Company pulls logo after Sailor protest

Deirdre Newman

NEWPORT BEACH -- Three Newport Harbor High School juniors discovered

the power of taking action when a local manufacturer of skateboarding

clothing decided to pull one of its logos after the students branded it a

symbol of hate.

Eric Weller, Brandon Marshall and Wes Pohlmann spent Monday morning

passing out fliers around the school campus and calling attention to the

logos of three skateboarding companies that use crosses and lightning

bolts. The trio says these logos represent fascism and nazism and should

not be worn by students at school.

When officials at Silver Star Casting Co., a Costa Mesa-based ring and

clothing company, heard about the students’ actions, they decided to pull

the logo immediately, President Luke Burrett said.

The students, who were stopped from handing out the rest of their

fliers after a bureaucratic mix-up, were floored by the dramatic effect

of their actions.

“I think that’s amazing,” Weller said. “I had no idea it was going to

have that much of an impact.”

It was Weller who conceived the idea after seeing more and more

students sporting T-shirts and backpacks with the logos. He wondered if

they knew the history and current interpretation of the symbols.

The three companies Weller was most indignant about were Independent,

based in Santa Cruz, which uses a cross for one of its logos; Johnny

Suede, based in Costa Mesa, which uses a cross with a skeleton

superimposed on it; and Silver Star, which uses two lightning bolts to

represent the letters “SS.”

The flier characterized both the Independent and the Johnny Suede

logos as Iron Crosses, a symbol that “is often being displayed by

neo-Nazi groups.” It also equated the Independent’s cross to the neo-Nazi

swastika.

“And now the unfortunate trend of wearing this symbol of hatred has

spread throughout Newport Harbor,” the flier reads.

The flier linked the Silver Star lightning bolts to the “SS,” Adolf

Hitler’s police force, and said it represents the beliefs of neo-Nazis

and racist skinheads -- violence, anti-Semitism, white supremacy and

fascism.

Silver Star’s Burrett said the logo, which had just been released

about three weeks ago, had already generated controversy and the flier

was the last straw.

“It’s more of a biker thing,” Burrett said. “But it turned out to be

more drama than it’s really worth.”

The presidents of the other two companies said they do not believe

their logos are symbols of hate. The Independent describes its logo as

the “Lord’s Cross,” based on a design on Pope John Paul II’s robe,

President Bob Denike said. And Johnny Suede said his company’s Iron Cross

is a pure fashion choice.

Both refuse to change their logos based on just interpretation.

“Some of our new designs have lowriders and shotguns on them,” Suede

said. “We’re doing these designs because people don’t buy the flowered

stuff anymore. These kids want something a little more hard.”

Although the three students got the green light to distribute 3,000

fliers from Newport Harbor Principal Michael Vossen last week, when they

started handing them out Monday morning they were stopped by Assistant

Principal David Peterson. It turned out that Vossen was still waiting to

get district approval.

But the limited amount of fliers they did pass out caused some

students to take notice.

“I think it’s cool that someone actually did something about it

instead of just talking about it,” said freshman Mike Soma, 15. “I like

[the flier] because it’s truthful.”

But other students said they don’t believe students buy the clothing

to illustrate their own views. Freshman Pedro Viveros, who was wearing a

gray Independent backpack with a red Iron Cross, said the flier would not

dissuade him from using it.

“I knew it was a symbol of hate, but I like the brand,” Viveros said.

“I don’t feel like I’m a racist against anyone.”

Vossen said the three students have his full support to distribute the

fliers, pending district approval. And he would like to see the

district’s dress code policy amended to include examples of what kids

should not be allowed to wear.

“The [dress code policy] is too gray,” Vossen said. “When we take

people to task on dress code issues, we have to ensure these logos are

included in the policy.”

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .