Summary: On April 23rd, racist organizers are promising an evening concert following the “Rock Stone Mountain” rally in Georgia during the day. One of the musical acts advertised as playing this evening show is Definite Hate, a longstanding racist rock group. In 2012, one of Definite Hate’s guitarists, Wade Michael Page, murdered six people (and then killed himself) in an attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. Definite Hate remains affiliated with the violent Hammerskin Nation organization, and the band continues to call for bloodshed in its lyrics. The fact that “Rock Stone Mountain” planners are using this notorious act to draw a crowd to their event reveals the organizers’ violently racist political vision. It also makes clear why we must come together against such race war politics.
The Story So Far…
On April 23, 2016, two nationally-organized white supremacist gatherings are scheduled to take place in Georgia. The National Socialist Movement (NSM)–a blatantly neo-Nazi organization–has announced that it will hold a rally in Rome, GA on April 23. Also that day, another group of Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi militants will hold “Rock Stone Mountain,” an event which organizers have billed as a “White Power March up Stone Mountain.” (Stone Mountain Park is a short distance outside Atlanta; an earlier article discusses this site’s significance for neo-Confederates and ideological racists.) The NSM event in Rome was announced at the very beginning of this year, whereas “Rock Stone Mountain” has been promoted since November 2015–in fact, “Rock Stone Mountain” follows on from another Klan-organized rally at Stone Mountain Park that occurred mid-November.
The two separate white supremacist rallies slated for April 23–and the differing styles of the two groups of organizers–have been discussed elsewhere on this site. Both the NSM and the “Rock Stone Mountain” organizers claim to have evening entertainment lined up following their respective daytime rallies. The NSM has advertised an evening event taking place at the white power-friendly Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Draketown (near Temple) GA. The “Rock Stone Mountain” organizers are currently being more guarded about their evening plans, stating that their “after-event party/concert venue will not be released until the day of the event.” (If you have additional information about this event, please get in contact.)
At the time of writing, the anti-racist All Out ATL mobilization is preparing to confront and shut down the white supremacist march at Stone Mountain Park on April 23. Atlanta Antifascist Notes wholeheartedly endorses this mobilization and urges you to get involved. The importance of effective, large-scale opposition to white power organizing becomes even clearer when one examines the history of one of the rock bands announced as playing the “Rock Stone Mountain” after-event.
Definite Hate
On August 5, 2012 white supremacist Wade Michael Page entered the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, fatally shooting six people and wounding others before turning his gun on himself. At the time of this massacre, Page was a full member of the Hammerskin Nation, a long-running and violent bonehead (racist “skinhead”) organization which presently exists on several continents. It also was revealed that Page had a long history in the white power music scene, having played with such racist rock bands as Intimidation One, 13 Knots, Page’s own project named End Apathy, and finally Definite Hate.
Wade Michael Page
Page was not a founding member of Definite Hate, a Hammerskin-affiliated act that is based in North Carolina. Page was not mentioned, for example, when Definite Hate’s early days were discussed in a 2001 article for GQ. However Page is credited (as “Wade”) on the second full album by Definite Hate, 2011’s “Madder Than Hell – Meaner Than Shit.” Prior to moving to Wisconsin, Page lived for half a year in North Carolina with Edward Brent Rackley, a Hammerskin and long-serving member of Definite Hate. (Rackley also played music with Page in the groups 13 Knots and End Apathy.)
As a group, Definite Hate has never attempted to put real distance between itself and the massacre by its former guitarist. Contacted in the immediate aftermath of Page’s murder rampage, the most Rackley could come up with was: “I’m not interested. This is him. I don’t care to be bothered anymore.” This attitude is hardly surprising from a member of an act whose lyrics include such endorsements of racist murder as: “riding through the city projects / creeping real slow in the dead of the night / a group of monkeys on the corner / with no idea that death’s in sight” (the song “Lock and Load” from the 2005 full-length “Welcome to the South.”)
Definite Hate member and Hammerskin Edward Brent Rackley of North Carolina
The Hammerskin Nation as a whole was defiant following Page’s killing. For example, the Hammerskin-linked record label Antipathy Records offered a celebratory “WADEPAGE” sale soon after the Wisconsin murders.
