Racism

The Black Lives Movement has spread rapidly across the Atlantic, finding an echo in Britain, with its own long history of racism and repression. Protests over the weekend saw huge numbers turning out to say ‘enough is enough’.

The murder of George Floyd has sparked a wave of solidarity protests in Britain. We publish here reports of demos in London and Manchester.

Alongside the ‘hostile environment’ and the racist measures against migrants, the Tories are clamping down on Traveller communities, putting the way of life for one of Britain’s oldest minorities at threat.

Monday this week marked the first national ‘Stephen Lawrence Day’, commemorating the tragic murder that lifted the lid on the racism within British capitalist society and its institutions. To see real change, we need to fight capitalism.

A series of recent incidents have once again brought attention to the serious problem of racism in football stadiums. Fans must organise to take back control of their clubs and boot out racism.

A number of recent incidents reveal that the scourge of racism still infects English football. But charities and elite institutions will do nothing to stop it.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary since the death of Martin Luther King Jr., we publish here an extract from a longer article examining the evolution of MLK’s politics. By the time of his assassination, he was drawing socialist conclusions.

Ravi Mistry looks at the cynical way in which exploitative big businesses present themselves as allies of oppressed groups in order to sell their products and make profits.

The Russian Revolution, 100 years ago, had a global impact on political consciousness. In the USA, the period was one of a developing militancy amongst African Americans. Claude McKay represented the overlap between the revolutionary Communist movement and that of the anti-racist, anti-colonial struggle.

Social media has been alight this week with responses to two incidents of racism from prominent politicians: first from a Tory MP and then from liberal poster boy Emmanuel Macron. In today’s world, where sensitivity to racism has never been so acute, how is it – Ben Gliniecki asks – that leading politicians still manage to unthinkingly spout such racist remarks?