Javascript must be enabled to continue!
Was John Wayne a Nazi? The racial politics of taste in 1980s US hardcore punk
View through CrossRef
Abstract
This article sheds light on hardcore punk’s racial politics of taste within the framework of racial discourses in Reagan’s 1980s America. The first wave of hardcore punk was composed almost exclusively of male, white, suburban youth and often referenced white supremacist imagery with various political intentions. The goal of my article is to investigate hardcore punk’s potential to deconstruct the hypocrisy of a seemingly ‘colour-blind’ society by means of subversive appropriation of white power imagery. I will formulate a hardcore punk’s racial politics of taste to closeread the songs ‘Reagan Youth’ and ‘John Wayne Was a Nazi’.
Title: Was John Wayne a Nazi? The racial politics of taste in 1980s US hardcore punk
Description:
Abstract
This article sheds light on hardcore punk’s racial politics of taste within the framework of racial discourses in Reagan’s 1980s America.
The first wave of hardcore punk was composed almost exclusively of male, white, suburban youth and often referenced white supremacist imagery with various political intentions.
The goal of my article is to investigate hardcore punk’s potential to deconstruct the hypocrisy of a seemingly ‘colour-blind’ society by means of subversive appropriation of white power imagery.
I will formulate a hardcore punk’s racial politics of taste to closeread the songs ‘Reagan Youth’ and ‘John Wayne Was a Nazi’.
Related Results
Musical protagonism: Beyond participation in punk and post-punk
Musical protagonism: Beyond participation in punk and post-punk
Abstract
This article applies the notion of participation in artworks to the phenomenon of punk and post-punk. Participation has been championed as a means of descri...
Punk is punk but by no means punk: Definition, genre evasion and the quest for an authentic voice in contemporary Russia
Punk is punk but by no means punk: Definition, genre evasion and the quest for an authentic voice in contemporary Russia
At a recent London seminar on punk in post-socialist Eastern Europe, Penny Rimbaud made an unexpected twist to definitions, stating simply that punk ‘isn’t’. He posits punk as the ...
Rebelling in different ways: Older punk women, employment and ‘being/doing’ punk
Rebelling in different ways: Older punk women, employment and ‘being/doing’ punk
How do older women negotiate employment and the workplace alongside being and ‘doing’ punk? This article takes this question as its focus, exploring three key areas that a sample o...
Thinking punk
Thinking punk
Abstract
In the double issue special edition of Punk & Post Punk, 4.2/4.3, Russ Bestley wrote a provocative article entitled ‘(I want some) demystification: Deco...
The Politics of Punk
The Politics of Punk
Punk rock has long been equated with the ever-shifting concepts of dissent, disruption, and counter-cultural activities. As a result, since its 1970s and 1980s incarnations, when b...
Punk – but not as we know it: Punk in post-socialist space
Punk – but not as we know it: Punk in post-socialist space
In this introductory article, the rationale for considering punk in a particular spatial and temporal setting (post-socialist societies) is outlined. It is argued that such an ente...
Putting the ‘punk’ back into pop-punk: Analysing presentations of deviance in pop-punk music
Putting the ‘punk’ back into pop-punk: Analysing presentations of deviance in pop-punk music
Writing on pop-punk, the melodic branch of punk that rose to fame in the mid-to-late-1990s, usually centres on the pop aspect of the genre: its popularity, polished sound and comme...
Making sense of punk in Cuba/making sense of Cuba through punk
Making sense of punk in Cuba/making sense of Cuba through punk
Abstract
Rock music in its broadest definition, though still potentially problematic, has grown exponentially in contemporary Cuba, particularly since the economic a...

