![]() Having negative experiences because of being bullied by allochthones (persons from non-Dutch decent), some kids decide to start wearing LONSDALE to protect themselves. As one Lonsdaler’s mother mentioned in an interview with us, this category of LONSDALE kids (10 to 13 years old) wear this brand because they also consider “Nike to be for gay people, Adidas for the stupid and LONSDALE as the only cool clothing.” Without having clear understanding of its meaning they just copy the style and repeat the words that they hear on the streets”. Without having clear understanding of its meaning they just copy the style and repeat the words that they hear on the streets.”Īccording to police officer Johan Vermeeren, so called ‘followers’ wear it just for looking as ‘cool’ as their older friends. They wear the clothes of this brand for different reasons, that’s why it would be incorrect to unite all LONSDALE youngsters in one group. Estimates of the number of “Lonsdale youth” in the Netherlands vary widely, from 300 to 1,500, with a hardcore group that consists of up to 150 members.The LONSDALE group is a very mixed group, which consists of teenagers from 12 to 20. Although not all hardcore fans who wear LONSDALE can be characterised as racists, the term LONSDALE youth today usually refers to teenagers with racist tendencies. ![]() “It is a new and rather many-sided phenomenon in Dutch culture” noticed one of our interviewees. After the murder of the controversial Islam criticaster and filmmaker Theo van Gogh (November 2004) by a Dutch person from Moroccan decent, the amount of racist violence by LONSDALE youngsters and others increased sharply. Nonetheless, LONSDALE is still associated with youngsters who have a negative attitude against ethnic minorities and who are often involved with violent incidents. Therefore they have started a publicity campaign with the slogan “Lonsdale loves all colours”. The LONSDALE Company tries to combat the racist connotation LONSDALE has in The Netherlands (and also in Belgium and Germany). In few years LONSDALE became a symbol for racism and xenophobia and became frequently related to Neo Nazi features. It changed the image of this brand in The Netherlands dramatically. Beginning in 2001, fans of hardcore music in The Netherlands started to wear this clothing brand in their subculture. These clothes have often been worn by different famous people, such as the boxers Mike Tyson and Muhammed Ali. LONSDALE is a world known British clothing brand for sportswear. The phenomenon of LONSDALE youth refers to a sub culture of hardcore music fans that sometimes have racist ideas. Do they perceive this group as just “annoying pimple heads” or as “xenophobic youngsters”? What is the attitude of the law enforcers and what methods do they use to solve this issue in different parts of Holland? Before going deeper into the methods of the police in Aalsmeer, Eindhoven and The Hague, we take a closer look at what is perceived as ‘the’ LONSDALE subculture. ![]() Particularly, we would like to pay more attention to the approaches of the Dutch police towards this relatively new social phenomenon. Some of the group members exhibit racist, extreme right and xenophobic attitudes. The main focus of our report turns to a specific group within contemporary Dutch youth culture, the so called, “LONSDALE youth”. In December 2004 Anne Frank Foundation monitoring report about racism concluded that “the problem of extreme right-wing and racialist culture among young people has never hitherto reached the proportions in the Netherlands that it has today.” The officer’s remark does not ratify neo-Nazi ideology, but rather addresses the so-called LONSDALE youth. ![]() “Make them read Hitler’s Mein Kampf” remarks a police officer in The Hague, “and they will be cured forever.” ![]()
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