George Burdi

George Burdi, also known as George Eric Hawthorne (born 1970), a Canadian musician who originally was known for his role in white supremacist organizations. He led the Canadian branch of Church of the Creator, which formed an allegiance with the now-defunct neo-nazi organization Heritage Front. In addition, Burdi was involved directly in the white power music scene, performing with the band RaHoWa. This resulted in a 1993 altercation with Alicia Reckzin; Burdi was subsequently convicted of assault causing bodily harm on Reckzin, and spent four years in prison. Upon his release from prison, Burdi openly renounced racism.

Background

Burdi came into contact with the white supremacist movement through the father of his then-girlfriend. He became an active white supremacist at the age of 18 and by the age of 21 was the leader of the Canadian branch of the 'Church of the Creator'. [ [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=179 SPLCenter.org: Present at the Creation ] ]

RaHoWa

Using the pseudonym "Reverend George Eric Hawthorne" in honour of the novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Burdi formed the racist skinhead band RaHoWa in 1989. The band's name was derived from the phrase Racial Holy War. In Burdi's mind, RaHoWa was the single largest hate-rock band throughout the 1990s, and is still respected in some white power groups.

Burdi was the founding president of Resistance Records, which was the distributor for his band and other white supremacist bands. The company also operated a web site and a magazine. It was one of the pre-eminent white-power record producers, selling nearly 100,000 records in its ten years, as well as publishing a quarterly "Resistance Magazine" which covered the white power music scene.

Reckzin incident

In Ottawa, on May 29, 1993, after a RaHoWa band concert which was picketed by Anti-Racist Action protesters, Burdi and the leader of the Neo-Nazi Heritage Front, Wolfgang Droege, led their supporters on a march to Parliament Hill and eventually to the front of the Château Laurier hotel. As the white supremacists marched, they chanted sieg heil, made racist remarks, and gave Nazi salutes. Burdi directed the group and gave media interviews.

At Parliament Hill, Burdi and Droege addressed their followers with the express purpose of trying to raise the emotional pitch of the evening. Burdi then led the white supremacists to the Chateau Laurier. Once there, Burdi charged across the street to attack the protesters.

One of the victims of that charge was Alicia Reckzin, who was struck on the head while running from Burdi's supporters. When she fell, she was kicked several times on her right side; Reckzin later reported having seen Burdi kick her in the face.

In 1995, as a result of the violent confrontation, George Burdi was convicted of assault causing bodily harm and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. Burdi appealed both his conviction and the sentence, but on February 14, 1997, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the lower court's 1995 decision (), and Burdi began his sentence.

Upon completion of his sentence, Burdi - who maintains to this day that he did not personally assault Reckzin - announced that he had seen the error of his ways, and was renouncing racism. He sold Resistance Records to Willis Carto [ [http://www.adl.org/resistance_records/introduction.asp Deafening Hate: The Revival of Resistance Records ] ] ; Carto in turn sold the company to William Luther Pierce of the National Alliance.

Renouncement of Racism

Burdi has publicly stated that he has renounced white supremacism and is currently a member of a multi-racial band called Novacosm. He is deeply involved with eastern spiritualism.Fact|date=June 2008

Criticism

Burdi has been criticized by militant anti-racists for his lack of apology and lingering attitude that some of his allegedly former beliefs are in fact valid; and that his relationship with a woman of Indo-Aryan heritage doesn't prove he is no longer a racist. At the same time, his former "comrades" criticize him as a "sell out" and theorize that he may have only been in the white supremacist movement from the beginning for financial gain. It is also notable that a few of his former allies also put his ethnicity in question as well. To counter this, Burdi publicly listed his fully European ethnic background in a Novacosm myspace blog.Fact|date=June 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.web.apc.org/~ara/documents/news/appeal.htm Ontario Court of Appeal]
* [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=179 Present at the Creation] Interview with Burdi by the anti-racist Southern Poverty Law Center.
* [http://www.novacosm.com/ Novacosm band website]
* [http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2407732?htv=12 IFILM about George Burdi and Novacosm]
* [http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2001-01-25/news.html A racist no longer: Ex-white rights fan just wants to be a rock star] 2001 article from Toronto's "Now Magazine.
* [http://www.acidlogic.com/georgeburdi.htm I am not my DNA] recent interview from "Acid Logic".
* [http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_hate.jsp?id=402 Interview With Burdi]
* [http://www.engaged-zen.org/articles/Brian_W_Blueskye-Hate_Rock_Spiritual_Revelation.html Hate Rock to Spiritual Revelation - The Transformation of George Burdi] An Interview by Brian W. Blueskye.
* [http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/vh1_news_special/56815/episode_videos.jhtml Leaving Racism Behind] Video Interview. George Burdi talks about leaving hate behind.