Resistance Records
Resistance Records is a music label which produces and sells music by Neo-Nazi and White supremacist musicians, primarily through its website. Advertising itself as "The Soundtrack for White Revolution," Resistance Records also publishes a magazine called Resistance magazine, of which Erich Gliebe has been the editor since 1999. Resistance Records is a subsidiary of the National Alliance (National Vanguard Books, Inc. is also a subsidiary). The record label is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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]
The decision to start Resistance was mostly prompted by a 1993 raid in Germany against the then largest record label for White Nationalism music, Rock-O-Rama.Vorlage:Fact This German police raided and seized the entire inventory of that music label, but eventually dropped charges. With that void created at that time Burdi, then decided that it would be safer to have a white supremacist record label in Canada and the United States.
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]
Burdi was involved in a white supremacist street march in May 1993 in 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 IRS 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.
Resistance Records was then bought out by Willis Carto in 1998 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 Pierce took full control of Resistance, fired Blogett and moved the entire operations to his 400 acre 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.
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 are by Bound for Glory and Angry Aryans.
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 pro-white music across the internet 24 hours a day.
The current CEO of Resistance Records is Erich Gliebe.
Merchandise
Resistance Records maintains an online store which sells over 1,000 CDs, as well as clothes, flags, computer games, and other items.
Computer games
Resistance records has developed two computer games, Ethnic Cleansing and White Law, which are only available for purchase from its site.
In Ethnic Cleansing, the player 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 player reaches a "Jewish Control Center", where Ariel Sharon, the former Prime Minister of Israel, is directing plans for world domination.[9] There is a small video loop of Pierce's speech displayed in the game. The player must kill Sharon to win the game. This game uses the Genesis3D engine. The game has several music tracks to choose from. The game itself was largely ignored by the gaming community and the specialized press, leaving the game with virtually no official reviews.
In White Law, a sequel to Ethnic Cleansing, the player is only an ex-police officer, ousted due to political views. The player has more weapon choices, and can play in more levels. The player runs through several buildings, killing other police officers, and a few other people, including a child pornographer, news broadcast workers, and the Kapital City police chief. The player must kill the police chief to win the game. This game also uses the Genesis3D engine. However, it attracted much less attention than Ethnic Cleansing.
See also
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.