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And it continues. First Sophie Lancaster, now this: Carys is lucky to be alive. @policescotland say beating people up for being metalheads isnât a hate crime but I tell you it fucking well is. https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/metal-musician-attacked-twice-same-14831108#comments-section
I was chased through the streets of Pemberton by a gang of scallies and had to hide in a cemetery, 20 yards away from my fatherâs grave, thinking âIâm gonna die in the same place my dadâs buried.â
My best mate was dragged into an alleyway and beaten up by a group of lads for wearing a death metal shirt. Itâs a good thing they didnât know he was gay or theyâd probably have killed him.
A grindcore musician and friend of mine was attacked by scallies when walking home from a night out: they knocked him to the pavement, propped his leg up on the kerb, and snapped it in half. He still limps now, about four years later.
Itâs fucking scary being a metalhead, because the sort of people who do this genuinely donât care if they kill you. One of the scumbags who killed Sophie Lancaster was in court with his mum, laughing at what heâd done.
Young white people in sportswear scare the fucking spine out of me. I honestly thought that after Sophie Lancaster was murdered, legislation had been brought in to make a hate crime of attacking people for the subculture to which they belong.
I guess it wasnât.
I guess it wasnât.
So Iâm doing some reading on cases where goths and metalheads have been attacked by scallies, and Iâve come across this piece of literature from @VICEUK, written by @Thomasmarkrea. https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/ex7ykj/hate-crime-vox-pops-manchester
The tone Thomas (who hasnât used his Twitter since 2015, which is unfortunate because he deserves a bollocking) takes throughout is one thoroughly disbelieving that itâs that dangerous being a metalhead, despite reporting on the aftermath of a woman being murdered for just that.
Furthermore, he seems determined to brush it off as a factor in her death, instead choosing to paint her killers as particularly terrible people. They absolutely were, but they actively chose to attack Sophie and her boyfriend simply for how they dressed.
Then he compares assuming that scallies attack metalheads for the way they look and the music they like to people victim-blaming in rape cases.
Maybe itâs comparable... if the rapist actually said âI did it because she was wearing a short skirt.â
Maybe itâs comparable... if the rapist actually said âI did it because she was wearing a short skirt.â
There is no other reason we get attacked by those people. Thatâs it. We walk round town in a Morbid Angel shirt or a Slayer hoodie, and thatâs enough for them to beat us up. Youâre looking for logic where there is none, Thomas.
I know itâs hard to believe for a milquetoast hipster like you, whose taste in music was determined years ago by the NME, but when you listen to music that isnât popular, certain people see you as a target.
But the final insult comes in the closing paragraph. After half-arsedly collecting vox pops from a targeted subculture, he says this.
I know that expecting hourbalistic integrity from a hipster rag like Vice is maybe asking too much, but I thought theyâd be more understanding.
I know that expecting hourbalistic integrity from a hipster rag like Vice is maybe asking too much, but I thought theyâd be more understanding.
Firstly, Thomas, from a look on your TL, you listen to Joy Division, so donât take the piss out of anybody for listening to âdepressingâ music.
Secondly, congratulations: youâve become part of the problem. It starts with insults.
Secondly, congratulations: youâve become part of the problem. It starts with insults.
First they say your music is depressing. Then they ask you if youâre going to kill yourself. Then they tell you to kill yourself. Then they attack you.
Thomas Rea, you are a prick. @VICEUK, donât hire somebody with no respect for a subculture to report on said subculture.
Thomas Rea, you are a prick. @VICEUK, donât hire somebody with no respect for a subculture to report on said subculture.
