As I read this I felt an enormous pang of guilt (well I’m a white dude so that is my default setting, this was more a spike on the GuiltGraph) because I KNOW these guys.
I have always been more an Indie/Punk in appearance but I do love Metal. I used to hang about with an inclusive gang of metalheads that included one immensely tall black guy and, oddly, a diminutive white guy coated in tattoos of British bulldogs and phrases such as “say it loud, I’m white and I’m proud” (the irony of course being that he wouldn’t even whisper that phrase until he was exclusively surrounded by other neo nazi’s). As we grew (I was the youngest at 14, the oldest was 18) the group split up into factions, and the racist went off with a group of neo-nazi metal fans- somehow I still remained in communication with everyone.
The racist metal fans…. well they were easy to ignore in the 90's. I was white (still am) so the most they did to me was make me uncomfortable or make a comment about my non metal t-shirt, but whenever I was with black or asian (India/Pakistan/Bangladesh asian- those of an oriental background seem to be excluded from the ire) people, I was aware that once the group had spotted us we would need to ensure that we were near the exit as the final songs played, and preferably on a train home before the nazi’s had finished their drink. I never saw more than a few muttered threats or glaring, even at Derrick Green’s first UK show as Sepultura frontman where there were a few more visible black people than usual.
Something changed though. The internet came along and gave those with abhorrent outside views a set of echo chambers so they could feel justified in what they claimed. They would still talk to me so I could witness first hand how they were now more blatant- easily covered tattoos now spread to the forearms and neck, the t-shirts advertising bands that you had to have heard of to know the political ramifications of were now t-shirts with “Fuck the blacks” on (this is a real t-shirt, believe it or not), mumbled racial slurs became actual shouted threats of violence and the whole thing became more sinister, more dangerous and less ashamed of itself. At a Motorhead show in 2009 I saw them repeatedly and violently pushing an Indian girl over and not letting her get up, and disgracefully everyone was just ignoring them (it’s a very real possibility that Motorhead attracted a secret nazi contingent due to Lemmy’s desire to collect an entire Reich’s worth of Nazi clothing). I went and helped her up and wound up with a missing tooth and a dislocated shoulder as my reward.
The last I saw of them was about 2011 at an Iron Maiden show. Maiden fans were shouting at the 15–20 or so neo-nazi’s and throwing bottles at them because they’d seemingly said something to a black girl.. though I was glad that there were a group of metal fans willing to stand up to them their very existence grates on me and reading your story just made me wish more crowds would make them feel as unwanted as they make you feel.
Sorry, I’ve gone on a bit
