"Skinheads, originally, come out of the same *working class* culture as ska. Just look at early Sixties pictures of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer -- they have no hair! Skinhead culture spread more widely in the late Sixties as more and more Jamaicans went to the UK and influenced the White youth culture there. These old UK bald-heads were rude boys. Yesterday's and today's skinhead fashion has a legacy from Black Jamaica. Since the first skinheads were trying to look like shave-head rude boys, it makes all those Nazi skinhead types seem pretty ignorant, eh? It's a good thing they are in the minority." From the alt.music.ska FAQ.