In those early days, the skinheads did not embrace xenophobia and racism. Rather, they were marked by a tendency toward hooliganism and brawling, especially during football games. Some groups of skinheads targeted their violence against students, homosexuals, and sometimes people of other religions and cultures.

Riding the Punk wave
By the early 1970s, the skinhead subculture had significantly weakened partly due to police crackdowns. The movement was not revived until the end of the decade, in the midst of the punk explosion. The British economy had fallen into its worst crisis since World War II and the country was beset by social problems. The uniquely provocative punk subculture. Meanwhile, the almost forgotten skinhead cult had returned to the scene, but in contrast to its original apolitical conception, some of the new skinheads had started to move toward the radical right. The politicization of the skinheads was an apparent reaction to the growing unemployment rate among young, unskilled men. Some people started to blame the unemployment rate on the immigrants, who were said to be "stealing" jobs from native Britons. Furthermore, various extremist right-wing political groups capitalized on the potential inherent in the physical prowess and patriotic inclinations of the skinheads.

A young man by the name of Ian Stuart Donaldson played a key role in the transformation of the skinheads from a subculture into an international political movement. In 1977, Donaldson established the rock band Screwdriver to ventilate his uniquely right-wing philosophy based on violence, survival, and rebellion. Two years later, he set up the political group White Noise, which soon caught the attention of the British National Front. After just two albums, Screwdriver assumed a leading role in the creation of white power music, a right-wing extremist and racist offshoot of the rock scene.

The wave of nationalistic feeling was accompanied by an increase in the number of racially motivated crimes committed by skinheads. The ultraright branch of the movement immediately became the focus of media attention and social condemnation. Meanwhile, the apolitical skinheads distanced themselves from the xenophobic attitudes of the ultraright, eventually giving birth to a left-wing and decidedly anti-racist rock music movement right at the heart of the British music scene.

The right-wing branch of the skinhead cult continues to attract new sympathizers, although the early massive increases in membership seem to have come to a stop. The average age of members continues to decline, and even high school children know as Kinderskins can be found within the ranks. In terms of social class, high school students dominate the younger rank and file. As for adults, the movement is largely made up of blue collar workers and the unemployed.

The basic point of departure for all types of right-wing extremists is a form of racism that finds expression in the belief in "biological exceptionality" and in the "superiority" of whites. The worst crime in the eyes of right-wing extremists is the mixture of the white race with other races, and the most militant groups openly call for a racial holy war or a white revolution. Those ideas are mainly expressed in a contempt for people of other races, especially immigrants. Such xenophobic attitudes are generally based on the accusation that the immigrants are worsening the unemployment situation by taking all available jobs. A result of the immigrants' greater willingness to work for lower wages. Ironically, immigrants are often also accused of being parasites on the system, since many of them, lacking money, higher education, and linguistic ability, often find themselves on welfare.

Euphemisms are often used in place of the terms "racism", "xenophobic", and "Anti-Semitic". The most common of these is the word "patriotism" which appeals to a person's sense of pride in the nation, national traditions, and so on. But the history presented according to such theories is always distorted or purposely one-sided, national myths are presented as historical fact. Such theories usually try to draw a connection to the distant culture of the Celts and Vikings and the medieval era of the Crusades.

The non-fascist skinheads

In reaction to the growing influence of the fascist camp within the skinhead movement, a new anti-racist faction known as SHARP (Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice) emerged in the United States in 1986. The SHARP group forms a counter-balance to White Power Skins. Armed conflicts have erupted between the two groups in several American cities and throughout the UK.

The concept of an anti-racist skinhead culture quickly made its way into Europe. But the various branches of SHARP in America and Europe are not linked and they have various stances on political engagement, from a strict rejection of any political involvement to an adoption of left-wing opinions. The latter groups tend to have close contacts with various anarchist groups and take part in anti-fascist demonstrations.

Characteristics the fascist skins and SHARP have in common are patriotism, pride in their working class origins, the cult of strength and manliness, and their opposition to drugs. They also dress similarly only the symbols and emblems they wear are different.

The Third Wave
By the mid nineties the Skinhead movement was strong again, and that strength continues today. Many of the Skins who first shaved their heads in the early ‘80s reappeared, back with more force than ever. Young punks across the country shaved their heads too and a new Skinhead scene was emerging. Skins of today are a mix of the Mod/Rudeboy Skins of the late 1960s and the Punk/Hardcore Skins of the early 1980s. They listen to everything from Roots to Hardcore – as well as Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Rockabilly, Old Wave Rock, Punk, Oi!, Hardcore even Brit Pop and Rap. Some are Traditional, only identifying with the original Skinhead roots, others only listen to Oi! or HC. But most appreciate all aspects of Skinhead history, including the style, the Mods, Scooterists, and Hooligans.

Ska Skins versus Oi! Skins
In Sydney in the early eighties there was a big division between Oi! Skins and Ska Skins, they drank in different pubs, followed different bands and worst of all fort against other. The Ska Skins wore tonic suits, sta press, sherman's or perrys and had number 2 or 3 crops some even had very short flat tops, they were more akin to the rudeboy or mod image. The Oi! skins on the other hand proudly sported blue singles or band t-shirts, spot bleached jeans or army bags, steel capped docs or gettagrips and had cleanly shaven heads. It was the old "Johnny thinks Jimmy's a mod, Jimmy thinks Johnny a punk" routine. This continued for many years and for a little got really bad as the Oi! Skins were seen to be neo-nazis (even though very few were) causing many skins to drop out of the scene, many grew their hair to avoid confussion. Even as recently as the mid nighties in Sydney and Melbourne Oi1 was concidered a "dirty word". Thanks to the many Oi!/Ska crossover bands the situtation today is a lot healthier. It is not unusual to see ska, punk and oi! bands on the same bill all having a ball together. The fascist stigma still lurks in the back of some of the older crew's minds but remains largely as a distant memory.