Research & Analysis

ALTERNATE NAMES: Comrades of our Racial StruggleGroup Status: Legacy (the group is no longer active, but some symbols may remain as tattoos, graffiti, etc.) COORS Family Skins (the word COORS is an acronym for "Comrades of our Racial Struggle") is a racist skinhead group whose members are primarily based in southern California. They use a logo consisting of an Othala rune combined with a runic symbol, but they also occasionally appropriate the logo for Coors Beer. Additional Images:

The term "Crazy White Boy" (as well as its initials, CWB) is a phrase used generically by some white supremacists (often in tattoo form) to identify themselves.  It is also commonly used as a name for white gangs.  There have been a number of Crazy White Boy/s gangs in different places around the United States, in the streets or in prisons, over the years.  Most are small, locally-oriented, and unconnected to other, similarly named groups.  Variants of this term include…

ALTERNATE NAMES: World Church of the Creator, WCOTC, COTCGroup Status: Active Ben Klassen, a former Florida state legislator, started the white supremacist Church of the Creator in 1973, portraying it as a "religion" for white people, although it was essentially just a pseudo-religion. A few years after Klassen's 1993 suicide, white supremacist Matt Hale rebuilt the group, branding it the World Church of the Creator. In the early 2000s, Hale and his group lost the right to that name in a…

Crew 1488 (sometimes called Organization 1488) is a small racist prison gang based primarily in Alaska, though it has a small presence in Colorado. Its primary symbol consists of a swastika intertwined with an Iron Cross, with 14, 88 and SS lightning bolts inside the Iron Cross.

ALTERNATE NAMES: DirlewangerThe crossed grenade emblem signifies the Waffen SS unit most commonly known, after its commander, as the "Dirlewanger Brigade" (later, the 36th SS Division).  Oskar Dirlewanger (1895-1945) was an SS officer involved in the Holocaust and anti-partisan actions in World War II, including the murderous suppression of the 1944 uprising of the Polish Home Army in Warsaw.  Even within the Waffen SS, both Dirlewanger and his unit had a reputation for sadism,…

The crucified skinhead image is a longstanding symbol used by the entire skinhead subculture (i.e., both racist and non-racist or anti-racist skinheads). Skinheads often use it to convey a sense of persecution or alienation or that society is arrayed against them. In isolation, the crucified skinhead symbol itself cannot be described as a hate symbol. But racist skinheads often adorn their versions of the crucified skinhead with other hate symbols or, in many cases, replace the cross with some…

The "echo," as it is sometimes called, is the online use by antisemites of multiple parentheses around a person's name to indicate that they are Jewish or, when used around a phrase or term, such as (((banker))), to imply that the word "Jewish" should be added to it.

The European Kindred is a large white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Oregon. Its primary symbol is a "shield" tattoo containing the initials EK, often displayed on the calf.

The European Kindred is a large white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Oregon. Gang members often use a two-handed hand sign in which three fingers of one hand are spread to look like an E and two fingers of another hand are spread to resemble a K.

The term "featherwood" derives from the related term "peckerwood," a word that evolved from an old racial epithet directed at whites to a term used to refer to people associated with the racist prison gang subculture. A featherwood is the female equivalent of a (male) peckerwood. Featherwoods can sometimes be members of racist prison gangs (and, in California, of related peckerwood street gangs) but are more often associates of such gangs, often girlfriends or wives of gang members. The term…

ALTERNATE NAMES: For God, Race and NationFGRN is a Ku Klux Klan acronym for "For God, Race and Nation," a common Klan slogan. It is one of a number of slogans, codes and rituals created by the Second Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century. That Klan did not survive, but many of its codes and rituals were adopted by later Klan groups. In acronym form, the slogan is used primarily as a Klan identifier, typically appended at the end of on-line messages and postings. Additional Images:

Firm 22 is the name used by the Vinlanders Social Club, a racist skinhead group, to refer to supporters and associates of the group who are not actually members. The number 22 stands for the letter V.

Free America Rally is a loosely-coordinated network of white supremacists who hold protests and rallies on white supremacist-related themes. The logo for Free America Rally is an amalgam of several runic symbols in the center of a laurel wreath.

The Georgia Aryan Brotherhood is a racist prison gang based in Georgia. It has no connection to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood (present in the California and federal prison systems). Some members sport a "shield" tattoo, but many also use a wide variety of more generic Aryan Brotherhood symbology.

White supremacists in the United States and elsewhere, particularly neo-Nazis and racist skinheads, often use German words or phrases or create German-like equivalents of English words and phrases.  Some of the terms derive from the Third Reich, while others are more modern in origin. Common examples include phrases such as "Weiss Macht" or "Weisser Macht" (White Power), "Weiss Junge" or "Weisser Junge" (White Youth), "Blut und Ehre" (Blood and Honor), "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" (My Honor…

Since World War II, neo-Nazis and some other white supremacists have adopted the image of a World War II-era German soldier as a symbol.  In particular, images of Waffen SS soldiers (perceived as Hitler's elite "supermen") are popular.  A popular variation is a tattoo depicting a Viking warrior, a Waffen SS soldier, and a racist skinhead side by side; such images associate the modern racist skinhead with his perceived "white warrior" forebears. Additional Images:

Golden State Solidarity (also known as Golden State Skinheads) is a California-based racist skinhead group. Their most common symbol consists of a red-and-white Waffen SS divisional shield containing an Iron Cross and a red star. Sometimes instead of appearing in a shield, these items appear in an image in the shape of California.

White supremacists use the letter/number combination H8 to mean "hate." This usage dates back at least to the 1990s and may originally derive from the punk subculture, but it has become more common in recent years, with the spread of text-message abbreviations. Common motifs for the word include playing cards and billiards balls. Additional Images:

The handsign of the Hammerskins, a racist skinhead group, consists of two crossed forearms emulating the "crossed hammers" of the Hammerskins logo.