Mainstrem vs. Extreme

Mainstream versus extreme pertaining to my blog topic shows a prime example in itself. Mainstream, as defined as most would be ordinary, conventional, typical. However mainstream in the Movement to me could be better defined as underhanded, sneaky and snide. The acts of murder, or gang violence is what is seen as extreme, which don’t get me wrong: I agree, such is quite extreme. These sorts of actions as hate crimes are the extreme actions taken that would land you in prison. My blog topic has dealt with white nationalist prison gangs, in other words the “extreme”. But what about this so called mainstream? Abby Ferber states that:

"Defining white supremacy as extremist in its racism often has the result of absolving the mainstream population of its racism, portraying white supremacists as the racist fringe in contrast to some nonracist majority."

This arises a good point of what society makes white supremacists out to be. I recall in the beginning of the year when Dr. Leonard talked about how he had a typical white man come over to fix a shelf in his apartment, only to find a week or so later his face in the newspaper talking about his hatred towards all non-whites and strong white supremacist ideologies. In my personal opinion, it is the action that can be loosely defined as mainstream or extreme, however the hatred that festers within someone with this outlook on racial differences, there is no defining such as mainstream.

Pertaining to my blog topic, prison gangs and gang affiliation of white nationalists, they represent what society has deemed white nationalists in general. Most people wouldn’t assume anyone walking down the street to be a white nationalist, but having taken this course, I personally wouldn’t be surprised at all. Most people would assume that all members of the white nationalist movement are tattoo-covered, scream-o listening, camo and combat boot wearing, anarchist, rebellious Skinheads. Shown below is a few examples of what comes up on Google upon searching white supremacist. Although some members do look like this, what about the rest? Aside from that, I would say that a good majority of society also thinks that most of them are locked up. Although a solid amount of white members in prison do end up joining gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood, such is sought out for protection, fostering a hatred and simply giving it somewhere to aim.

 

This mainstream/extreme analysis is a very fine line, and can be dangerous to be quick to judge. Extreme action can be seen as physical for the most part, something that you can visibly judge someone as being an extremist. But what about those Daniels discusses in her book Cyber Racism? What about those people such as Richard Machado, emailing hate mail to 59 students simply judged by their last name? Or what about William White and the posting of the Jena 6, which lead to the harassment and beatings for 6 students because of the color of their skin? Such action may be considered mainstream to some, because they were just a person behind a computer screen, but look what it lead to. These people are capable of much more, and some who people are deeming mainstream can be just as capable.

 The Jena 6

A mainstream and extreme analysis is sometimes blatant and easy to label members. Prison gang members can typically be seen as extreme. The Aryan Brotherhood would more than likely be deemed very extreme, seeing as how they are notoriously the most violent prison gang in the federal system and their main targets tend to be because of racial differences or wrongdoings to the gang itself. It’s important to acknowledge such extreme action, but it’s far more important to not ignore those considered as mainstream. Typically they share the same fostered hatred within their minds, they support to same Movement, they can be just as dangerous.

Frank Meeink vs. Derek Vinyard

The comparison between the Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: The Frank Meeink Story versus American History X shows quite a bit of similarities. My blog focus as well, interlaces with both subjects quite closely. Frank Meeink’s story and American History X both have much in common because of the shared theme of a Skinhead being forced to take a step back and look at his life and ideologies while in prison. In fact, some including Meeink himself believe the movie was loosely based on his life specifically.

  

 

The overall portrayal of Skinheads seems to be relatively accurate. As Meeink stated in an interview posted below with Katie Couric, almost all Skinhead gatherings involve alcohol. He says that they “love to drink”. In American History X, the main Skinhead gathering they show is a scene at a party where there is a good amount of alcohol and music.

Another important scene is when Derek, the main character of American History X, gives a short speech about immigration and how it is affecting the United States. Frank Meeink talks about how they prey on people who are already hateful, but the Skinhead movement just shows you where to direct such hate. He talks about how they state facts and put a “Zionist twist” on them, which Derek displays here. We’ve discussed such a tactic in class before.

Focusing more on my blog topic itself is how prisons are portrayed in the book and movie. In American History X, I noticed both accurate details that I was surprised to see, and yet I also noticed some inaccuracies as well. For one, during a scene in the movie while Derek is in prison, he witnesses a drug cartel deal go down. I have posted this clip before in previous blogs and have added the link below. In the scene, Derek is disturbed by the alliance between the whites and Mexicans in prison. This is accurate because one of the Aryan Brotherhoods main allies just so happens to be the Mexican Mafia. It proves the point that is also stated within Meeink’s story, that in prison a lot of the time racially based gangs rank drugs higher on their main agenda. Frank Meeink talks about the heavy amount of drug trafficking done in prison. As I’ve talked about in previous blogs, the Aryan Brotherhood is involved in a heavy amount of drug trafficking. This aspect can be seen as a common thread between the two as well.

American History X : Drug Trafficking Scene 

One inaccuracy though that I have found throughout my research is the lack of the follow through on the “Blood in, Blood out” motto the Brand follows. This means that once you join the gang, which you must kill in order to do, you must die in order to leave. It is a forever bond. In the history of the AB, members who have left find themselves a very uncomfortable seat at the top of the Brotherhood’s hit list quite quickly, as shown by Michael Thompson, as mentioned in earlier blogs. Thompson, shown far left below, realized his differing views from the Movement and quit without being killed himself. This placed him as the ultimate enemy of the Brotherhood. Derek did kill to get in, it was in fact what landed him in prison, however he wasn’t very chased after aside from being heavily harassed and raped. The AB in real life would have done everything in their power to kill him, inside and outside prison walls.

An important comparison of landmark points in the storylines of both Derek Vinyard and Frank Meeink is the physical change that is visible to the public. Derek’s scene is when him and his younger brother Danny take down the posters in Danny’s room, a scene shown linked below. This is a turning point for the audience to physically see the change that Derek has made. Frank Meeink’s turning point, physically visible at least, would be the removal of his tattoos. Although Meeink’s could be seen as far more drastic and painful, both are heartfelt and represent change and redemption occurring in both characters.

 American History X : Taking Down Symbols

 

Frank Meeink Before and After Tattoo Removal

The prison system represents an important aspect of both stories. It is accurately described in numerous ways and hits the main points that white nationalist gangs are like today. Obviously Meeink’s story is very accurate, because he witnessed it himself and lived through it, something that I can gladly say I have not done. However, Hollywood’s portrayal can also take pride in showing the important ideals that white nationalist prison gangs represent today. Both stories showed much inspiration and proof that change can occur, and redemption can be sought for your wrongdoings in life.

This week I spoke with four of my friends about what I have learned throughout the semester about white nationalists in general. I got a lot of surprised reactions, although I’m not surprised by this myself. Throughout the course I’ve become more and more prone to underreacting to most things I’ve learned: little really surprises me about their movement. However, I’ll go over a brief summary of my discussions with them.

I would have to say that the most shocking thing that all four of my friends learned was all of the information regarding the ZOG. The Zionist Occupied Government, dubbed by white supremacists, is a group of twelve Jewish men that secretly work towards overtaking the United States as their own land and controlling all others. They deny the Holocaust, which although three of my four friends were aware that they didn’t believe it had happened, they didn’t know that white supremacists believed it was made up by the Jews in order to gain more control. A cartoon below shows an outlook that they have.

White supremacists also believing that the ZOG is in control of Hollywood also shocked them as well. They believe the use of interracial couples in the media is one tactic to weaken the white race. Making black people seem cool, and stealing the white women is their way of showing the white children that this is okay, forcing the “stigma” to grow. They believe that the United States is in danger of being taken over. Lauren, one of my friends asked me where they would even get an idea such as this. Her disbelief that such an obscure idea could be spurred within their minds was just too weird for her, as it is for me as well.

I applied some of our first assignment and asked them all what they thought a white supremacist would look like. To no surprise, they described the stereotypical skinhead: combat boots, camo, shaved head, tattoos all over, and very violent. Although they were aware that not all were like this, they were surprised to learn that this is more a representation of certain gangs. White supremacists just like any other person are very prevalent. As shown below, a typical skinhead in comparison to say David Duke, an extremely powerful man in the movement today, shows a very far range of what they appear as today.

