burzum t-shirt wearer in the pit is a cheap and easy way for any useless (in any real world terms) crust punk to feel like he’s making some sort of political statement besides starving his presumably fascist puppy dog. And, what with Bad Brains hating the gays pretty bad and Mark E. Smith enjoying a good girlfriend beating now and again, it’s not easy to see where it ends. People in general, musicians in particular, can be real creeps.

I’m also sympathetic to the “Fuck PC” argument…up to a point. If you exist only in college towns or certain coastal and/or rain-drenched cities, it’s easy to convince yourself that political correctness is a prevalent problem, and that offensive music and t-shirts are somehow a rational, or even brave, response to it. It can happen to anyone, even the occasional magazine founder. But reaction to the stupidest people in the room isn’t a coherent ideology. The reality is that the Sikh shooting is already out of the headlines because the victims aren’t white. That’s the real prevalent problem—one that doesn’t have to announce itself or censor your pals on campus, because it just is. Power dynamics are real, son. No matter how loud you play White Minority, the cops are always going to be on your side.

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I’ve certainly never been White Power or even particularly sympathetic to the bootstrap nationalism of a lot of tough-guy non-racist hardcore, but I’ve definitely been, you know, fine with some sketchy politics in bands I listen to. It’s easy enough to rationalize shit politics by saying that, at our level, it doesn’t matter. We are entirely politically impotent little pieces of progressive driftwood in big, bad America. I mean, I vote, but mainly because I enjoy pulling levers. So, fuck it, wear that Skrewdriver shirt onstage, dude. I’ll be shocked or not and nothing will happen. Until, of course, something happens, and there are seven dead at a Sikh Temple in a part of America so far away that it might as well be another planet. We still have to discuss our complicity. That’s all I’m saying. Not that we’re complicit—that would be just another face of self-aggrandizement—rather, that we have to be open to the possibility that our sub-culture fashion choices can have reverberations into the wider world. If the only two choices we discuss are between nihilism and square mall death culture, it might be time to widen the options. And it definitely might be time to put away the Burzum shirt.

Not entirely trusting my own instincts on such a sensitive subject, I decided to go through my rolodex and get a few divergent opinions. I was surprised by the general libertarian bent of the few responses I received. Apparently, I’m the most PC guy I know. Unsurprisingly, some people didn’t get back to me. I think for some, like possibly the guy at Afro-Punk that I tried to contact, it may be such a no-brainer that it’s insulting to even be asked. When I told Andrew from Violent Bullshit that I was writing an article about wearing Burzum shirts, he just looked disappointed and said “People still do that?” like, who the fuck was I hanging out with? But the reality is, I do see guys and girls wearing Burzum shirts all the time. Regardless, I was grateful for the thoughtful responses—mini essays, in a couple of cases—I got back.

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Prince Terrence (Hussle Club): I don't think that people change clothes according to national tragedies. The same dudes that ironically wear Skrewdriver tees probably wear ironic Spice Girls tees. I don't condone those bands or the views that they stand for, but as an American, I think that it would be completely hypocritical to judge the views of those who do have any conflicting standpoints from the norm regarding race, religion, or whatever it may be. We live in "the land of the free" and the "home of the brave" which, to me, means to each his (or her) own. Freedom of speech and the right to your own opinion. Do whatever you want as long as you're not fucking with innocent people that aren't fucking with you and you're not fucking with me my friends or my family. Do what you want in your micro-society. If we were all the same and had the same opinions, how boring would life be? We would be robots (oh wait, we are). But one of the most popular rappers is white, our president is black, the best golfer is black, and we (black people) are getting better at extreme sports. What does it all mean at the end of the day? Absolutely nothing. We are floating on a rock called "Earth" in outer space and no one knows anything, but people will forever try to find "the answer." Two plus two could equal five on another planet. We will never know…

Josh Strawn (Vaura, Religious To Damn): I don't wear a Burzum shirt. They kinda feel like Beatles shirts. Like, they probably sell them at Spencer Gifts. But as far as how I see it, I have to give this one to the conservatives and postmodernists: the apocalypse of meaning has already taken place. So now, the way I see it, a basic aspect of cultural literacy and awareness is the ability to interpret a chaotic mess of signifiers that doesn't satisfy easy narratives or expectations of meaning. I wouldn't wear a Burzum shirt, but I'd wear a Peste Noire shirt cause I love that band in a way I don't love Burzum. But I also feel like people can find out what I believe pretty easily, because I have the luxury of having my opinions written on the Internet for public consumption and it's probably clear that the dude who put Spaceghost Purrp and Ke$ha on a mixtape for CVLT Nation doesn't give a fuck about white plight. That said, I do think subtle racist tendencies thrive in the metal and goth communities. Officially, Drake is mainstream garbage and witch house bands were untalented. But a lot of mainstream hip-hop today is musically really similar to the stuff alternative English bands were doing in the late 90's—but they were English, so it was OK. And as bad a live act as Salem may have been, that music was unique. It poisoned the goth well with hip-hop, that's why they hated it. So wear whatever the fuck you want I say. Chances are good the person wearing the Cure shirt who cries "garbage" the moment they hear musical signifiers of hip-hop or R&B is the real racist—the worst kind, too: the kind that's sure they aren't one. People think because they are into counterculture they are automatically progressive. But the sad fact is that for as much innovative music as some metal and goth bands make (Burzum included), the wider culture is more like the counterculture version of the Tea Party. Everything from back then is better, everything new is dumb trash, and OF COURSE they don't hate rap—but they only like the old school underground shit. I don't buy it. We should task people with being able to tell whether a person is a racist based on a combination of factors. Saying a shirt has a fixed meaning and then forcing that meaning on the person wearing it accomplishes very little, I think.

Hayes (Perennial Records, Son Skull, White Boss): As for sketchy bands shirts, it kinda depends on the band. I wouldn’t wear a Burzum or Skrewdriver shirt because they suck. Shitty, one-dimensional people make shitty music…but would I wear a Miles Davis t-shirt…maybe.

Nick Forte (Rorschach, Raspberry Bulbs): Music and politics have never mixed all that well in my view. I couldn't care less about someone's personal views in regards to their band. Punk bands that are overtly political, be it Crass or Skrewdriver, have changed nothing in the real world. In the metal realm, it figures in even less.

Ben Robey (Jah Jah of Ninjasonik): I don’t care what you wear. And crying about that shit while listening to "ho" and "bitch" whatever is ridiculous. But you have to know why you’re wearing something and be able to defend it. Not just wearing whatever. Take responsibility. If you’re going to wear the boots, you better tie the laces.

@zacharylipez