Content area
Full Text
On June 6th, the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia was scheduled to play host to One Life Crew; a racist, homophobic hardcore band from Cleveland, Ohio. The band has an extensive history of racist, sexist, and homophobic lyrics, as well as a record of extreme violence at their shows. One Life Crew was dropped by their record label Victory Records after a show in Cleveland where the singer "Mean" Steve Murad leaped from the stage to attack an authence member who took exception to the band's racist lyrics.
Making matters worse, One Life Crew has a rabid neo-nazi following, most likely attributed to their split 7" record with white power band Empire Falls. Here in Philadelphia, there is no doubt that the Keystone State Skinheads (KSS) - whose members have been convicted on various assault and weapons charges - would have attended the show in force. KSS had been talking about this show on their online forum since it was first announced, and Keith Carney, their Eastern Pennsylvania Regional Director, lists One Life Crew among his favorite bands and has made it clear that he would be attending the show.
Philadelphia Anti-Racist Action asserted that One Life Crew had no right to spread their hate-filled rhetoric anywhere in Philadelphia, least of all at the First Unitarian Church - a religious institution that prides itself on being an official "Welcoming Congregation" and purports to be "intentionally diverse" and " inclusive towards bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender people" according to its' website. However, they were willing to let homophobes and racists perform at their church, taking away any sense of safety for people of color and the LGBTQ community at large.
Reverend Nate Walker of the First Unitarian Church told Philly ARA in a phone conversation that the church would not "censor its tenants." In the face of this statement and apparent blatant hypocrisy of everything the Unitarian Church claims to stand for, we asked all Philadelphians to express their concern and anger about this show directly...