  

I went into a short discussion about what they thought about cyber racism. I described what cloaked websites were, websites with hidden agendas that are supposed to pull you further in by not showing the blatant political view of the page initially. I showed them the MLK.org example, and both Hillary and Alex both had run into the page before while writing a research paper in high school. I too was in the same boat. So of all of us, the majority had seen the page. It brought about a further discussion of how this could affect children reading such information. Although the internet has not been much of a recruiting tactic as stated by Daniels, it still penetrates some children’s minds through cloaked websites and games such as Border Control or Ethnic Cleansing.

  

Overall, all of them were surprised by how prevalent white supremacy really is today, regardless of how hidden it can be. Violence still occurs, as you can see by the white nationalist prison gangs still being so widespread. Racially based gangs are everywhere. More importantly, this discussion spurred two of my friends to want to switch their schedules to be able to take this course. The subject is full of interesting information that makes you want to know more.

Black Guerilla Family: and Enemy to the Brand

Throughout much of my blog I have focused on the Aryan Brotherhood. Although there are other branches of white based gangs, the Brand as some call it, is by far the most well-known, organized, and prevalent to this day. Seeing as how such has been such a strong focus, then I figured why not give a little background information on their number on enemy: The Black Guerilla Family.

The Black Guerilla Family is another well-known violent prison gang. It was founded by a man named George Jackson in 1996, and inspired by Marcus Garvey. Marcus Garvey (pictured below) was a devoted proponent to the Black Nationalist Movement. Ideologically, it is an African-American Marxist based organization in attempt to revolutionize and overthrow the United States government. They began within prison walls with the purpose to maintain a strong and protective presence within the prison walls. Like the AB, it is also racially based. However their goals aim towards eradicating it rather than flourishing through it.

Marcus Garvey

Below is a trailer for a movie called Black August. It is the story of George Jackson and describes the upbringing and presence of the BGF. It shows the creation of the gang as being very politically revolutionary, taking place in the 70’s, and showing the suppression of blacks in earlier times.

Black August (2007)

One large difference between the two groups is the level of drug trafficking each is involved with. As mentioned in a previous blog, the Aryan Brotherhood is heavily involved in a multi-million dollar drug trafficking operation, both within and outside bars. Rather, the Black Guerilla Family is by far the most politically based prison gangs, with it being the strongest of issues on their agenda. The group is extremely anti-government and anti- official as depicted in their symbol. The symbol, as pictured below, shows a dragon strangling a prison guard to death next to a prison tower. The dragon represents a quote by Ho Chi Minh that the gang follows, as shown in the beginning of the above mentioned clip. The quote reads:

“When the prison gates open, the dragon will fly out.”

–Ho Chi Minh

Obviously, much of the hatred between the two groups comes from racial differences. The Aryan Brotherhood however has found bondage with the Mexican Mafia, a non-white racially based prison gang as well. The Brand has found such a bond through their drug trafficking and some members have thought such an alliance is proof of the loss of their original ideology. The Black Guerilla Family’s alliances include the Black Liberation Army, Symbionese Liberation Army and the Weather Underground: all on a racial agenda for the protection of blacks as well.

Outside bars, the Black Guerilla Family holds a strong presence in street gangs as well. Black street gang members are the most often recruited upon imprisonment, and typically members of the gangs outside prison walls are members of the BGF as well. Some street gangs most heavily recruited include both the Bloods and Crips, El Rukns, Black Gangster Discipline, along with many others. The Bloods and Crips are notorious as being violent enemies on the streets. However, upon recruitment into the BGF, they are forced to put such difference aside and join alliance toward the BGF's greater "good". Like the Aryan Brotherhood, they hold a strong bond upon membership. Lifelong allegiance to the group is required, and a death oath is taken.

Bloods and Crips, common enemies forced into alliance

The Aryan Brotherhood and the Black Guerilla Family share much in common, with alike ideologies, racial love and power, protection within prison walls, and much more. However it is the racial difference of black and white that separates them to an unceasing end. They are enemies to the death, and as long as such racial segregation and violence as today keeps occurring both inside and outside of prisons across America, such hatred and disrespect for one another will continue.