Well, seeing as how the Baltimore area is cursed with a lot of people who haven't managed to accept the fact that Hitler is actually dead and that the South actually lost the war, Baltimore's anti-racist street scene has had to get their act together and start being more and more active over the past year. White supremacists across the country have been stepping up their efforts, mailing anthrax letters to tabloids, sending death threats to abortion clinics, and fantasizing about blowing up holocaust memorials. All this stuff might sound like a joke, but its also true that as the country moves more and more towards a state of martial law, even the most ridiculous of hate groups will find more receptive ears among a population already conditioned by patriotic propaganda to accept nationalism, racist scapegoating, and pride in capitalist civilization. Forthat reason, its now more than ever critical to 'never let the nazis have the streets!'

In our last issue, we reported on an Eastern Hammer Skins (EHS) show that had been planned in Baltimore, which was shut down atthe last minute due to the organizing efforts of anti-racists. This chapter of hammer skins hasn't tried to organize anything public in Baltimore since then, although they pulled off a relatively large concert outside Harrisburg, PA, this past summer that went for the most part unconfronted. And they've been showing up to start fights at all kinds of shows around the area; half the time they've predictably gotten their asses beat, but a few times they've managed to hurt a few people.

A few examples: one time a particularly brave (or dumb) lone nazi showed upto a punk show at a local bar sporting white power tatoos and patches. After refusing polite invitations to leave, he was forced out with bruises and boots. Finally he left the bar under police protection, being ushered onto a city bus outside where he was roughed up yet again by people on the bus who weren't amused by his white-power getup. Another time, the anti-racist band Conflict was playing a show up in Lancaster, PA and a crew of nazis went up to try and start trouble. One anti-racist refused to be intimidated and put out a cigarette on one of the boneheads' forehead. Eventually the boneheads were kicked out of the show afterthe band stopped playing and joined in the confrontation.

At this point there's no clear winner in the street war. A few cool anti-racists have been seriously beaten up, but atthe same time, a couple of nazis have gotten theirs and ended up in hospitals. What's clear is that nazis won't just go away on their own, its up to people who are concerned about the problem to stand up and fight, and make our scenes a no-go zone for nazis, first to keep them from using our social circles to recruit, and second just so we don't have to deal with their idiocy.

A different situation that requires a slightly different response is when it comes to racist groups that tryto organize publically, trying to build a certain image of respectability. The National Alliance.the World Church of the Creator, and other similar groups try to build along the model that Hitler used with the original Nazi party, holding public meetings and rallies to impress potential recruits with shows of strength. These groups need to be outnumbered, swarmed, and beaten publically in order to be defeated.
The National Alliance is probably the largest 'public' white power organization in the area in terms of numbers. They probably have something like 50 to 80 active people in the state, including a prison guard at Hagerstown (see picture in sidebar). Our first serious run-in with them was at a rally they held in DC last July. About 25 anti-racists from Baltimore traveled down there to give them a friendly welcoming, and in the melee that took place, Billy Roper, the NA's propaganda director, managed to get his head banged in with a crowbar.

Months later, NA members put up stickers around York, PA, supporting the mayor who had just been arrested for his role in the 1969 race riots there (see article page 8). Billy Roper also managed to get a few minutes of fame in the media for his comments on 9/11: "We may not wantArabs to marry our daughters... But anyone who is willing to drive a plane into a building to kill Jews is alright by me. I wish our members had half as much testicular fortitude." Since that point, the NA has focused on trying to use the war and the Israeli government's racist policies to advance their
own anti-Jewish Nazi fetish, holding rallies at the Israeli embassy in DC and reportedly trying to reach out to Palestinian groups.

The Ku Klux Klan, although they're still rooted in a lot of small towns and neighborhoods around here, are for the most part just a joke. Klan concentrations in the area (Thurmont, Rising Sun, and various areas of Pennsylvania) have been inactive for years. In September, the American Knights of the KKK announced a rally in Lancaster, PA, but called it off at the last minute when they saw how ready so many people were to beat them.

The WCOTC up to this point has never had any solid supporters inthe Baltimore area. A Baltimore website listed for them has been down for a couple years. However, they recently announced a rally in York, PA for January 12th. We'll see how that goes--in the words of Anti-Racist Action, "It's on!!!"

Finally, we get to the clown of the clowns, the so-called Utopian Anarchist Party led by political nerd Bill White and his army of right-wing libertarian runaway kids. Aside from reporting for Tom Metzger's K-HATE radio on anarchist organizing in the area and spreading rumors and snitch-jackets in the activist community, he was most recently spotted at a rally in Kensington, MD blaming the Jews for "banning Santa Claus" (sorry. Bill, most of us haven't believed in Santa since we were like 4 years old...) Embarassingly for him, his banner was ripped out of his hands by a scrawny Santa Claus impersonator. Bill White has also been listed as a DC-area contact forthe World Church of the Creator.