Left Unity anti-racist workgroup launched

We would like to invite you to participate in the anti-racist workgroup recently launched by Left Unity, say Ishan Cader and Luke Cooper. Its remit is to develop
policies for concrete anti-racist struggles for a new party to the left of Labour: not simply ‘in the abstract,’ but as practical proposals for campaigning to tackle racist discourses and propaganda in Britain.

There has been a dangerous upsurge in racism in Britain in the last few years, most recently compounded by the Woolwich killing. This has included a rise in racist attacks on the Muslim community, growing support for the far right English Defence League, and a rise in the ‘low-level’ but pernicious racism of name calling and street abuse that blights the daily lives of racially oppressed groups, despite all the progress that has been won through struggle over the
last decades.

Furthermore, anti-immigrant stances pervade our media and culture, reflected in the desperate attempts by mainstream political parties to latch onto the racist territory carved out by the far right.

This is all the more worrying given the longer-term trend towards a rise in fascist sentiment and support for xenophobic parties across Europe. The electoral breakthrough of UKIP underlines the danger that the far right will be the main beneficiaries of joblessness and austerity, channelling
discontent into attacks on immigrants and minorities, and away from the real causes of the crisis.

We need to tackle the “received wisdoms” of the new racism about Muslims and migrants that have increasingly become socially acceptable. Given this wider political context, it is clearer than ever that fighting the far right cannot be undertaken effectively, if we continue to peddle the lie that ‘we are all anti-racist except the fascists’ and implicitly deny the existence of mainstream racism. The everyday racism of the media and major parties provides legitimacy for the violent actions of groups like the EDL and BNP. Positive arguments – a new anti-racist politics – are therefore urgently needed. A new party of the left worthy of the name must go on the offensive against racism in all its forms.

We believe that self-organisation and Black leadership of anti-racist struggle is crucial to success. Getting this right when Left Unity is launched is
essential. We could have the best ‘positions’ on anti-racism in the world but if we stumble into forming a new party of the left without having tried to
engage broad layers of Black and Minority anti-racist campaigners, activists and writers, then it will be much harder to develop a credible stance on these issues.

This makes outreach to anti-racist organisations and campaigners in the next few months critical. It also means making the anti-racist workgroup itself as open and participatory as possible. We urge activists who are fed up of the tiresome anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant status quo and who want to see an anti-racist, radical, left alternative, to get involved.

We will organise a first meeting over Skype at 7pm on Wednesday 21st August. To participate you need a computer, a microphone or headset, and to have downloaded a copy of the Skype softwarehere. Once you’ve done that just email antiracistworkgroup@leftunity.org