Skinhead
Skinheads are members of a working-class youth subculture that originated in late 1960s London, England, among the children of post-war immigrants and native laborers, defined by closely cropped or shaven heads, functional attire including steel-toed Dr. Martens boots, rolled-up jeans or Sta-Prest trousers, button-down shirts, and braces (suspenders), alongside an enthusiasm for fast-paced music such as ska, reggae, and later oi!.[1][2] The style blended elements of British mod fashion with Jamaican rude boy aesthetics, reflecting a fusion born in multicultural East End neighborhoods where white and Caribbean youth shared urban hardships and cultural exchanges.[3][4] Initially apolitical and focused on asserting proletarian pride against middle-class norms and hippie counterculture, skinheads prized physical toughness, loyalty to peers, and reverence for pre-war working-class traditions like terrace football chants and pub camaraderie.[1][5] This ethos manifested in territorial affiliations tied to neighborhoods or football clubs, often leading to brawls with rival groups like mods, rockers, or Asian youth gangs amid 1970s economic stagnation and immigration debates.[2] Though some early violence targeted non-white immigrants—termed "Paki-bashing"—it stemmed more from territorial defense and cultural clashes than organized ideology, with the subculture including multiracial participants and black skinheads.[3][4] By the late 1970s and 1980s, the movement splintered under recession pressures and far-right recruitment by groups like the National Front, birthing a white power variant—derisively called "boneheads" by purists—that fused skinhead aesthetics with neo-Nazism, heavy metal, and explicit racial separatism, spreading to the US, Germany, and beyond.[5][6] In response, traditionalists formed anti-racist factions like Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) in the 1980s, reclaiming the "Trojan skinhead" label tied to original reggae roots and opposing fascist co-optation through music scenes like 2 Tone and punk crossovers.[1][2] These divisions highlight the subculture's core tension between class-based solidarity and politicized extremism, with media portrayals often amplifying the latter while marginalizing non-racist strands.[5]