How to beat the racists

Self-defence is no offence

The best way to “reason” with the thug who comes after you with a knife or a broken bottle in his hand is — as Leon Trotsky once put it — to “acquaint his head with the pavement". There is no guarantee that bouncing fascist heads off pavements will make them see sense or turn them into decent human beings,0 but there is no other way to “reason” with them. And it is better for fascist heads to learn the hard “lesson of the pavement" than that the heads of innocent black people, Jews or trade unionists should. The right to self-defence is basic. That means that we have the right to stop fascists...

Lewisham: a turning point

On 13 August 1977 the National Front tried to march through Lewisham in south east London, where many black people live. The All-Lewisham Campaign Against Racism and Fascism, a local umbrella group for the various anti-fascist and anti-racist campaigns, organised a counter-demonstration. As 3,00 anti-fascists occupied Lewisham High Street and the areas surrounding it, the police appeared on the streets in full riot gear for the first time in post-war Britain. Four thousand policemen equipped with horses, batons, motor vehicles and helicopters only just managed to keep the National Front from...

The Anti-Nazi League: The poverty of “anti-fascism”

By Mark Osborn Everybody knows that the Anti-Nazi League is run by the Socialist Workers’ Party, and entirely controlled by it. The ANL of the late 70s was also controlled by the SWP. Nevertheless, it was a much broader affair than the reborn, post-1992, ANL. SWP control means that the ANL exists first to serve the SWP and act as a source of recruits. It exists secondly — a poor second, sometimes — to fight racism and fascism. It will only fight racism and fascism in ways that do not cut across SWP plans. ANL anti-racist activity is conceived of exclusively as demonstrations and ritual...

How Europe underdeveloped Africa

By Chris Reynolds In the Middle Ages, Ethiopia was not underdeveloped. Walter Rodney — a black Marxist historian assassinated in 1980 as he tried to build a working-class party in his native Guyana — wrote: “The kings distinguished themselves by building several churches cut out of solid rock. The architectural achievements attest to the level of skill reached by Ethiopians as well as the capacity of the state to mobilise labour on a huge scale. “Fine illuminated books and manuscripts became a prominent element of Amharic culture. Equally fine garments and jewellery were produced for the...

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