By Nadia Harry
On the 29th July 2024, three young girls were horrifically attacked and murdered at a dance class in Southport. Very quickly, information then spread naming the perpetrator as a Muslim and a migrant. All of this detail was untrue.
But the disinformation didn’t stop the far right from carrying out some of the most vicious and violent attacks on Black and Brown people in the days that followed.
In the riots that came after, a mosque was attacked, random houses of people of colour were busted open with windows smashed and people attacked in their homes. Black and Asian men and women were violently set upon in the street. Buildings housing asylum and immigration applicants were set on fire. The fear and tension in Black and Muslin communities was palpable.
Once again, it is open season on Black and Muslim communities. This never happens in a vacuum.
In the general election just weeks before, the 4 million votes given to the Reform Party translated into 14% of the total vote share; double the vote share The Green Party received and 2% more than the Lib Dems. Emboldened by the results at the ballot box, on the 27th July approximately 20,000 people attended a far right rally in London, one of the largest demonstrations of this kind in recent times.
The rhetoric from successive governments on the policing of Black and Muslim communities, immigration and the dog whistle racism that has been whipped up, has led to this febrile environment where communities have come under physical attack.
Although these communities have borne the brunt of racist policies, what all working-class people in Britain have in common is the generational impact of austerity, the decimation of public services, and attacks on living standards—issues that both the previous and current governments have failed, and will continue to fail, to address.
It is completely right that the anti-racist movement reflects all communities and key allies in the labour movement. But those communities that are on the front line of brutality need to lead in this fight to defend themselves. Only by being inclusive and creating our campaigns to have broad appeal, can we be our most effective.
In the UK, Black self-organization gained momentum in the 1970s and 1980s as Black communities, including African-Caribbean and Asian groups, united to confront issues like state racism, police violence, and social inequalities. But it goes further beyond our borders than this, and to isolate these communities would be a mistake.
The whipping of hostility to Muslims is directly linked to the conflicts that have taken place since the Gulf war in Iraq and the wars in Libya and Afghanistan.
To justify these wars, the United States and its allies, including Britain, have had to rationalise the murder of millions of people by dehumanising those they bomb, delegitimising their way of life and their resistance. In the UK, successive governments have tried to silence the majority voices of people who are anti-war and have shown solidarity with those on the front lines of military assaults.
This trend has been accelerated around the issue of Palestine, where the UK government, as a key ally of the United States, has pumped millions into arms that have been used to kill innocent civilians — most of them women and children. They have ignored how significant an issue this is for people, whether they are directly or indirectly connected to those in Gaza and the West Bank.
The huge pro-Palestine demonstrations across UK have been testament to this. But what is also clear, is that people from the Black and Muslim communities globally – the people of the global south – have led these massive demonstrations, unremitting in their calls for a ceasefire.
Imperialism needs to be fought by those who are directly affected by its destruction. Black and Muslim communities don’t make the same concession to racism as others might. The anti-racist movement is a united front of all forces who agree on opposing racism, but who will have different views on other issues, so it is wrong to try to police what people say when they raise the issue of Palestine at anti racism demos.
Anti racism and anti-fascism need a powerful and international movement.
The anti-racist movement in the UK must understand this, with a massive alliance in the Labour movement which attempts to prevent the fascist attacks on democracy as a whole.
The collective efforts of Black and Brown individuals and communities to create, lead, and advocate for themselves should be seen as a progressive response to oppression. This leadership should be at the forefront of any movement that fights against racism. It should be encouraged.
Image: Say No to Tommy Robinson Protest; Photo from Garry Knight; Licensed as Public Domain – CC0 1.0 Universal.