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Kōrero: Gangs

White power gangs

White power gangs

A Christchurch United National Front Nazi Party skinhead and his girlfriend drink beer in 1990. White supremacists at the time wore high lace-up boots and shaved their heads, and were often referred to as 'boot boys' or 'skinheads'. Confusingly, not all skinheads were racists. In the early 1990s there were small skinhead groups in many New Zealand cities and provincial towns, but many were attracted to this scene by punk music, and a desire to be noticed, without having any affiliation with white supremacist organisations. White supremacists often use swastikas, as do many gangs regardless of their ethnicity – the symbol's prime value is to shock.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Quintessential Images

by Peter James Quinn

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Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Greg Newbold rāua ko Rāwiri Taonui, Gangs – Motorcycle and white supremacist gangs, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/28244/white-power-gangs (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Greg Newbold rāua ko Rāwiri Taonui, i tāngia i te 30 March 2011, reviewed and revised 2 October 2018 me te āwhina o Jarrod Gilbert, updated 1 April 2020.

Comments

Steve Reekie
26 September 2012
I think its worth noting that there have skinhead groups in New Zealand since the late 1970's. Early British skinheads (originating in 1967-68)were primarily into Jamaican music, ska & reggae, & later on, punk music, and early New Zealand skinheads embraced these too. It was really only in the mid 1980s that nationalists started infiltrating the skinhead scene and setting up their own groups with their own style. These 'neo nazi' skinheads are generally regarded with disdain by their wiser elders. True, 'traditional','Spirit of 68' or 'Trojan skins' are generally more open minded and less aggressive.