Tag archive for ‘racism’
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Support UpRise
UpRise is the grassroots movement dedicated to bringing back the Rise anti-racist festival. Rise – in its original form, Respect – was initiated by the trade unions and then revived under Ken Livingstone’s mayoralty. It became Europe’s largest anti-racist festival and London’s biggest free gig, standing firmly in the tradition of Rock Against Racism.
Anti-racism isn’t a luxury for a city as diverse as London, it’s a necessity, built on the importance of keeping the city together and promoting understanding and [...] -
Gaza appeal not allowed, but Griffin invited onto Question Time
James Macintyre of the New Statesman has drawn attention to the contrast between the BBC’s decision to invite Nick Griffin onto Question Time and its stubborn refusal to air the Gaza appeal earlier this year.
The juxtaposition is extremely powerful. On the one hand the BBC would not broadcast an appeal for innocent Palestinian civilians killed or bombed out of their homes and their infrastructure pounded into rubble; and on the other the leader of Britain’s fascist party is invited on [...] -
Question Time opens the door a little further for the BNP
I had intended to post some thoughts on the BNP/Question Time issue earlier today but time is pressing on and I still haven’t done so.
However it is worth visiting Comment is Free and having a read of Ken Livingstone’s article there, which was published a short while ago.
Ken writes:
Nick Griffin’s performance on Question Time was appallingly bad, but that is beside the point. The BBC has been shamed by this circus. Worse, the corporation has now established the principle that [...] -
Cameron ally – if Poles must apologise so too must the “whole Jewish nation”
On Tuesday Guardian writer Jonathan Freedland asked why Labour was not in more of a fighting mood over the relationship between David Cameron and his colleagues in the new European Conservatives and Reformists grouping in the European Parliament. Though it cannot be said that most of the media is joining in this argument, the Observer today vigorously returns to the matter including with an article by the Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
Miliband writes:
The latest revelations – the Hague letter about his [...] -
Spike Lee – “I never drank that post-racial Kool Aid”
Director Spike Lee always gives good interview, and he didn’t disappoint with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight last night.
When Obama won the election last year you could have been forgiven for thinking from some of the media coverage that Martin Luther King’s objectives had all been achieved, the dream realised.
But however significant Obama’s victory was – and it was – it did not eliminate racism and discrimination in America.
Talking to Paxman, Spike Lee reasserted the historic nature of Obama’s victory, [...] -
Phil Woolas and the dog whistle on citizenship
At some point I had intended to write about Phil Woolas’s latest announcement on citizenship. However my former colleague Joy Johnson – she was Ken Livingstone’s director of media and marketing – has written this piece for Compass.
She writes:
“Apart from an isolated episode there aren’t demonstrations against troops, there are demonstrations against the war. And in any event those that demonstrated against the troops were born and bred here. It was a largely synthetic reason which was in reality that [...] -
Harriet Harman is right…
Almost completely ignored with all the huffing and puffing about Harriet Harman’s comments to the Sunday Times was what she said about the future of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
According to the report, the EHRC is to be reformed.
‘She spent last week sorting out the mess at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, after her decision to reappoint Trevor Phillips, the quango’s controversial head, prompted a further spate of resignations from the commissioners,’ writes Isabel Oakshott. ‘She now [...]
