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Myspace Contact TablesWhat is SHARP?SHARP began in New York City 1987. At that time there was a prevailing attitude in the press that all Skinheads were White-Power Nazis. This attitude was heavily endorsed by the burgeoning tabloid media. A small group a Skins and like minded Punks took it upon them selves to form a group to act as a media vehicle in order to spread a different message; that all Skinheads are not the same, that we have different ideals and different beliefs, both personal and political.
Members of SHARP began doing radio and television interviews, spreading a (primarily disbelieved) message of tolerance and pride to a media brain washed populace. For the most part those members were received with courtesy even if their message was sometimes ignored. The major exception was the Geraldo RiveraShow in 1988. It was during the taping of this show that one of John Metzger's (son of KKK leader Tom Metzger and head of the White Aryan Resistance) cronies threw a chair breaking Geraldo Rivera’s nose. After that it became a media free for all. Morton Downey Jr. Even went so far as to cut a swastika into his own forehead in an assault hoax in a bus station bathroom in order to drum up better ratings for his failing television show.
During this time the White-Power population in New York became very outspoken, holding rallies and interviews of their own. Though some of their organizations names are still in use around the world, they have faded into scene history. A number of SHARPs founding members left to start splinter organizations due to a disagreement with the nonviolent stand of SHARP. It was felt, by them, that the best way to react to hate was with fists.
In 1989 Roddy Moreno, vocalist for the Oi band The Oppressed, was in New York for a concert and was given some (by then, vintage) SHARP flyers. He was impressed with the ideology of SHARP and, upon returning to England, founded the first European chapter. The movement quickly spread to Germany which had a long history of Skinhead fascism, and on to the rest of the world.
In the winter of 1989, after helping to start many autonomous chapters around the world, the original chapter broke up. There were several reasons for this, there was a good deal of infighting within the group, but the most important reason was that White-Power activity had dramatically fallen off in New York. Many White-Powers left the city looking for more hospitable political climates in the South and West. Many simply grew up and began keeping their personal beliefs to themselves. Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice
