Resistance Records
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Resistance Records is a record label that produces and sells music by neo-Nazi and white separatist musicians, primarily through its website. Advertising itself as "The Soundtrack for White Revolution," Resistance Records also publishes a magazine called Resistance, of which Erich Gliebe has been the editor since 1999. Resistance Records is a subsidiary of the National Alliance. The label is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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[edit] History
The label was founded in Windsor, Ontario in December 1993 by then-white supremacist George Burdi.[1][2] George Burdi went by the name "George Eric Hawthorne" at that time. In January 1994 this music label was also incorporated in Detroit, Michigan.[1][2] With the launch of a new music label came the new magazine Resistance. The magazine boasted a circulation of over 13,000 in 1995.[3] This magazine is still published and distributed by the National Alliance.[4] Among the acts signed to Resistance was Burdi's own RAHOWA (short for "Racial Holy War"), which disbanded after Burdi renounced neo-Nazism. The label's best-selling CDs have been by Bound for Glory and Angry Aryans.
Burdi was involved in a white supremacist street march in May 1993, during which he kicked a female anti-racist protestor in the face.[5] Burdi was charged for assault causing bodily harm in 1995, and given a 12 month sentence.[5] He was arrested after losing appeals and served time for the assault in 1997.[6] After his sentence, he renounced racism and formed an ethnically diverse band, Novacosm. Jason Snow took control and ownership of Resistance during this period.
In 1997, Resistance Records was temporarily put out of business by a tax dispute and a prosecution for distributing materials that promoted hatred in Canada.[7] The inventory was in the United States at that time, at the home of Mark Wilson, where the operations were run. The Federal Marshals, under the direction of the Internal Revenue Service, seized the company records and the entire inventory. Eventually a small fine was paid for failure to properly pay sales tax, and the business records and inventory was returned.[7] The label never again operated in Canada because of violations of Canadian hate speech laws.
In 1998, Resistance Records was bought out by Willis Carto and was incorporated in Washington DC, with Todd Blodgett in charge of operations.[1] Blogett and Pierce had bought partial ownership. Carto and Blogett later sold their shares of the company to William Pierce, head of the National Alliance in 1999.[1] In 1999, William Luther Pierce took full control of Resistance, fired Blogett and moved the entire operations to his 400-acre (1.6 kmĀ²) property in Hillsboro, WV. Also in 1999, Resistance Records bought Swedish white power label Nordland Records, doubling its roster.[8] In 2000 it was made into an LLC in West Virginia.
Resistance Records owns several smaller labels, most notably black metal labels Cymophane Records and Unholy Records. At one time, it operated a web-based radio station, Resistance Radio, which streamed white power music across the Internet 24 hours a day. As of 2007, the CEO of Resistance Records was Erich Gliebe.[citation needed]
[edit] Merchandise
Resistance Records maintains an online store that sells over 1,000 CDs, as well as clothes, flags, computer games and other items. The company has developed two computer games, Ethnic Cleansing and White Law, which are only available for purchase from its site.
In Ethnic Cleansing, the player can choose to play as either a Nazi skinhead or a Klansman who runs through a ghetto killing blacks and Latinos, before descending into a subway system to murder Jews.[9] Eventually the player reaches a "Jewish Control Center", where Ariel Sharon, the former prime minister of Israel, is directing plans for world domination.[9]The player must kill Sharon to win the game. The game has several music tracks to choose from, and there is a small video loop of William Luther Pierce's speech displayed in the game. The game was largely ignored by the gaming community and the specialized press. In the sequel, White Law, the player is an ex-police officer, dismissed because of his political views. The player runs through several buildings, killing people such as police officers, the police chief, a child pornographer and journalists. The player must kill the police chief to win the game.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Deafening Hate. Anti-Defamation League. Accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ a b The Growth of White Power Music. National Alliance, March 4, 2006. Accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ Hate Groups Use Tools of the Electronic Trade. New York Times, March 13, 1995. Accessed May 15, 2007.
- ^ Record Company Takes Extremist Message to the Masses. DMNews, May 8, 2000. Accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ a b "Burdi Sentenced to One Year in Jail." The Canadian Jewish News, May 18, 1995.
- ^ White Supremacist Record Company in Oakland (Michigan) Raided in Tax-Fraud Probe. The Detroit News, April 11, 1997. Mirror at Shofar FTP Archives. Accessed May 15, 2007.
- ^ a b Resisting Arrest. Southern Poverty Law Center, Winter 1998. Accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ All You Need Is Hate. Time Magazine, 2001. Accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ a b Games Elevate Hate to Next Level. Wired.com, February 20, 2002. Accessed May 12, 2007.