Editor's note: On these pages, we often discuss the power of art to promote peace, love and tolerance. We forget sometimes that art can have every bit as much power to promote divisive themes as it does to bring people together. So what happens when the line blurs between art and politics-especially when those politics are contentious? We've decided to explore this question in a three-part series about controversial musicians emerging on the national scene. This article, about a teen singing duo that promotes White Nationalism, is the first in the series.
There isn't anything particularly noteworthy about Prussian Blue's sound-simple folk music, played by two 13-year-old girls. Lamb Gaede plays the guitar with her sister, Lynx, on the violin.
So when April Gaede, the mother of the girls, found out that the Kern County Fair in Bakersfield, Calif., had cancelled the duet's appearance five months ago, she was disappointed.
"They were saying that there was something wrong with Lynx and Lamb playing at the fair," April said.
Yet this wasn't just any case of minor setbacks in the careers of wannabe performing artists. The act was pulled due to the potential for rioting and violence.
The girls are active members of the so-called "White Nationalist" movement, which advocates racial separation. One of the group's songs, "Victory Day," talks about the day when the white race will take power:
"You are my brother and in war we proudly sing/Our Cause shall never tire, our gift to you we bring/A holy creed of racial purpose, a mighty race to defend/And when we fly our holy flag, their oppressive reign shall end."
Prussian Blue's collection of songs-the most recent of their two albums was completed two months ago-includes both cover songs and self-written ballads promoting their beliefs. "Sacrifice," a tribute to the girls' heroes, makes references to Hitler's deputy Rudolph Hess and Dr. William Pierce, associate of the American Nazi Party and one of the White Nationalist movement's leaders.
In addition to what they call "politically themed" songs, Prussian Blue's new album also includes some more typical teen pop lyrics, like "You make me feel/Like I'm in the air/You make me feel/Like I'm very fair," from "When I'm with you."
Lamb and Lynx-whose names bear no symbolic significance-have been playing together in Prussian Blue for five years. The name of the band is derived from the family's white Prussian ancestry along with the color of the girls' eyes. The girls have also said the name references a chemical that they say was not found at concentration camp sites. "We think it might make people question some of the inaccuracies of the 'Holocaust' myth," the girls told Viceland.com.
Although they carry heavy connections to the White Nationalist movement, the girls said they have creative control of their music.
"When we write the songs, they are 100 percent our own," Lynx said. "When we pick songs to cover, it's our choice, too."
But the girls said they are proud to be used by the greater White Nationalist movement as an entry point into the American mainstream. They said they hope to spread their message through their music by aiming at a younger audience.
"I think that if you are younger, you are more willing and open to hearing about new things," Lynx said. "So we are trying to market towards early teen and pre-teen people. That way our message can go the farthest."
Erich Gliebe, the head of one of America's largest pro-white record labels Resistance Records, which will be selling Prussian Blue's new album, echoed this goal in an interview with ABC News last October.
He said the 11- and 12-year-old audience is an ideal target market, because it is "the perfect age to start grooming kids and instill in them a strong racial identity."
Growing up on the outskirts of Bakersfield, the Gaede twins lived on a ranch with their mother, father and grandparents-all of whom are active in the white supremacy movement, which has more than one million members and which April Gaede said is growing quickly.
Lamb and Lynx were mostly home-schooled by their mother, although they did attend public school for a short period of time.
"I teach the twins because I generally don't trust school districts," April said. "The districts force the teachers to preach about equality while portraying white people in an incredibly negative light, so that they make white people feel embarrassed and ashamed to be from European ancestry. That's not what I want my kids go grow up thinking."
April, who has been accused by media and civil rights organizations many times of brainwashing the twins, said that she is doing her duty as a parent by teaching her children about her beliefs. On the other side, anti-hate speech groups argue that this has given the girls little chance to develop their own beliefs.
"Although I don't think that brainwashed is quite the right word, what they sing about definitely comes from what they've learned from their parents," said Marilyn Mayo, the associate director of fact-finding at the Anti-Defamation League.
"It's obvious that they've been influenced by their environment, and in some sense, [April is] the one who's pushed them into the music scene. Kids that age learn their parents' ideology. They're absorbing the values of their mother, and it's likely been happening since birth."
Mayo also said having a group like Prussian Blue in the spotlight is dangerous.
"They may look like innocent young girls, but what they're singing is anything but innocent," she said. "They are promoting hate. It shows that when you grow up in an environment where there is an ideology where your parents preach a kind of hatred, that kids will pick up on that. They call their message one of 'white pride,' but when they degrade other races, it's racism."
Citizens Against Hate, an organization founded by Floyd Cochran, a reformed member of the white supremacist group Aryan Nation, has taken a stronger stance against April's methods of raising her children. In an article at citizensagainsthate.com, Cochran said the girls have "virtually no talent, have been exploited by an overzealous and ridiculous mother and are headed for major problems as adults should things remain at the status quo."
Nicole Nichols, the co-director of Citizens Against Hate, re-enforced this position.
