Reach out to black communities, Corbyn. Don’t let Labour fail us again
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Version 0 of 1. In his victory speech on Saturday, Jeremy Corbyn promised that his Labour party would “reach out to everyone in this country … so no one is left on the side”. With his long history of being involved in anti-racism struggles and his commitment to reducing inequality there is optimism that a Corbyn-led Labour party could be good for black communities. However, the history of the Labour party in particular, and the left in general, suggests we should be wary. Related: ‘Britain can’t cut its way to prosperity. We have to build it’ | Jeremy Corbyn The relationship between Labour and black communities is at a low. Aside from the failed Race Relations Amendment Act of 2000, New Labour was actually regressive on addressing racism. Blair was at his most Tory-like when he talked of British values and blamed black culture for crime in London. New Labour also pursued a neoliberal foreign policy agenda, a draconian law and order position, and an attack on Muslims in the form of the Prevent agenda. It’s no wonder that people became disillusioned. New Labour made the same mistake as the party has made in the past, presuming that economic equality would naturally solve the problem of racism. Corbyn’s rise is part of the renewed push by the left, since the financial crisis, to reverse the neoliberal economic order. His political commitments to anti-austerity, renationalisation and increased taxes on the rich would return Britain to the social democratic roots of the Labour movement. However, whilst neoliberalism is by its very nature bad for black communities, social democracy is not a magic solution. Post-war migration, which firmly established our presence within the nation, was migration into a social democratic Britain. Yet this same Britain racially segregated housing and employment, and viciously undereducated black communities. In all areas of society there was acute racial discrimination; a climate of racist attacks and the mood of hostility embodied in the famous slogan: “no blacks, no dogs, no Irish”. Not only was there a generalised racism in the nation, the left was specifically discriminatory. Black and Asian workers found themselves confronted by a colour bar in many of the major trade unions. There was a feeling in the labour movement that mass migration was a way to undercut wages and therefore should be resisted. Given the poisonous nature of the immigration debate at present, how Corbyn navigates this issue will be a key test. It’s relatively easy to make a principled stance on a refugee crisis, but the real issue of migration is economic. The EU referendum will be central to where Corbyn positions Labour in the immigration debate. It is yet to be seen whether Corbyn’s social democracy is predicated on support for those already inside British borders, to the exclusion of others. Related: Corbyn victory energises the alienated and alienates the establishment | Gary Younge Much has changed since the times of overt racial discrimination in the unions and they have regularly been at the forefront of anti-racist campaigns. However, there are still issues that need to be addressed, for example black members of the University and College Union recently staged a walkout over complaints of not being supported by the union on race issues. The founding of a new union, Equal Justice, specifically to take on the issue of discrimination, also suggests that there is not wholehearted faith in the union movement on these issues. The issue for Corbyn is how to ensure that calls for equality and social democracy are not based solely on addressing the issues of the white working class and lower middle class who are being squeezed by austerity. The slogan “We are the 99%” emerged after the financial crisis had destabilised the budgets of a wide range of families; but there has been an economic crisis in black communities since before we arrived in Britain. There is a version of the social democratic project that reduces inequalities for the majority, while maintaining significant racial disparities. The only way to avoid this is to address it directly and not pretend that you can deal with racism by focusing on class. Corbyn’s election as Labour leader signals an opportunity for the party to reach out to black communities. Let us hope he can learn from history so that we are not let down by Labour again. |