Punching Nazis

Book excerpt: Keith Lowell Jensen thinks you should punch Nazis. In this collection of essays, stories, interviews, and rants, he tells us why. Jensen grew up and into the Sacramento punk music scene in the late eighties and early nineties, where weirdos, LGBTQ folk, feminists, and allies strived to carve out safe community spaces. This scene also attracted a different kind of outsider--white supremacists and Nazi skinheads—making for a politically charged and complicated landscape. In Punching Nazis, he reflects on his experiences with these racist fringe groups that infiltrated the progressive scene that gave rise to bands like Green Day. From unwittingly driving around in a lowrider with a gang called “The Suicidals,” to a night doing stand-up with a clown with an unwanted Swastika tattoo, Jensen brings his brand of subtle, sincere comedy to reflect on the complicated relationship that punk music has with racist skinheads and what we should do about it. In recent times, Americans are surprised to find groups like the Klan, and more recently the "Racial Realists" and the "Alt-Right," are still prominent, and now as they grow increasingly emboldened, it’s intriguing and valuable to hear tales of those who, through the love of punk rock music, have a history of dealing with racist fringe groups.