Atlas
05-02-2009, 03:34 PM
New Homeland Security memo lists black power, shaved-head Doc Marten wearers as ‘extremist threats’
It’s not just right-wing “radical” groups on the Department of Homeland Security’s black list anymore.
Another embarrassing Homeland Security memo (pdf here) detailing those the agency believes are extremists has leaked. The first was sent to police and warned of radical groups on the right; the second is sure to offend an even broader array of those involved in activism.
The memo, dated March 26, 2009, is titled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon,” and came after the original memo fingering right-wing groups as a threat.
Those now listed as dangerous extremists include: Mexican separatists, “black power” advocates, “racial Nordic mysticism” practitioners and black nationalists.
Homeland Security told The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin, who posted the Lexicon, that the memo had been recalled almost as soon as it had been sent out.
Notably, Sardin says the memo includes no mention of Muslim extremism.
Perhaps the most amusing item is the document’s loose definition of “skinhead,” which appears to encompass anyone who shaves their heads and wears Doc Martens. Even those skinheads who merely preach “group unity” are worrisome, the memo says.
Skinheads are “a subculture composed primarily of working-class, white youth who embrace shaved heads for males, substance abuse, and violence,” the Lexicon states. “Skinheads can be categorized as racist, antiracist, or ‘traditional,’ which emphasizes group unity based on fashion, music, and lifestyle rather than political ideology. Dress often includes a shaved head or very short hair, jeans, thin suspenders, combat boots or Doc Martens, and a bomber jacket.”
On the opposite side, the Lexicon explains “black power” as a troubling “term used by black separatists to describe their pride in and the perceived superiority of the black race.”
And “black nationalism”? “A term used by black separatists to promote the unification and separate identity of persons of black or African-American descent and who advocate the establishment of a separate nation within the United States.”
And what about racial Nordic mysticism, described as “an ideology adopted by many white supremacist prison gangs who embrace a Norse mythological religion, such as Odinism or Asatru.”
Even those on the right are sure to be displeased. The memo also identifies as a threat “anti-immigration extremism.”
Such extremism encompasses “a movement of groups or individuals who are vehemently opposed to illegal immigration, particularly along the U.S. Southwest border with Mexico, and who have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence and terrorism to advance their extremist goals,” the memo says. “They are highly critical of the U.S. government’s response to illegal immigration and oppose government programs that are designed to extend ‘rights’ to illegal aliens, such as issuing driver’s licenses or national identification cards and providing in-state tuition, medical benefits, or public education.”
Source : http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/05/01/new-homeland-security-memo-lists-black-power-shaved-head-doc-marten-wearers-extremist-threats/
It’s not just right-wing “radical” groups on the Department of Homeland Security’s black list anymore.
Another embarrassing Homeland Security memo (pdf here) detailing those the agency believes are extremists has leaked. The first was sent to police and warned of radical groups on the right; the second is sure to offend an even broader array of those involved in activism.
The memo, dated March 26, 2009, is titled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon,” and came after the original memo fingering right-wing groups as a threat.
Those now listed as dangerous extremists include: Mexican separatists, “black power” advocates, “racial Nordic mysticism” practitioners and black nationalists.
Homeland Security told The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin, who posted the Lexicon, that the memo had been recalled almost as soon as it had been sent out.
Notably, Sardin says the memo includes no mention of Muslim extremism.
Perhaps the most amusing item is the document’s loose definition of “skinhead,” which appears to encompass anyone who shaves their heads and wears Doc Martens. Even those skinheads who merely preach “group unity” are worrisome, the memo says.
Skinheads are “a subculture composed primarily of working-class, white youth who embrace shaved heads for males, substance abuse, and violence,” the Lexicon states. “Skinheads can be categorized as racist, antiracist, or ‘traditional,’ which emphasizes group unity based on fashion, music, and lifestyle rather than political ideology. Dress often includes a shaved head or very short hair, jeans, thin suspenders, combat boots or Doc Martens, and a bomber jacket.”
On the opposite side, the Lexicon explains “black power” as a troubling “term used by black separatists to describe their pride in and the perceived superiority of the black race.”
And “black nationalism”? “A term used by black separatists to promote the unification and separate identity of persons of black or African-American descent and who advocate the establishment of a separate nation within the United States.”
And what about racial Nordic mysticism, described as “an ideology adopted by many white supremacist prison gangs who embrace a Norse mythological religion, such as Odinism or Asatru.”
Even those on the right are sure to be displeased. The memo also identifies as a threat “anti-immigration extremism.”
Such extremism encompasses “a movement of groups or individuals who are vehemently opposed to illegal immigration, particularly along the U.S. Southwest border with Mexico, and who have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence and terrorism to advance their extremist goals,” the memo says. “They are highly critical of the U.S. government’s response to illegal immigration and oppose government programs that are designed to extend ‘rights’ to illegal aliens, such as issuing driver’s licenses or national identification cards and providing in-state tuition, medical benefits, or public education.”
Source : http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/05/01/new-homeland-security-memo-lists-black-power-shaved-head-doc-marten-wearers-extremist-threats/