THE ROTTEN ROOTS OF THE PORTLAND TIMBERS AESTHETIC
Written by Dave Mylet on 15 November 2013.


Timbers Army

Sometimes in the fervor of sports fandom, people forget the nuances of a civilized society. People at Atlanta Braves games do the “Tomahawk Chop”; when Jeremy Lin got popular there was a bevy of weird, racist-tinged puns and fortune cookie jokes; Washington’s football team refuses to change its blatantly racist team name in the name of “tradition.”

Most of the time these fans don’t mean to be intolerant and don’t consider themselves racist. Regardless, their actions can communicate messages that these groups may never have considered. As a zealous, organized and mostly white group in America’s fifth whitest metropolitan area, the Timbers Army should be careful about what messages their aesthetic conveys to non-white Portland.

I’m not saying the Timbers Army is a racist organization in any way. Sure, there may be a few people who tell off-color jokes (there are some in any large group), but as a whole they don’t seem to have any real ideology other than supporting the local team. That doesn’t mean, however, that how they show their support doesn’t connect to some powerful symbols and history.

The Timbers Army aesthetic (flags, chants, scarves, smoke bombs, drinking) has largely taken its cue from English soccer fandom. That shouldn’t be a surprise, since Europe (and especially England) has an iconic relationship with soccer. But what is a bit disturbing is the close connection between some English soccer rooting sections (or “firms”) and the British white supremacist movement, in particular the National Front.

Case in point, the Chelsea Headhunters. They were originally called the “Chelsea Shed Boys” (echoed by Portland’s own “Woodshed” found in section 107). They started in the late 60’s as a group of rabid soccer fans prone to violence. By the late 1970’s, though, the group had been co-opted by white pride groups including Combat 18 and The National Front. Of course, there wasn’t anything particular about soccer fans that attracted the attention of white supremacists, it just so happened that the same group of disaffected white youths that were drawn to white pride ideas were also drawn to soccer, it being a popular sport among all youths.

But white power ideology runs deep in English soccer hooligan circles. Multiple English sting operations have led to arrests in neo-Nazi soccer circles, including charges like rape, robbery and attempted murder. Are we in danger of an epidemic of hate crimes in Portland stemming from our soccer fans? Probably not, but it is worth remembering that Portland, with all of its well-kept weirdness and rainbow tolerance, has a not so distant history of hate.

In 1988, Mulugeta Seraw’s brutal murder rocked Portland. Three members of Portland’s burgeoning white pride community, Ken "Death" Mieske, Kyle Brewster, and Steve Strasser, came across Seraw after a night of drinking. Seraw, a 28 year-old Ethiopian-born college student, had been dropped off in front of his apartment on SE 31st and Pine. Before he could make it inside, though, he was beaten to death with a Louisville Slugger by Mieske.

The incident was a flashpoint in Portland’s fight against the white power movement and groups like WAR (White Aryan Resistance) attempting to gain a foothold in the Rose City. Communities banded together in the aftermath and emphatically said, “No” to neo-Nazis. And then the problem was laid to rest and Portland returned to sipping lattes. We don’t have much of a white power problem these days, but we do have an overwhelmingly white culture.

The color of Portland culture has to be considered when putting Timbers Army fandom into context. Despite the international appeal of the sport of soccer and the multi-national make-up of our team, the rooting section for the Timbers is overwhelmingly white. Try this quick experiment: do a Google image search of “Timbers fan.” Count the number of non-white faces in the crowd (not on the field). It only takes one hand. Now Google “Trail Blazers fan.” Different story.

I’m not saying that white people shouldn’t go to Timbers games. I’m not to saying that Timbers fans are racist. I’m saying that culture can be an invisible habitat. When you’re a white person at a Timbers game, surrounded by other white Timbers fan, then soccer is just soccer. But maybe when you’re a non-white Timbers fan at a Timbers game and white people around you are singing, “We’re the Timbers Army, Oi! The Green and White Army!” maybe all you here is the “Oi” and the “White Army” part. And maybe when you’re in the midst of this scene, the raised arm salute means something different to you.

Timbers Army

I don’t mean to bash the Timbers Army or Timbers fans in general. They do a ton of great work in the community, raising money and volunteering. Their passion is what brought major league soccer to Portland. Still, it’s important to be mindful of who you emulate. If you’re not careful, the same rituals and symbols that make you a part of group can alienate those outside.


4 comments
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anoncoach
anoncoach 9 minutes ago
I for one agree with this article.Soccer is a white sport, watched around the world by white people, played by white people and only truly understood by white people, therefore it makes sense that it would be watched by racists.I mean look at this chick,

http://www.portlandmercury.com/binary/e50d/1361895130-2013-02-22-sundaywhitebyjenny.jpg

She is totally white and I bet she is racist.You know who also had flags? Nazis… *drops mic*


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shawn_levy
shawn_levy 31 minutes ago
I'm sorry, but this is so chuckleheaded that I can't let it go.

The Timbers Army are -- racist? quasi-racist? proto-racist? -- because other soccer fan groups that have nothing to do with them are racist?

The Timbers Army are -- racist? quasi-racist? proto-racist? -- because, like most of Portland, they are predominantly white?

The Timbers Army are -- racist? quasi-racist? proto-racist? -- because they sing a chant based on a Twisted Sister song?

I know:  logic, right?

I suppose I can forgive/forget the writer as for this callow joke, which reveals almost no ability with thought, language or research.

But his editors....?  Unlike the writer, I hesitate to characterize people based only on superficial (if that) acquaintance, and yet the term 'assclowns' leaps so readily to mind.....


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shawn_levy
shawn_levy 1 hour ago
Which ones are the racists in these pictures of the Timbers Army from spring 2014?  http://ow.ly/qRjl7

Or were the racists the 200+ Timbers Army who marched in the Portland Pride parade on Father's Day?

Let's take your logic closer to home, shall we?  There are morons who type; your blog entry was typed; therefore....




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msjolene
msjolene 1 hour ago
As someone who is ethnically Irish (just a scant 2 generations removed), I take umbrage to a lot of what you've said here. Soccer fandom as you describe is not "English". Ireland has spent centuries under the boot of England, and I don't want really want to get into the weeks of how there was no real "potato famine" but rather, a holocaust at the time of a potato blight- but I can summarize with this: Nothing the Irish have ever wanted ANY part of has EVER been English. Nonetheless, take in a soccer match in Ireland, and there's chants and smoke bombs a plenty.

I really don't know what to say beyond that. There are no "rotten roots" here, save for imagined ones.