School Takes on Neo-Nazi Dress Code

[Blood Axis]

01.04.2005 School Takes on Neo-Nazi Dress Code



Provocative symbols will be banned if the school gets its way.

A school in southern Germany is trying to ban students from wearing neo-Nazi gear even though instituting a formal dress code leads them into a legal grey area.


Students sport bomber jackets with a not-so-secret code for "Heil Hitler" stitched on. Or they strut in combat boots with white laces, a symbol for the white race. Or maybe, some go so far as to decorate school walls with Nazi symbols.



In one school in the southern German town of Weinstadt in Baden-Württemberg, school officials say that since the beginning of the school year, this phenomenon has become increasingly common.



"Every tenth student regularly wears the right-wing extremist symbols," teacher Antje Fröhlich of the Reinhold-Nägele High School told Der Spiegel newsmagazine.



One teacher found a swastica on classroom walls.



But when a ninth grader showed up sporting a jacket with "European Master Race" on it, school staff had been pushed too far: the teacher refused to allow the child into the classroom.



Shortly after, the teacher called the student's father, who didn't acknowledge there was a problem, saying that as long as there is no official rule forbidding such apparel, he would do nothing. Besides, he told the teacher, his son has no interest in politics but just wear such gear because he likes it.







Learning a new language



For most adults, this sort of secret language is incomprehensible. It consists of such things as "88," code for "Heil Hitler" (H is the 8th letter of the alphabet) or 18, a symbol for Adolf Hitler, or particular brands of clothing that neo-Nazis prefer such as Lonsdale of London.



But these days, parents and officials are learning fast.

At another school, students, parents and school staff decided by a majority to forbid these symbols. And at Reinhold Nägele High School, staff is pleading with state officials to create a law so they can do the same.



But so far, it hasn't been a smooth road. Questions have arisen over freedom of expression. School officials grapple to determine which gear to forbid: should they ban combat boots completely or only when they are worn with a bomber jacket? Or should the school examine each case individually?





No ban



Other German states, such as Berlin and Lower Saxony, have for years forbidden such symbols in schools, affecting about 40,000 students. But VBE teachers' union has warned that such actions threaten personal freedoms and are ineffective.



"Many teachers aren't familiar with many regulations," spokesman for the union, VBE spokesman Michael Gomolzig told Der Spiegel.



He recommended educating children about the radical right in elementary school because "by the time they are sporting bomber jackets and combat boots, it is too late."



Officials from Baden-Württemberg have decided against a state-wide ban, saying that it is not a school's place to decide what students can wear. Still, they are allowing schools to forbid specific gear symbolic of the right-wing extremists, because they say this doesn't hurt personal freedoms.



Meanwhile, teachers from the school hope for an open discussion between parents, students and staff so that the school, said one teacher, could be salvaged.

DW staff (jb)

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,...537943,00.html

[Sigel]

This is about the only way young people have of expressing their disgust at a society from which they feel increasingly excluded. Mainstream politics and culture all sing from the same song sheet and discourage taboo topics, but repressing, denying and ignoring them, will not make them go away.
Why don't European leaders just face the facts? Their people increasingly reject their Multi-Kulti utopias.

[Blood Axis]

Originally Posted by Sigel

This is about the only way young people have of expressing their disgust at a society from which they feel increasingly excluded. Mainstream politics and culture all sing from the same song sheet and discourage taboo topics, but repressing, denying and ignoring them, will not make them go away.
Why don't European leaders just face the facts? Their people increasingly reject their Multi-Kulti utopias.

I concur.

Every tenth student regularly wears the right-wing extremist symbols," teacher Antje Fröhlich of the Reinhold-Nägele High School told Der Spiegel newsmagazine.

This, by itself, should tell them something.

You can ban symbols, bands, clothes, books, but nobody can ban thought and feeling.

Actually, banning all of the above will only strenghten thoughts and feelings.

So, instead of burying the head in the sand, they should be looking towards what they are doing wrong in the first place that causes the disapproval of the youngsters.

And they'd better do that soon, cause these kids are the future citizens and voters.

[anaktas]

Originally Posted by Blood Axis

You can ban symbols, bands, clothes, books, but nobody can ban thought and feeling.

I was suspended for wearing a WP t-shirt!

[Scoob]

Are there many immigrants living in Baden-Württemberg, or at least Weinstadt? I wonder what influences these students are responding to.

[WebViro]

Well, I can only hope it inspires more to question the world around them.

