Final Research Paper

Cory Malolepszy

Comp 106

11-17-09

Violence in Straight Edge?

It seems like everywhere you look in today’s world, you see some form of violence. Violence is in movies, videos games, television, and in your everyday life just walking down the street. In the United States especially, violence seems to be almost everywhere. This violence even finds its way into groups or cultures that seem to be preaching a good and positive lifestyle. An example of this is violence involved with the “straight edge” lifestyle or culture in America. People would seem to think that people involved with straight edge would be calm, laid back, and not being hostile. But this belief is now quickly becoming irrelevant with straight edge in our country today.

If you are not aware of what straight edge exactly is, here is a synopsis of what it is and what people involved in it stand for. Straight edge is lifestyle that started in the hardcore punk rock scene in which they do not drink alcohol, use any type of tobacco product, or take any recreational drugs. The actual term “straight edge” spawned from the 1980s hardcore punk rock band “Minor Threat” and their song “Straight Edge”. (straightedge.com) In a time where almost every band around preached sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Minor Threat went against the social norm and sang about what they believed in. They point-blank called out the people who were singing about sex and drugs and told them they were wasting their lives away.

Since the 1980s straight edge has been evolving and ever-changing rather quickly. It has been classified into three eras of “edge”. The so-called “old school” era, which started on the east coast of the U.S., consisted of straight edge punk bands playing local shows along with non straight edge punk bands. The symbol of X representing straight edge came from these local shows that punk bands were playing. Before you could enter the venue, you had to get your hands marked with X’s to show that you were not old enough to drink there. This eventually evolved to be the worldwide symbol of straight edge and to show you are proud to be “edge”. In the mid 1980s the two “scenes” of edge and non edge separated, leading to them playing completely separate shows. A movement of straight edge began when the edge bands started playing alone. This movement was called the “Youth Crew” stemming from the band “Youth of Today” which associated vegetarianism with it. This band sang about the protection of animals and promotion of the straight edge movement. In the 1990s the era of straight edge deeply involved the “militant” edge type of person. This type of straight edge person is very dedicated and outspoken for what they believe in. They are also very narrow-minded, judgmental, and sometimes even violent against non straight edge people. During this time, some television programs did documentaries about how this militant straight edge was a type of gang and showed the violent acts that they committed nationwide. This was definitely a low time for people involved in the straight edge scene. (straightedgelifestyle.moonfruit.com)

After the reports of militant or so-called gang straight edge were being shown on television, there was a substantial decrease in acts of violence by straight edge gangs. It did not completely go away though. Violence in straight edge is still rather evident today in the form of something called a “crew”. A crew is an organization of people who are involved with straight edge creating a sort of brotherin towards each other. Some people think that a crew is a gang involving mischievous acts and violence. After interviewing a member of a straight edge crew, they do not like to be called a gang and think of themselves highly. Usually crews form from a bunch of friends who are straight edge and decide they want to form a crew to make them stronger as a person. Another reason for the formation of crews is if somebody is lonely or needs some support in their life.

In the downriver area of Michigan where I live I have been hearing recently about crews and the violence that they cause. Some stories that I have heard involve two straight edge bands meeting behind a concert venue to fight each other, vandalism to another crew’s house, and two rival crews brawling in the streets. These incidents are just a small portion of violence in straight edge just in the downriver area. When I heard of these events I was very shocked. I did not know that the straight edge youth were doing these types of things. My belief was that edge kids were very calm and just went about their way, but these events made me think of why they would do these things and what was the root of all this violence in straight edge?

I thought that the perfect way to find the root of all of this violence was to spend a night with a local straight edge crew using interviews, conversation, and observation to find what I am looking for. So, the next step that I took was to talk to my sister Michelle and see if she could set talk to her friends in a local crew and set up a time when I could hang out with them. She got back to me saying that I could on Friday of the upcoming weekend. I did not have very much time to prepare for this which made me very nervous for the upcoming gathering. But as the time came, I became prepared and readied myself for my night with a straight edge crew.

When the night came, we decided to meet at a crew member’s house in Trenton, Michigan. My first impression of these straight edge kids was that they were pretty engaging, nice, and overall cool people. The name of their crew is very secretive, but I still found out that it was called “Family Comes First” or FCF. This meaning comes from the idea that all of them in the crew are “family” and they will all stick together no matter what. I thought this was a very interesting name that they chose. It is rather extreme to me, but I still respect what they stand for. When I asked what they had planned for the night, they said “nothing much”. I was sort of bummed, but I knew we wouldn’t be just sitting there in the house the whole night.

After awhile of talking and getting to know each other, we then went to the local Denny’s to grab a bite to eat. They did not hold anything back while conversing with each other even with me being there. A couple of the bigger kids seemed to be more hostile, talking about how they didn’t like certain people and that they were going to have a talk with them. I was not used to this type of talk which made me a little uncomfortable. This group of kids mentioned a rival crew a couple of times. They talked about prior confrontations with them and how they went down. These kids seemed to disagree with how their rival crew ran things and they were not true “edge” kids. I thought this was very interesting because I thought all straight edge kids were the same. This was definitely not true which made me wonder who actually the “true” straight edge crew was. After Denny’s, we went to a show at the Modern Exchange in Southgate. This was the smallest show I’ve been to with a total of maybe 40 people. After being there for only one band, we left and went back to the house. I asked them some general questions about straight edge and what they thought about it. What I found was that they wanted to be the best crew there is, with nobody competing with them for supremacy. I left their house at around 1 o’clock in the morning and back home. On the way home I realized how much I learned from this straight edge crew.

What I concluded from my night with the FCF straight edge crew was that it was a matter of ego and dislike for other crews that fueled this violence. I thought before that they were all the same, but apparently some run things differently and some others might not agree with that. This violence within straight edge that I have been curious about has overall been sparked by competition, dislike, and ego.

Works Cited

Web. 17 Nov. 2009.

Straight Edge Lifestyle. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.

"Straightedge: What Every Parent (and everyone else) Should Know —." Idaho Falls Today! Web. 17 Nov. 2009. .

"Exploring the two sides of the 'straight edge' movement - The Boston Globe." Boston.com. Web. 17Nov. 2009..

"Straight Edge FAQ." Toefur straight edge. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. .
Posted by coryjbd at 1:08 PM