"April started these children on their current path as soon as they emerged from the womb," she said. "They have never been afforded the opportunity to think or to formulate their own opinions. In essence, their emotional and cognizant growth has been thwarted by a mother who seeks to validate herself and her views through her children. In my opinion, that is repugnant."
Despite such allegations, April said she is raising her children the way any mother would. "You don't all of a sudden turn 18 years old and become intelligent," she said. "I think that everybody is influenced by what their parents believe. If we were vegetarians, I wouldn't have any meat in the refrigerator. If we were Catholics, we'd have the girls say their rosaries, and we'd eat fish on Fridays. But we're not-we're white nationalists, and my children grew up knowing what we believe."
Lamb and Lynx said April treats them with respect and like adults. "My mom listens to what we think and always lets us talk," Lamb said.
When the twins were eight years old, Lamb said, they were signed to Wilhelmina modeling corporation, one of America's largest modeling agencies. Shortly after signing the contract, however, they decided to cut their ties to the company.
"It was a joint decision," Lamb said.
April said she felt strongly that it was not a good opportunity for the girls.
"I didn't want them to be in a Jewish-run modeling agency and appear on Jewish-run television," April said.
Lamb and Lynx now model for the clothing company Aryan Wear.
Lamb also said the decision to start Prussian Blue was left up to Lynx and her.
"When we decided that we wanted to be in a band, she was supportive," Lamb said of her mother. "We decide the subjects of the songs. She just helps us when we need it."
Since they started the band in 2001, Lamb and Lynx have promoted their beliefs, most of which consist of racial separation.
"Ideally, I would rather that all of the races would be separated and that all the people who would want to be separated would have a community, and their own country or continent," Lamb said. "I don't think that we wouldn't have criminals, although I believe that black people are more likely to be criminals, but I would just want the races to be separate, and I'd like this to happen peacefully. But that probably won't happen for a while."
In the meantime, Lamb wants to keep playing music and spreading the band's message. "I hope that we reach a lot of people with our music," she said. "We've reached a lot of people so far, but I would like to become mainstream. Punk used to be underground and not popular, and now it's huge. I think that if we try hard enough, we can do it."
Lynx added that her biggest short-term goal is to raise awareness about what she deems to be the media's skewed portrayal of race. "I wish that the media would stop promoting interracial dating and marriage," she said. "All it is doing is creating a muddle of the white race. I believe there are black people who don't want to live with us and who want to stay with their own race. And it's the same with Mexicans and Asians. But whenever white people say anything about it, they make a big deal about it and call us 'racist.' But if that's what racism is, then everyone is racist."
Since their debut, the twins have reaped quite a bit of media coverage, although most of it negative.
When ABC News ran its feature on the duo, the commentary said that the girls use their talents to "spread racist hate." While the twins said that this type of news takes a toll on them, they added that they are determined to continue advocating their beliefs.
"I think that people don't understand our message," Lamb said. "They can't understand what it means to be a peaceful white supremacist. When they think of a pro-white person, they think of a hateful person, like a neo-Nazi and stuff. We don't want that-we want a peaceful separation, and we won't stop until people understand that."
Similarly, April said Prussian Blue and the greater White Nationalist movement are misunderstood.
"It's true that there are violent, racially focused people in the White Nationalist movement, but the majority of the movement advocates a peaceful separation," she said. "However, if people want to fight us, we're always ready and willing to fight to the death."
Lynx takes a show businness approach to the negative reactions.
"All press is good press, right?" she asked. "We've gotten death threats, and we've gotten lots of hate mail. But we've also spread our message. A while ago we were the most popular search on the internet. We're selling so many copies of our album. So I think we're coming out on top."
April said that the media is mistakenly interpreting white nationalist beliefs as racist. "We don't necessarily think that we are the best race," she said. "Asians, for example, are generally smarter than us. They score higher on tests. However, white people are more capable and live better lives. We believe the white population is shrinking, and that we're losing autonomy. We've already lost it here in the state of California. The Mexicans are the plurality here, and it's disappointing to see the majority of a population going to a race that is clearly inferior to almost all other races."
April and the girls said they see their lives as a fight for freedom and hope that the music will help in the battle.
"White people don't have freedom," Lamb said. "If a black person beats you up, he'll only be sent to jail for a year. But if a white person beats up a black person, it's considered a hate crime, and they'll go to jail for 10 to 12 years. It's not fair, and we're trying to expose this. The white race is becoming extinct, and we're trying to fight that. My biggest fear is that by the time I'm old, the white race won't even exist anymore. I want racial diversity, but I want to keep it separate."
The girls said they realize that they will encounter significant resistance along the way as they work their way through the music world, but they hope that their message will come through.
"I don't think the road will be easy, and I think that we're going to make a lot of people angry," Lynx said. "But then the people who are fighting us will look stupid and immature. I laugh whenever people get really mad about us, because I think it just makes the anti-racists look kind of ridiculous."
April said she is proud of her children's accomplishments and noted that she will do anything to help get their message out.
"If the average lemming-type person gets all horrified at my daughters' message," she said, "then I feel bad for him."
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