Our ex-so-called president

Weren’t they with the border patrol?

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Why are the Border Patrol a bunch of skinheads?

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Is that a rhetorical question?

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Sigh.

I am white and bald, not by choice in either case. Can we not do the “skinheads” thing?

I mean, yes, the nearly identical clones Trump trotted out for his emergency ego-stroking conference were kind of creepy and the optics are bad. But I really would not like the idea that “bald white person = automatic racist” to re-enter the public consciousness.

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One bald white guy in a room is not an automatic racist. Three in the same photo, assuming it’s not a Patrick Stewart lookalike contest, is something else again.

Come to think of it, Patrick Stewart is a great example of a bald white guy most definitely not doing the skinhead thing.

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You do realize not all skinheads are racist, right? And many of us are well aware of that fact? Oi boys can be lots of fun, as long as they’re not those killjoy hammerskins…

Also, I think these guys qualify, considering their jobs and who they are lining up to defend here…

tng-picardrolemodel

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The engineer who runs Synthesis Technology, Paul Schreiber, is bald and white; the ambient musician he primarily works with, Robert Rich, is bald and white; I beta tested two of their products and I’m bald and white. This is 100% coincidental.

Oh, also my dad is bald and white, my brother is bald and white, I am bald and white, and my grandpa was bald and white. This is 100% genetics.

I agree that spokespeople for the border patrol union are more likely than average to be racist douchebags, though.

No, I did not. I have only ever heard the word in the context of white supremacists who shave their heads to identify themselves to other white supremacists.

I have no idea what that sentence means.

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And that’s specifically who we’re talking about…

It’s true. It started out in the very late 60s as a working class cultural rebellion against… the mods? I think it was the mods. Early skinheads were very much into the Jamaican dancehall culture that had been brought to the UK by immigrants from the Caribbean - although I’m sure you could certainly find some racist ones even back then, but quite a few were also people of color. The explicitly racist kind evolved in the late 70s/80s, and were cultivated by the rightwing British politcal party, and eventually racist groups specifically courted white working class men in Europe, North America, and Australia as a recruiting tactic. There are sub-cultures of skinheads called SHARPS who are explicitly anti-racist (Skinheads against racial prejudice).

Oi boys - part of the second wave of Ska:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oi!

Hammerskins:

Today’s history lesson brought to you by Doc Marten’s boots, perfect wear for your next anti-racist boot party!!!

this-is-england-skins

(gif from the highly recommended film, This is England, which I suspect is a more accurate picture of 80s British skins than Australian film Romper Stompers or the American films American History X or the Believer)

Also, go listen to some Specials!!!

specials-album

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I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. Not all men with skin on their heads are skinheads.

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Can’t we all just skank along?

skanking

[ETA] Now I’ve fallen down a Specials hole!

skanking-3

skanking-2

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From the article:

:heart_eyes::smiling_face_with_three_hearts::heart_eyes::smiling_face_with_three_hearts::heart_eyes: …Have I said how happy I am that she’s my Congressional representative? (I can only hope she keeps up the good fight.)

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That almost sounds like she’s paraphrasing Dan Savage, who’s been using “Impeach That Motherfucking Asshole” for over a year. He was even selling swag with it.

With a little ripple of outrage at first, but very little since.

It’s almost like there’s a double standard or something :thinking:

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Oh boy, now you’ve done it. Remember the goatee thread from a year and a half ago?

/ takes the bait

One possible reason is that it’s an easy way for a white guy to look tough without actually being tough. Just shave your head and eat until you’re big enough, and you look like a strength athlete. An off-season strength athlete, or maybe just a guy who made his high school football team, but a strength athlete nonetheless. A fat white guy with hair just looks like an accountant or something, and a fat white guy with lots and lots of hair looks like a computer nerd :wink:

A more serious answer: it’s one of the most socially acceptable hairstyles for balding guys. As one of these aforementioned balding guys, I also shave my head on occasion, at least during the summer months. If I let my hair grow out at all, it looks all stringy and weird, so I have to keep it cut short even when I have hair.

Oh God no. If that were the case, half my office would be racist.

Bald white fascists, on the other hand…

My brother was bald and white by the time he was thirty. Couldn’t grow hair to save his life. He inherited his hairline from our grandfather, who was also bald and white.

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I have an ITMFA around here somewhere, but I seldom wear hats.

A friend saw it and said it looked like a trump hat. I said it is a trump hat, just not one in favor of trump.

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While you are correct that merely being White, male & bald doesn’t automatically make one a White supremacist, the optics are bad because of the composition; 3 White, bald, mafioso-looking dudes standing behind 45 looks like some straight up ‘Aryan skinhead’ shit.
I cannot fathom that’s any kind of coincidence.

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Here I think is my favorite take so far:

The baldness calls attention to it in a way that might recall the old racist skinhead movement, but the real reason it stands out is that they look like clones. And hair would change that, but better still would be melanin or a woman. And the dearth of those is something that we do know about.

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This is scary. Today he orange shitweasel threatened to extend the government shutdown to months or years, or even declare a state of emergency.

The only real emergency we have is having a screaming unhinged toddler holding a loaded gun in the White House.

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It’s all about him feeling powerful. The wall has fuck all to do with it. I am so sick of this baby.

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