Professor Gus John and Jenny Bourne of the Institute of Race Relations, with which Herman was associated for over thirty years, pay tribute to Herman as an indomitable defender of rights, champion of racial justice and, always his own man. From Professor Gus John: Deeply saddened at the news of the death of my
Cohesion and counter-extremism – time to change the policy dial
17 September – 1 October 2024 After the law-and-order response to the far-right-orchestrated racist riots comes – seemingly – a return to New Labour policies of community cohesion. A Community Recovery Fund of £15million has been allocated to fund local authority-voluntary sector partnerships in areas affected by the riots. But given the political framing of
Calendar of Racism and Resistance (17 September – 1 October 2024)
ELECTORAL POLITICS | GOVERNMENT POLICY As anti-migrant, anti-equalities, anti-abortion, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQI rhetoric in electoral campaigning are increasingly interlinked, we reflect this in the coverage below which also includes information on the influence of the Christian Right as well as the religious Right generally. 21 September: As thousands of Palestine solidarity activists congregate outside the Labour
Aftermath of the riots
3 – 17 September 2024 In this week’s Calendar of Racism and Resistance, we note the aftermath of August’s riots and the arrests and sentencing of the far-right agitators. The Commons Library report ‘Policing responses to the Summer 2024 riots’, which terms them ‘anti-immigration’, but fails to call them out as racist, shows that since
Calendar of Racism and Resistance (3 – 17 September 2024)
ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY As anti-migrant, anti-equalities, anti-abortion, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQI rhetoric in electoral campaigning are increasingly interlinked, we reflect this in the coverage below which also includes information on the influence of the Christian Right as well as the religious Right generally. 2 September: The president of the Canary Islands accuses Spain‘s socialist government of
Review of ‘Speaking Truth to Power: the life and times of an African Caribbean British man’
Anne-Ysore Onana-Oteba reviews the biography of Arthur France, a community activist who founded the Leeds Carnival 57 years ago. I have heard the story of my father’s journey from Cameroon to France when he was just 18 years old many times, and with it always came his disappointment at what the promise of a
Organised abandonment: From Grenfell to border deaths
20 August – 3 September Seven years after the Grenfell fire that took the lives of 72 people and destroyed 151 homes, the inquiry into the disaster has published its report, exposing ‘systematic dishonesty’ by cladding manufacturers, missed opportunities by successive governments, safety issues being ‘ignored, delayed or disregarded’ by a coalition government focussed on
Calendar of Racism and Resistance ( 20 August – 3 September 2024)
ELECTORAL POLITICS | GOVERNMENT POLICY 21 August: Amnesty International UK accuses Labour of promoting an ‘age-old message of fear and hostility’ as home secretary Yvette Cooper vows to increase removals, target people smugglers and reopen immigration removal centres. (Guardian, 21 August 2024) 22 August: MEND publishes ‘No Race to the Bottom: Avoiding further curbs to
Mainstreaming hate: how the Right exploits the crisis to divide us
This briefing paper asks if it makes sense any more to isolate the far Right from a reconfigured, identitarian and traditionalist hard Right. It attempts to do so by providing a detailed but easily accessible account of how far-right ideas have already passed into the mainstream and what we can do to push back
Combatting the far Right: Different roads can lead to the same destination
6 – 20 August 2024 The far-right-orchestrated riots, birthed in the political and media mainstreaming of hate, has left the communities targeted for racist violence outraged and exhausted. But, with the government choosing to ignore the racist intent of the far Right in favour of the ‘violent thuggery’ narrative, it has become clear that, where the far