Racism & Fascism - new material (32)
01 August 2001
The three faces of racism. Race and Class vol 43, no 2 (October-December) 2001, pp140.
This issue is published on the twentieth anniversary of the 1981 uprisings when Black and Asian youth organised in self-defence to fight against racist incursions by the fascists and police. It contains an important contribution from Sivanandan, "Poverty is the new Black", as well as pieces on Xeno-racism (Liz Fekete), popular racism (Arun Kundnani), race and the law (Lee Bridges), the Human Rights Act (Frances Webber) and the Terrorism Act (Gareth Peirce). It includes commentaries on this summers confrontations between young Asians and the police in northern towns (Kundnani), Black deaths in custody and the Macpherson report (Harmit Athwal), the plight of asylum-seekers "dispersed" to Glasgow (Vicky Grandon) and the "Story of Ramin Khaleghi", a political prisoner who had suffered brutal torture in Iran and fled to Britain only to have his claim for asylum rejected. Ramin took his own life on hearing of his rejection. Available from IRR, 2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS.
Trouble in happy valley, Marie Gillespie. Index on Censorship vol 30 no 3 2001, pp6?9.
This article looks at racism in South Wales, "one of Britain's top three most dangerous areas for ethnic minorities." Available from Writers & Scholars International, Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH.
Recognising and Combating Racial Discrimination: A Short Guide. European Roma Rights Centre, September 2001, pp14.
A booklet that looks at the definition and nature of discrimination against Roma, ways to recognise discrimination, ways of proving discrimination and, finally, how to counter discriminatory practices or incidents. One suggested approach is called "testing" and has been used by Central and Eastern European organisations. In some countries it may be accepted in court. It involves sending pairs of Roma and non-Roma to apply for jobs, flats, or to restaurants and discotheques where regular discrimination is suspected to take place and comparing their testimonies. Statistical research is also deemed useful and may be used in court to highlight issues before international bodies (UN, Council of Europe). Furthermore, good statistical data of importance is often lacking, and sometimes state authorities block efforts to discover such information. The booklet highlights that "the existence of a law against discrimination in your country does not mean that it is impossible for you to suffer discrimination - it only means that you have a tool to fight against discrimination." More information on testing is available on the ERRC website at: http://errc.org/rr_nr3_2000/legal_defence.shtml
The decline of the 1970s National Front, Kate Taylor. Searchlight no 315 (September) 2001, pp23-25.
This article starts with the National Front's electoral apex of May 1977 and follows their rapid decline resulting in the organisation splitting in the early 1980s. One faction was led by the now redundant Martin Webster while the other, led by current BNP leader Nick Griffin and colleagues, flirted with Italian fascism. But the real victors in this period were the anti-fascists who countered the NF's every move, forcing them from the streets and exacerbating their internal tensions, until they became the largely irrelevant body that they are today.
CARF no 64 (October/November) 2001, pp16.
Latest issue has pieces on "The end of asylum"; the anti-Muslim racism that has swept across the western world in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the racial violence that is part and parcel of the asylum-seekers dispersal system, which was widely criticised as unworkable before their government introduced it. Available from CARF, BM Box 8784, London WC1N 3XX.
Second report on the United Kingdom. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Council of Europe 3.4.01, pp28.
Based on fieldwork carried out in May 2000, this re