
Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) are
anti-racist
Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and delibera ...
skinhead
A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...
s who oppose
white power skinheads,
neo-fascists and other political racists, particularly if they identify themselves as skinheads. SHARPs claim to reclaim the original multicultural identity of the original skinheads, hijacked by white power skinheads,
who they sometimes deride as "boneheads".
SHARP professes no political ideology or affiliation beyond the common opposition to racism. The group stresses the importance of the black Jamaican influence in the original late-1960s skinhead movement, much akin to
Trojan skinhead
Trojan skinheads (also known as traditional skinheads or trads) are individuals who identify with the original British skinhead subculture of the middle 1960s, when ska, rocksteady, reggae, and soul music were popular, and there was a heavy empha ...
s.
History
Background
The original
skinhead
A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...
subculture started in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in the late 1960s, and had heavy British
mod and
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
n
rude boy influences, including a love for
ska and
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...
. Although some skinheads (including
black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
skinheads) had engaged in "
Paki bashing" (random violence against
Pakistanis
Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
and other
South Asian immigrants), skinheads were not associated with an organized racist political movement in the 1960s. However, in the late 1970s, a skinhead revival in the UK included a sizable
white nationalist
White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...
faction, involving organizations such as the
National Front,
British Movement,
Rock Against Communism
Rock Against Communism (RAC) was the name of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s; it has since become the catch-all term for music with racist lyrics as well as a specific genre of rock music derived ...
and in the late eighties
Blood and Honour. Because of this, the mainstream media began to label the whole skinhead identity as
neo-fascist. This new
white power skinhead movement then spread to other countries, including the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Emergence

Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice was founded in 1987 by Marcus, a skinhead from New York City.
It emerged as a response by suburban adolescents to the bigotry of the growing
white power movement in 1982. Traditional skinheads (trads) formed as a way to show that the skinhead subculture was not based on racism and political extremism. NYC
Oi! band
The Press
''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday t ...
and Jason O'Toole (vocalist of the
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...
group
Life's Blood) were among SHARP's early supporters. In 1989, Roddy Moreno of the Welsh Oi! band
The Oppressed visited New York City and met a few SHARP members. On his return to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, he designed a new SHARP logo based on the Trojan Reggae labels design and started promoting SHARP ideals to British skinheads.
SHARP then spread throughout Europe and in other continents. In the UK and other European countries, the SHARP attitude was more based on the individual than on organized groups. In the 2000s, SHARP is thought to have become more of an individual designation than an official organization.
Skinheads, especially in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
ASEAN
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...
countries like Malaysia, Singapore and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
align themselves with groups and organizations to this day. Most of these would designate themselves as ''crews''. Many strive for an individualist presentation with collectivist goals. As well they are generally imposed into community service, protesting, activism both violent and peaceful. SHARPs often take part of local mutual aid or activist groups such as
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
or
Anti-Racist Action, in which the latter was even in part founded by skinheads, the most well known of which being
Mic Crenshaw.

The United States SHARPs scene has been entirely agitated by the racist overture and have resorted to all forms of anti-racism and
anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
to redeem their style and culture.
Violence has been rampant within either of the skinhead factions for decades now. Between fighting in clubs and venues as well as the streets, from
mosh pit
Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit (or simply the pit), it is typically performed to aggressive s ...
shuffles to murder. The American scene has been alive and vibrant since the 1980s. Some of the most well known anti-racist skinhead crews include The Baldies Syndicate and American S.H.A.R.P (colloquially known as A.M.S). Additional groups maintain active membership globally.

Many people may confuse SHARP members with racists, since their appearance is superficially similar: shaved heads, denim, lace up boots,
button-down shirts and suspenders (called ''braces''). One glib differentiation that might be imagined to separate the two would be music interests. SHARPs may listen to culturally influenced music such as soul, reggae and ska, but also
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
,
hardcore and
Oi!. Racist skinheads would disagree with some or all of these musical choices, but may listen to punk, hardcore, Oi!, as well as
Nazi punk
__NOTOC__
A Nazi punk is a Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi who is part of the punk subculture. The term also describes the related music genre, which is sometimes also referred to as hatecore. Nazi Punk music generally sounds like other forms of punk roc ...
and
National Socialist black metal
National Socialist black metal (also known as NSBM or Nazi black metal) is a small movement within the black metal music genre that promotes neo-Nazism, neo-fascism, and white supremacist ideologies. NSBM artists typically combine neo-Nazi im ...
.
In a deliberate attempt to reject the growing racist subculture, since the early 1980s SHARPs promulgated an anti-racist identity through small amateur
fanzine
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...
publications like ''Hard As Nails''. During the pre-Internet era, these publication established a network of like-minded individuals with similar musical and stylistic attitudes, who considered anti-racism an indispensable part of a living skinhead scene.
Another strand of the same trad revival sought to affirm explicit links with the foundation of mod subculture and its apolitical, black-positive standards of fashion. The
scooter scene, with its runs and
Northern Soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
dances, had never gone entirely away; and in the post-punk rediscovery of the past, under the influence of
The Jam
The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...
and
Quadrophenia, it seemed a fresh and self-renewing direction for skinhead itself to go in.
By 1989, this trad scene was ripe for the injection of a cultural influence like SHARP, much as its own appearance had been symptomatic of an American internal revolution in US skinheads' attitudes to race and their own subculture.
An outgrowth of SHARP,
Red and Anarchist Skinheads (RASH), formed in the United States in 1993 against anti-gay sentiment in the non-racist skinhead community.
Image

The original logo was an American flag surrounded by the SHARP lettering. The second SHARP logo is based on the logo of
Trojan Records
Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...
, which originally mainly released black
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
n
ska,
rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...
, and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
artists. Some variants of this design also incorporate the checkerboard motif of
2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records was an English independent record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records.
History
J ...
, known for its multiracial roster of ska- and reggae-influenced bands.
The way in which SHARPs dress is to project an image that looks hard and smart, in an evolving continuity with style ideals established in the middle-to-late 1960s. This style and demeanour originated from the
UK, growing out of the pre-existing
mod movement, taking cues and influences from Jamaican ska and
rude boy culture. They remain true to the style's original purpose of enjoying life, clothes, attitude and music.
See also
*
Love Music Hate Racism
Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) is a music-oriented antiracism campaign based in United Kingdom, Britain. The campaign aims to bring people together and promote unity through the power of music. LMHR was born in the tradition of the Rock Against R ...
*
Rock Against Racism
*
Hardcore skinhead
*
Working class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
*
Iron Front
The Iron Front () was a German "extraparliamentary" and paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic which consisted of social democrats, trade unionists, and democratic socialists. Its main goal was to defend democracy against totalita ...
*
The Press
''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday t ...
*
Assassination of Guillem Agulló
Footnotes
Further reading
Skin of a Different Color: Not every skinhead in Portland this weekend was a white supremacist (10 October 10th 2007)*
{{Skinhead
Skinhead
Politics and race
Advocacy groups
Organizations established in 1986
Anti-fascist organizations
Anti-racist organizations