i like 666 as an email address better than i like 88, 77, 23, or 69 ... usually.
R
At 12:02 AM 8/30/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>I have to wonder if UTILITY, the clothing manufacturer, really knew that
>"88" was neo-Nazi speak
>for "Heil Hitler." I've seen others on the web that have "88" as part of
>their email address simply because they found it on others' email
>addresses and assumed it was some sort of hip lingo. The same is true with
>"77" or "23," references to punk and the occult/Robert Anton Wilson,
>respectively. - Brian
>
>----
>
>http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/4166431p-5189225c.html
>
>Target orders racist apparel out of stores
>
>Sacramento Bee
>By Nancy Weaver Teichert and Sam Stanton -- Bee Staff Writers
>Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday, August 28, 2002
>
>A Davis resident, shocked to find clothing with white supremacist symbols
>at a Target store, triggered a nationwide alert Tuesday by one of the
>country's largest discount chains.
>
>Target Stores of Minneapolis issued a call to all 1,100 stores nationwide
>to stop selling clothing printed with "eight eight" and "88" -- code among
>neo-Nazis for "Heil Hitler" because H is the eighth letter of the
>alphabet.
>
>Joseph Rodriguez, a video-producer for the University of California,
>Davis, learned the meaning of the white power code from a documentary on
>racist rock music.
>
>He was stunned in June when he found the type in the fabric pattern of a
>pair of red shorts he pulled from a rack at the Elk Grove Target store.
>
>"I know what it means," said Rodriguez, who bought the shorts and took
>them to the store manager to complain. "That frightens me that it's out
>there."
>
>Target officials said they first learned what the symbols meant Monday
>night when information about Rodriguez's complaints was put on a Web site
>of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nationwide tracker of racist
>organizations.
>
>"Nobody knew what it meant," said Carolyn Brookter, director of corporate
>communications for Target. "We certainly apologize that this was out
>there. We would not have any white supremacist symbols out selling as
>merchandise."
>
>But Rodriguez said the Elk Grove manager told him the store sells what it
>is shipped.
>
>Rodriguez said he then complained to Target's corporate office and was
>"blown off."
>
>So Rodriguez enlisted the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which
>campaigns against racism and runs an educational Web site,
>www.tolerance.org.
>
>In addition to removing the clothing from summer clearance racks, Target
>will conduct a campaign to teach store buyers and advertisers about such
>symbols, Brookter said.
>
>She said Target is sorry Rodriguez's complaints were not brought to her
>attention earlier. Customer relations personnel will be alerted about the
>need to act quickly on such issues, she said.
>
>The baseball caps and shorts were manufactured by UTILITY, one of Target's
>private labels. Brookter said the store's buyer will look into how the
>offending type came to be used.
>
>Jennifer Holladay, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's tolerance
>project, said she was pleased the merchandise was being pulled from
>Target's shelves.
>
>"We never want neo-Nazi regalia to become part of mainstream fashion," she
>said. "It can send very dangerous messages. It perhaps gives members of
>hate groups and neo-Nazi groups in the U.S. an elevated acceptance."
>Holladay said people who have bought the clothing could be sending a
>message to white supremacists that they endorse those beliefs.
>
>After his initial complaint in June, Rodriguez said he returned to the Elk
>Grove store a couple of weeks ago and found two more pairs of shorts with
>the symbols in the children's department.
>
>The Elk Grove store did not return The Bee's telephone call, but
>Sacramento's Target store removed all the merchandise after Rodriguez
>brought it to their attention in June.
>
>"We're a family-oriented store," said assistant manager Todd Blackwell.
>"We took them off our shelves. We sent e-mails out to the other stores."
>Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at
>California State University, San Bernardino, said "88" is common among
>supremacists in graffiti and is a popular tattoo.
>
>The Anti-Defamation League also has identified 88 as a sign of neo-Nazi
>groups that is often found on hate group fliers and used in the greetings
>and closings of letters.
>
>Levin said such symbols often are co-opted by mainstream society, noting
>that a form of the German Iron Cross is popular among skateboarders and
>surfers who have no ties to white supremacists. The cross was a German
>military symbol long before it became closely tied to Hitler and his Third
>Reich.
>
>"A lot of the symbols that white supremacists use are borrowed from
>mainstream culture, so there is a fair amount of cross-pollination," he
>said.
>
>But, Levin added, "The terrible thing here is the 88 symbol is a hard-core
>and highly distinctive neo-Nazi symbol, and for this to be on the shelves
>is an abomination."
>
>Rodriguez was pleased with Target's response Tuesday, but was sorry that
>the store didn't act sooner. He hopes Target stores will help teach
>parents about the dangers of such symbols.
>
>As a chairman with the Hispanic Staff Association at UC Davis, Rodriguez
>said he and others are planning brown-bag lunch sessions on the hidden
>signs of racism.
>
>"It's in our home. It's all around us," said Rodriguez.
>
>"It upset me that half a mile down the freeway, there was a store selling
>merchandise that represents white supremacy groups that want to see me and
>people of color dead."
>
>
>
>
>---
>
>"And Mr. Block thinks he may / Be President some day." - Joe Hill, "Mr.
>Block"