In my school, I see many sporting "anarchy", pentagram and Soviet Era symbols. Strangely enough, they are never reprimanded for it.

[Strengthandhonour]

to be honest with everyone, I don't really think people who dress that way is right. Sure, one has the freedom to express themselves(I don't judge people by their clothes) but everyone does. The point is to make people think that it should be normal to be proud of your country and people without being different to the rest of the people at school. That you can be whatever you are and still be proud. But that is just my opinion.

[Dr. Solar Wolff]

If you want to keep something alive, ban it. These people are fighting an uphill battle which they can't hope to win. By banning something from young people they are encouraged to look at it with new, fresh eyes.

Another problem is that Nazism never really had enough time to work itself out of political credibility. What I mean is that Communism, for example, has been tried and tried and they worked hard at it but finally it was rejected. Capitalism is currently in the death throws of its life as a political philosophy. The trial and error peroid for Nazism was cut short by the events of the war so that NS never really had a chance to go its full politcal course. It is a little like a love affair which was cut short before completion. You always remember that person, with fond memories, and wonder, what if. For the Jews, it, NS, has run its course but unfortunately for them in the eyes of the rest of the world, their experience is not necessarily the prevailing point of view, at least among the young and rebellious.

[Sigel]

Originally Posted by Dr. Solar Wolff

Another problem is that Nazism never really had enough time to work itself out of political credibility. What I mean is that Communism, for example, has been tried and tried and they worked hard at it but finally it was rejected. Capitalism is currently in the death throws of its life as a political philosophy. The trial and error peroid for Nazism was cut short by the events of the war so that NS never really had a chance to go its full politcal course. It is a little like a love affair which was cut short before completion. You always remember that person, with fond memories, and wonder, what if. For the Jews, it, NS, has run its course but unfortunately for them in the eyes of the rest of the world, their experience is not necessarily the prevailing point of view, at least among the young and rebellious.

Well said. I'd never looked at it that way.

[Nerthus]

I can understand why some of them dress this way because I myself have had such a phase. The youth today is rebelious, sick of the current society and laws. Like Sigel mentioned, it is a way of expressing one's disgust. The same goes for listening to a certain type of music. My guess is many of them are still young and would eventually grow out of it. Now it's true that I am not too fond of this particular way of dressing either, but if it should be banned, so should other (more) degenerate trends.

[Blood Axis]

Originally Posted by Aeternitas

Now it's true that I am not too fond of this particular way of dressing either, but if it should be banned, so should other (more) degenerate trends.

Exactly.

It's not a question of whether you like this style or not, but more of the underlying causes for the banning of this particular style.

I don't have a problem with the particular outfit or any other outfit if I see it on the street, but I consider any kind of extreme outfit to be unsuitable and disrespectful for the school environment.

So, if it was really a question of school dress code, it should be imposed to all kinds of styles and haircuts that do not fit the school environment. What about dreadlocks, piercings, fancy clothes, sexually provocative outfits and so on. These should be banned as well.

But, see, this is another politics issue, and it is the manifestation that bothers them instead of the issue itself.

[Xenophon]

The swastika was not a Nazi symbol.

It should be allowed to be worn by anyone who desires it.

[Sigel]

Originally Posted by Blood Axis

I don't have a problem with the particular outfit or any other outfit if I see it on the street,

I do. If I see too many head scarves, pyjamas and burkas when I’m out it spoils my day.

[Mjölnir]

Neonazi Dress Code?

Yoou can wear pink trousers and yellow t-shirts. Thats what in your heart, in your blood runs and pump (NS). Thats important... Not your dresscode..

my Dresscode written on my heart is: Meine Ehre heiSSt Treue!

M.,

[fael]

Originally Posted by scoob

Are there many immigrants living in Baden-Württemberg, or at least Weinstadt? I wonder what influences these students are responding to.#

Actually yes. Baden-Württemberg is, so to call, a stronghold of foreigeners, as it is the spearhead of non-German settling amongst all the other "Bundesländer" (federal states).
Weinstadt in particular has an official percentage of foreigners of 11,9%, according to the statistics office of BW. The real proportion of this quantity, can only be roughly estimated, since the statistics office excludes in this research all the alien people, already administrated as "Germans", thus also having a German passport.

[anaktas]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

The swastika was not only a Nazi symbol.

It should be allowed to be worn by anyone who desires it.

I agree.

[Dr. Solar Wolff]

Originally Posted by Sigel

I do. If I see too many head scarves, pyjamas and burkas when I’m out it spoils my day.

Some of those women look better in a burka.