Why the fight against racism & for equality is never won
Below (for those who may not have read it…) is a fletter from the Guardian (30/9).
A link to several other letters on the same thread is below. The discussion is framed in terms of identity politics or otherwise.
That’s not particularly where I’m coming from rather making, as might be expected, a wider historical point.
The fight against racism and for equality is of course one of political ideals and priorities. It is also one that is strictly practical.
Tottenham along with a number of other areas in London had the highest death rates during the COVID-19 peak in April and May. Those with low income and living in poor housing were hardest hit and many of those people were from black and other ethnic groups.
The fight against racist prejudice and discrimination and for a society where they don’t exist has strictly practical outcomes, where it works.
The issue is that even where it does work, it doesn’t stay done, at least not while market capitalism continues as the dominant mode in society.
Unless the fight is renewed in each generation- arguably every 20 to 30 years- the priority can fade and achievements of earlier times are lost.
I don’t think for a moment that Keir Starmer is anything but concerned about racism and inequality. The point is that he comes from a more recent political generation where it was taken that progress had been made in this area. In some ways it had but progress isn’t maintained until pressure is kept up.
- I agree with Nesrine Malik that, under the new leadership of Keir Starmer, Labour nationally appears to be less focused on issues of race and discrimination in key areas such as employment, education, housing and policing. This despite the context of a huge Black Lives Matter movement.
But the reality is, as many people in areas such as Tottenham know, that these things do not just happen. Making sure that the issues of racism and inequality are brought to the fore is something that has to be fought for. The late Bernie Grant didn’t become leader of Haringey council and then Tottenham MP by accident. That was the work of many campaigners, and it is not something that, once done, is complete for all time. It has to be constantly campaigned for and achieved in each generation.
Keith Flett
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