The latest line-up for Definite Hate has in no way toned down its message or loyalties. In 2015, for example, Definite Hate played a show in California paying tribute to David Lane. Lane (1938-2007) was a participant in The Order/Brüder Schweigen white supremacist terror group during the 1980s. It has been alleged that Lane was the getaway driver when The Order assassinated Jewish talk radio host Alan Berg in 1984. While imprisoned for violating Berg’s civil rights and other charges, David Lane became something of a cult figure within the white supremacist movement, coining the “14 words” slogan–“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children”–now ubiquitous in white racist circles. (“Rock Stone Mountain” promotional materials also reference David Lane’s “14 words.”)
Definite Hate playing David Lane memorial show, California 2015. Rackley playing guitar in background.
Is Definite Hate on the Evening Bill for “Rock Stone Mountain”?
It is no secret that the organizers for Rock Stone Mountain love the music of Definite Hate. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigative report has already highlighted Rock Stone Mountain organizers circulated a Definite Hate song as part of their event outreach on Facebook.
There have also been other hints that Definite Hate will play the April 23rd event. A now-deleted fan page for Definite Hate on Facebook listed “Rock Stone Mountain” as one of the group’s “Upcoming events.”
“Rock Stone Mountain” as an “Upcoming Event” on (now-deleted) Definite Hate fan page.
On their own, the above two facts would simply lead to conjecture. However, one of the “Rock Stone Mountain” organizers is himself spreading the word that Definite Hate will provide evening entertainment on April 23rd. In December, “Liam O’Aghairle” (a pseudonym) announced on Facebook that Definite Hate would be “starting the rock lineup” for the Rock Stone Mountain evening concert. The same post identifies Tracy Cantley, a neo-Nazi who plays “rebel country music” as another act on the Rock Stone Mountain evening bill.
“Liam O‘Aghairle” discusses the Rock Stone Mountain show line-up.
“Liam O’Aghairle” is the same person as “Johnny Rebel” or “John E. Rebel” (also fake names) who was the Imperial Cleric of the Rebel Outlaw Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Arizona. (The Rebel Outlaw Knights of the KKK seem to have disbanded, although their website may still be found online–that site’s main image is the same as the profile picture for “Liam O’Aghairle” on Facebook.) The Rebel Outlaw Knights were involved in promoting the November 14, 2015 rally at Stone Mountain that set the stage for Rock Stone Mountain. “O’Aghairle” is in contact with other key organizers for Rock Stone Mountain and would presumably not circulate information about the evening show without their consent. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also quoted a “John E. Rebel” in its coverage of the upcoming Stone Mountain rally, although that may be someone else using the same pseudonym.)
“Rock Stone Mountain”: Image and Reality
While the Definite Hate performance could potentially get canceled, it is clear that the Rock Stone Mountain organizers are trying to build attendance with the promise that this group will play. (“O’Aghairle” shared his note about the event line-up to the white nationalist American Freedom Party group on Facebook, a place where other Rock Stone Mountain promotional materials are posted almost daily.) The use of Definite Hate’s name and the promise that they will play the evening event points to a tension in the “Rock Stone Mountain” organizing. While Rock Stone Mountain is partly being organizing by Billy Roper, who has a long history as a neo-Nazi, the organizers are also encouraging Nazi flags not to be brought to Stone Mountain. Similarly, the event is being pulled together by Klansmen, many of whom will leave their Klan robes at home on the day of the 23rd. Finally, Rock Stone Mountain planners consistently claim that their cause is opposition to “white genocide” which they believe is underway as the demographics of the US change (this theory has some support on racist far-Right.) However the event organizers are also trying to draw a crowd with a musical act that sings about racist killings, and whose old guitarist enacted those same murderous politics just a few years ago.
The politics of the Rock Stone Mountain organizers must be seen clearly: they are the politics of race war and mass murder. Anyone who takes this as an exaggeration should pay attention when Greg Calhoun, a Georgia Klansman assisting with Rock Stone Mountain (and a key organizer for the November 14 rally of last year), writes about what white people should do.
Discussion by Greg Calhoun on the Facebook page of “Liam O’Aghairle.”
Conclusion
The announcement that Definite Hate will play Rock Stone Mountain makes it clear that rally organizers are building bridges between those who celebrate racist violence, and those building capacity to enact it. It is crucial that those who call for violence against people of color, Jewish people, sexual minorities, and leftists be prevented from having their way. They must not be allowed to plot and recruit without any opposition. This is why a mass show of strength against the Klan and Nazis on April 23rd is so important. Read about the All Out ATL anti-racist mobilization on its website, tell your friends, and consider getting involved.