I don't mean to sound callous but just because someone who is black thinks that waving lollipops outside the GLA is a good way of challenging the BNP doesn't make it right.
Two immediate reasons:
1/ I could find plenty of black people who would disagree with this tactic for a number of reasons - the same reasons as any other ethnic group, either because they had a better idea or just couldn't be arsed with politics.
2/ Fascism is not confined to racism. It is a direct threat to the working class and its organisations - irrespective of race; consequently individuals who happen to be black or Jewish do not have a monopoly of right when it comes to deciding these matters.
You probably understand this already, but you'd be surprised how many of the middle-class student types who get involved with anti-fascism think it's a purely moral crusade against people who hate black people. (Which is why I'm very skeptical of the consciousness raising ability of outfits like LMHR.)
I recall the arguments back in the early 90's when the majority of large trade unions joined in pointless and bureaucratic campaigning with ARA (predominantly middle-class black nationalists) just because it was black-led, as if that really had anything to do with it...
In the Greenwich area of London, which was reportedly referred to as the “racist murder’s capital of Britain" at the time, a young, black A level student Stephen Lawrence, aged just 18, was brutally murdered. This sparked off widespread protests. Also, a black woman councillor had received death threats, black families have been harassed out of their homes, people have been attacked and places of worship desecrated.
When the BNP first moved to the Bexley area in 1989, there were four racist murders and violent attacks on black people reportedly increased by 140 per cent. The death of 15 year old Rolan Adams, another victim of a racist gang, outraged many and shocked many into realising the extent of the danger of racism in it's midst. It lifted the curtain on the growing nightmare which the Black community had been living, hidden from the public gaze.
Rolan and his brother Nathan were attacked by 14 youths as they waited for a bus home one evening in February 1991. Nathan was hospitalised by blows to the head. Rolan suffered a severe knife wound to the neck, that tragically took his final breath before the ambulance could reach him. Rolan’s death, commemorated in February 1992 by a 7,000 strong march on the BNP headquarters.
All eight wreaths laid at the spot of Rolan’s death were burned, while the BNP issued leaflets congratulating the murderers for “defending their estate.” Rolan’s family was forced to abandon their home in the area by a hate campaign and family after family were driven out by threats, arson and physical assaults.
In 1989 the London Research Centre concluded that Greenwich had the fourth highest rate of racial harassment in London. By August 1991, it had risen to the top, with 79 cases registered in the six months after Rolan’s death. Victims included Vietnamese, Chinese, Cypriots, Sri Lankans, Kurds and Arabs.
On 10 July 1993 tragedy struck the Asian community, Rohit Duggal was stabbed to death by a white youth in Eltham. As in previous events, the youths responsible were released on bail within days. The area where Rohit was killed was daubed with BNP stickers and graffiti.
At the time, the Anti Racist Alliance highlighted the political connection with these attacks:
...coinciding with widely reported attacks on refugees in Rostock, East Germany, the Asian community was horrified by simultaneous firebomb attacks on the local mosque and temples. These were not random acts of violence; the perpetrators were well organised and even broke through outer walls to gain access. The timing and the well-prepared nature of the attacks clearly suggest connections with an organised political group.
Black people themselves, continue to resist the effects of racism in their everyday lives. The strategies which black people have incorporated include community and church-based welfare services, boycotts, strike action, black separatism, and determined attempts at integration.
The support of white allies has rarely been discouraged, but black people have learned to be sceptical of white activists and professionals who earn status and political credibility from their involvement in these struggles.
imho wrong then as now many many many more black people are fked by day to day shit than the bnp ( about a 100,000 to 1 i would guess ) .. housing employment racism the police etc etc .. to reduce black peoples experiance to the bnp is wrong .. the bnp works brilliantly as it distracts us all black and white for the real cause of all of our problems
