← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Fernando Wood
Thread ID: 11505 | Posts: 6 | Started: 2003-12-17
2003-12-17 04:07 | User Profile
An example of "tolerance" at work.
By the way, does anyone here at OD know what the political orientation (if any) of Death in June is? I've read conflicting views about this.
[url]http://www.suntimes.com/output/derogatis/cst-nws-bottle16.html[/url]
Music club caught in racist flap December 16, 2003 BY JIM DEROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC Chicago's leading avant-garde rock club found itself at the center of controversy when it was accused of booking a trio of bands that protesters called racist or anti-Semitic. The Empty Bottle was scheduled to host Death in June, an English art-rock group, along with opening bands Changes and Der Blutharsch on Saturday. But club owner Bruce Finkelman canceled the show on Friday under pressure from the Center for New Community, a local activist group. Finkelman said he had been receiving death threats and hate mail from people on both sides of the controversy, and he feared a violent confrontation at the Ukrainian Village club if the show went on as scheduled. "This stopped being about the music a long time ago," Finkelman said on Monday. "There's nothing more that I'm against than racism and hate crimes, but this put us in a very precarious position and kind of backed us into a corner." The Bottle is known for its multicultural staff and for presenting a wide spectrum of diverse musical acts. Finkelman, who is Jewish, said he was unaware of any controversy surrounding the bands when he agreed to host the concert. He added that he would not have booked the groups if he was certain they advocated racist or anti-Semitic beliefs, and he knew only of Death in June's reputation as musical innovators and gripping live performers. "You can buy their music at Tower Records," Finkelman said. "How does that equate with something that I have to end up talking to my rabbi about?" In mass e-mails, the Center for New Community characterized the bands as "three white power music acts" and charged that "promotion of fascism like this is an affront to [the] memory and dignity of the more than 6 million who perished at the hands of the Nazis, as well as an open expression of racism and bigotry." But it remains unclear whether CNC's charges are accurate, are laced with hyperbole, or fall somewhere in between. Named for June 30, 1934, "the Night of Long Knives" when Hitler purged Ernst Roehm and his followers from the Nazi party, Death in June has existed for almost two decades. Its leader, Douglas Pearce, is openly gay and a former member of the leftist punk band Crisis. He has used images associated with Nazism, including a symbol similar to the death's head insignia favored by the SS, but the band's Web site and lyrics that are available on the Net espouse no racist or anti-Semitic beliefs. Similarly, there is little evidence of the Austrian band Der Blutharsch preaching hatred in its music. Pearce could not be reached for comment on Monday, but in a posting on the Empty Bottle's Web site on Saturday, he neither confirmed nor denied charges of racism. "As I hover above the fear stricken Metropolis of Chicago," he wrote, I "ponder who should be the first to feel the might of my Disappear In Every Way ray; the Community for New Communism [sic] or the hypocritical [expletives] at [the Empty Bottle]." Changes is a Chicago folk band led by R.N. Taylor, described in CNC e-mails as "a self-proclaimed 'white separatist.' " In a posting to the Empty Bottle's Web site last week, Taylor denied these charges. "There is no bigotry, race hatred or anything of the sort," he wrote. "I defy anyone of these critics to come forth with the proof that it is white power; 90 percent of our songs deal with love, not hate." Finkelman at first decided to remove Taylor from the bill but defended the other bands' right to perform, noting that, "We have yet to find information that directly links Death in June and/or Der Blutharsch to the Nazi party, nor have we been able (yet) to uncover concrete allegiances to any single fascist ideological group." Finkelman proposed a compromise, inviting CNC and other groups to set up tables at the club to distribute information, and he offered to give the venue's share of the night's proceeds to the Anti-Defamation League. (Finkelman said he contacted the ADL for information about the bands' alleged white power leanings, but they had no files on the groups.) CNC rejected the offer and kept up the pressure until the club canceled the show. "We weren't going to have a table there," CNC spokesman Eric Ward said Monday. "It's clear there were neo-Nazis coming to the event, or at least advertising the event. We're not going to put people in a situation like that." Early Saturday, the Empty Bottle show was relocated to Deja Vu, a club in Lincoln Park. That club's owners canceled at the last minute because of media attention, but fans of the band and protesters from another activist group, Anti Racist Action, had already gathered outside the venue. Eyewitnesses reported several violent conflicts between the two camps, but no police reports were filed. Death in June never performed. Witnesses said Pearce was at the club and attempted to talk to protesters but was shouted down. Death in June's last local performance was at the Congress Theatre last October. That show was initially booked at the Park West, but the club's owner, Jam Productions, backed out because of CNC protests. Copyright é The Sun-Times Company All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
2003-12-17 20:51 | User Profile
Doesn't matter what the "political orientation (if any) of Death in June is" because this ban was effectively accomplished on innuendo alone. (Has there EVER been a case where a Jewish organization, demanding censorship and/or groveling apologies, has reversed course and [I]themselves [/I] publicly apologized for going off half-cocked on bad information?)
The only succor in this story is that Pearce "neither confirmed nor denied charges of racism"....i.e., he refused to give Team Shmuel the satisfaction of an apology or the GREATER satisfaction of a defiant "Heil Hitler!" they could squeeze another paycheck out of. (Nice to see a former 'leftist punk' characterize his opponents as "the Community for New Communism ", though.)
On the other hand, reading that DiJ are considered "musical innovators" is enough to keep me from buying their cds. Considering that what passes for "musical innovation" in Chi-town usually means horrendous 'industrial music' I wouldn't subject political prisoners to (a la Ministry or Steve Albini's projects) I believe I'll pass.
2003-12-18 03:37 | User Profile
Just a bit more on this controversy.
The Empty Bottle has posted their summary of the dispute here:
[url]http://emptybottle.com/dij.htm[/url]
but its contents are already summarized in the SUN-TIMES article posted above. However, the following quote from the Empty Bottle's post is of interest:
[QUOTE]Through all of this, we ourselves had appealed to the Anti-Defamation League for assistance, and asked that they use their own vast resources to investigate the artists in question, and report their findings to us. We had at that point decided to await and then stand by the findings of the ADL, supposing that if any concrete links or ties to fascist, Nazi, and/or racist ideologies existed, we would cancel the show forthwith, without hesitation.
In the day that followed, more materials on the artists surfaced, and we continued looking into the issues relating to the show. [B]In information supplied by The Center for New Community, allegations that were later confirmed by the ADL, it became clear to us that R.N Taylor, frontman for Changes, had publicly announced and confirmed racially separatist views.[/B] We found this to be, of course, detestable and Taylor was pulled from the bill immediately...[B]Friday morning, December 12th, we received the results of the Anti-Defamation Leagueââ¬â¢s findings. In them, they supported our decision to cancel Changes.[/B][/QUOTE] So, the ADL, which ardently supports the Jewish separatist state of Israel, also supports the censoring of white separatists. I know this is old news to all here at OD, but I think there is some value in pointing out such blatant hypocrisy.
2003-12-18 14:10 | User Profile
The CNC is a joke. They take the amount of actual Neo-Nazis out there and multiply it by about 100. Most of the groups they whine about in their reports are either defunct or only have a small handful of members.
2003-12-18 16:58 | User Profile
Il Ragno... Death in June is a dark folk band, not industrial. They sound like this:
[url=http://Ritkhan.homestead.com/files/Death_in_June__-_Death_of_the_West.mp3]Death of the West[/url]
2003-12-18 17:33 | User Profile
All the monkeys from the zoo :rockon: