slant eyes

i have worn dc shoes, dickies shorts (bought for work), quiksilver, billabong and brands of the sort. but recently i watched 'american history x' (yes, yes, for the first time) and noticed the word 'skin' tatooed across the fingers of the fat guy. then it dawned on me, there is a clothing brand called skin industries. is there a link? does anyone know who owns the clothing brand?

at that, i also noticed that the now clothing brand 'independent trucking company', makers of skateboard trucks, brandishes the iron cross. similar to the iron cross that hitler used. i discussed this with my uncle and apparently, independent made skateboard trucks in the 1970's when racism was more obvious. they took heat for it then and now continue using the iron cross.

one other thing, jesse james' west coast choppers uses a different variation of the iron cross too. as this never bothered me, have you ever driven on anaheim in long beach and passed the actual shop? there is a sign out front that reads 'black owned business'. so apparently someone there notices the inuendo.

any one else noticing these things?

this raises some concerns with me and thought i'd bring it up for discussion. i'm not crazy enough to launch an uprising on each of the above listed companies as i know not enough. hence the discussion.

what also strikes me odd are the minority groups wearing such articles of clothing brandishing these items without any knowledge of what it means, but they wear it merely cuz everyone else does. so at that, if enough people wore the swastikas, you think some jews would too?

if i'm attacking your clothing brand, i'm sorry, it's meant for discussion only.

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von dutch.

people have no idea what it means or what he stood for, they just think it's cool.

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emmdubbs

your post made me think of this event that happend a while ago.

taken from http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_hate.jsp?id=604

and also your comment about the swastika it has much more meaning than hitler, as i'm sure does the iron cross,

http://history1900s.about.com/gi/dyn...F15%2F151.html

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skier

yeah that freakin annoys me. Great, you have a sexually abusive painter's name on your hat. VERY cool.

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ARTelevision

I shouldn't be buying FUBU clothes, should I?

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la petite moi

Yeah, I know Abercrombie and Fitch got in big trouble for their 'Oriental' tee-shirts.

That doesn't have anything to do with Nazis or Hitler, but it just goes to show how unthoughtful manufacturers can be.

CSflim

Reminds me of ten year old girls running around with '69' written on their tops.

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Kodega

The Iron Cross was originally established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III in March 1813. On 5th August 1914 Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany and the King of Prussia, reestablished the medal. The Iron Cross was awarded without regard for nationality or social class to combatants for acts of heroism, bravery or leadership skills.

Than Hitler made into a symbol of hate and intollerance.

Fremen

ART, that made me laugh! You got any pics?

To expand on Kodegas' post, here's a link to a pretty extensive history on the Iron Cross.


http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-...iron_cross.htm
Just a little part of the history of the iron cross.

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Scipio

These people could benefit from a trip to http://www.urbandictionary.com/ every once in a while.

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the_marq

So that's what FUBU means...thanks for the link.

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#3 in a series

skyscan

Seeing the anarchy symbol disappoints me. If they had a clue what it meant maybe I'd be ok with it. However, they don't.

As far as clothing goes, isn't it ironic that Che Guverra fought against capitalism (for the most part) and yet, after he died his face was put on thousands of t-shirts and sold for $15.99 each?

To add to the discussion, what clothing you wear shouldn't define you. Ever know someone who wears those "witty" t-shirts? The ones that are so intelligent? Like, "I'm shy, but I have a big ****". I don't get it. It doesn't show how smart you are, just that you bought a stupid shirt. Congratulations
.

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Fearless_Hyena

Symbols mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It's important to realize what symbols mean in whichever current context you're in, and act as responsibly as you can.

Having said that, I don't really think that most of the popular clothing brands have a lot of racial agenda. Some innuendos, sure, but I'd rather write it off to style instead of anything serious. If they did really have a racial agenda I'm sure they would be shot down by the media and the general public right away.

MSD

All I can find is information on his automotive work. Would you care to enlighten us?

Astrocloud

Here is a racial innuendo on a t-shirt



For the record: this is funny and not at all offensive... but I find it difficult to draw the line.

majik_6

I think that certain businesses (such as West Coast Choppers and Independent) probably use the iron/Maltese cross because it's been a symbol in the hotrod/biker communities for YEARS, not because it was used in the crusades, by Hitler, or any other reason.

How it found its way into the hotrod community to begin with, I'm not sure.

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User Name

You're right, I think. I saw a show on Spike TV where a black rapper named Funkmaster Flex (who hosts the car show) visited Jesse James' garage. Maybe it was just business, but I doubt Jesse James is a white supremacist.

skier

alas. I have to retract my statement. The website I read this from about a month back had a very in-depth look at Kenneth Howard's life, including known alcohol abuse, and suspicions of him abusing his wife. > sucks.

on an unrelated note, 2 years ago I was talking to a girl on my schoolbus that had the anarchy symbol on her shirt and she told me that it stood for "Anarch", a "music band". I explained to her many times what it symbolized, but she would just go no, it's this band, anarch. sigh.

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bermuDa

symbolism is stong. ignorance is stronger.

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Pacifier

yeah the iron cross does not always used as a reference to the Nazis, and sometimes the 88 is just a number.
but those symbols always make me wonder if the guy who wearing them knows what they are about and if they chossen those symblos for exactly that reasion, to show their political views.

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KWSN

OMG THAT MEANS ERIC LINDROS IS A NAZI! HIS NUMBER IS 88!

Seriously though, I think people are looking into that too much.

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Pacifier

maybe, but if you are someday in germany and see a bar named "club 88" I would advise you not to enter.

codes and numbers are highly used by nazis.

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PDOUBLEOP

oh yea...just like when everybody said " you've got an earring in your right ear....you must be gay" What if you don't give a shit.

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BoCo

Using a symbol that happened to also be used by someone who did evil doesn't make you evil, nor should it suggest you condone or support what they did. I have a couple Indepentdent Truck Company shirts because I used to skateboard, and I still wear them regularly. The Maltese cross was around long before Hitler, and I don't even associate it with him or his hatred.

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ower

I didn't see anyone else mention it, but Germany still uses the Iron Cross to this day.

Ripp3r

One way imho to eliminate the hateful associations with these symbols is to generalise them, use them as company logos without the intent of spurring up dormant memories.
Over time people will stop to associate it with the past and start seeing it as just another logo...

Dwelling on the past is never good, there is nothing you can do about it, and to keep reminding people of the suffering associated with something will never ease the pain, somethings are better to be left in the past, where they belong.

I have a sweater of Independant Truck company, but I never paid attention to the logo they use, nor has anyone pointed it out to me before.

I think its a bit sad when someone starts looking for deeper meaning behind everything they see... Marketing principles dictate that using recognisable pictures and Icons is one of the best ways to attract attention of shoppers ... this is just a perfect example of that ... nothing more...

Neonazis are not on the board of the major fashion companies to brainwash the people and prep them for their return ... wake up

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ComfortablyNumb

I think you guys are confusing the Iron Cross with the swastika. They are both very different things.

irseg

A friend and I bought a few Independent Trucking shirts. Neither of us really made the connection with that logo. One day we both happened to be wearing them when were talking to a couple German guys who pointed out the similarity. Then we all had a good laugh about how it's a good thing there were no Jews around, as they might feel a little uneasy.

Astrocloud

I mean... I don't know Hosoi used the image of the rising sun to sell skateboards around the same time.



The Japanese used this image when they were conquering the eastern islands... perhaps we don't have the same sensibility...