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| Momentum is giving people of colour a chance to shape Labour | Momentum is giving people of colour a chance to shape Labour |
| (10 days later) | |
| It’s an understatement to say that over the past eight years, people of colour in this country have had it rough. We turn on the news to hear the dog-whistle racism of Boris Johnson, with high-ranking Tories long invoking dehumanising imagery of “swarms” of immigrants. Austerity is hitting ethnic minority women the hardest, while policies have been explicitly designed to create a “hostile environment” for migrants and black and minority ethnic (BAME) people living in Britain. Topped off with the Grenfell Tower fire and the Windrush scandal, a generation of people of colour have been left swaying between anger, apathy and fighting for survival. | It’s an understatement to say that over the past eight years, people of colour in this country have had it rough. We turn on the news to hear the dog-whistle racism of Boris Johnson, with high-ranking Tories long invoking dehumanising imagery of “swarms” of immigrants. Austerity is hitting ethnic minority women the hardest, while policies have been explicitly designed to create a “hostile environment” for migrants and black and minority ethnic (BAME) people living in Britain. Topped off with the Grenfell Tower fire and the Windrush scandal, a generation of people of colour have been left swaying between anger, apathy and fighting for survival. |
| Labour’s history hasn’t been much better. The party was a key colonial force, playing a leading role in foreign warmongering, and has implemented deeply racist legislation. During the New Labour era the party introduced the Islamophobic Prevent agenda, which was then enforced and extended by the Coalition government, turning frontline services into a mass state surveillance system under the guise of counter terrorism. Labour MPs also overwhelmingly voted in favour of the 2014 Immigration Act, the bedrock of Theresa May’s hostile environment policy that led directly to the Windrush scandal, with only six Labour MPs including Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott voting against it. | Labour’s history hasn’t been much better. The party was a key colonial force, playing a leading role in foreign warmongering, and has implemented deeply racist legislation. During the New Labour era the party introduced the Islamophobic Prevent agenda, which was then enforced and extended by the Coalition government, turning frontline services into a mass state surveillance system under the guise of counter terrorism. Labour MPs also overwhelmingly voted in favour of the 2014 Immigration Act, the bedrock of Theresa May’s hostile environment policy that led directly to the Windrush scandal, with only six Labour MPs including Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott voting against it. |
| By the time the 2015 general election came around, Labour was considered the party of the infamous “controls on immigration” mug, tarnished by the legacy of the Iraq war. It lost an unprecedented one million BAME voters to the Tories that year, exposing the unavoidable reality that Labour could no longer rely on the loyalty of communities of colour while continuing to pursue reactionary policies. | By the time the 2015 general election came around, Labour was considered the party of the infamous “controls on immigration” mug, tarnished by the legacy of the Iraq war. It lost an unprecedented one million BAME voters to the Tories that year, exposing the unavoidable reality that Labour could no longer rely on the loyalty of communities of colour while continuing to pursue reactionary policies. |
| But Labour’s history has also been punctuated by groundbreaking steps forward in the fight for racial equality, social justice and human rights, from the landmark Race Relations Act of 1965 to the Equality Act of 2010. And through the tireless campaigning of Black Sections, the radical, grassroots self-organised group of black trade union and Labour party activists, Labour saw the historic election of four black MPs elected to an all-white parliament in 1987. | But Labour’s history has also been punctuated by groundbreaking steps forward in the fight for racial equality, social justice and human rights, from the landmark Race Relations Act of 1965 to the Equality Act of 2010. And through the tireless campaigning of Black Sections, the radical, grassroots self-organised group of black trade union and Labour party activists, Labour saw the historic election of four black MPs elected to an all-white parliament in 1987. |
| Under Corbyn, this is the kind of party we’ve seen reborn. Labour currently has the most diverse shadow cabinet in the history of British politics, with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott now the highest-everranking black female British politician. And the transformation goes beyond just getting “black faces in high places”: in the last general election, Labour developed transformative policies in its Race and Faith manifesto, which pledged to tackle discrimination in the workplace, take robust action against violence and hate crime, and launch a review into the Prevent legislation. Labour also explicitly recognised the disproportionate effect the devastating cuts to basic housing, education and education services has had on BAME families and communities, and has pledged significant funding to improve them. | Under Corbyn, this is the kind of party we’ve seen reborn. Labour currently has the most diverse shadow cabinet in the history of British politics, with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott now the highest-everranking black female British politician. And the transformation goes beyond just getting “black faces in high places”: in the last general election, Labour developed transformative policies in its Race and Faith manifesto, which pledged to tackle discrimination in the workplace, take robust action against violence and hate crime, and launch a review into the Prevent legislation. Labour also explicitly recognised the disproportionate effect the devastating cuts to basic housing, education and education services has had on BAME families and communities, and has pledged significant funding to improve them. |
| The Uber strike is just the start, if unions learn how to mobilise millennials | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett | |
| At the snap election of 2017, BAME, young and working class voters came flooding back. I joined both Momentum and Labour at this point myself and found my voice in British politics. My experience was not unique. | At the snap election of 2017, BAME, young and working class voters came flooding back. I joined both Momentum and Labour at this point myself and found my voice in British politics. My experience was not unique. |
| Up and down the country, many BAME people heard the call to build a Labour party for the many, and have organised in our thousands to lobby for ringfenced representation at every level of the party, extra funding and spaces for self-organisation to empower us to collectively shape the party’s direction. We mobilised for, and won, representative and accountable structures with influential policy-making powers. | Up and down the country, many BAME people heard the call to build a Labour party for the many, and have organised in our thousands to lobby for ringfenced representation at every level of the party, extra funding and spaces for self-organisation to empower us to collectively shape the party’s direction. We mobilised for, and won, representative and accountable structures with influential policy-making powers. |
| BAME Momentum members have also been key in pushing motions on Palestine and Windrush at this year’s conference, mobilising with trade unions and feminist groups against fascist organisations such as the Democratic Football Lads Alliance and supporting migrant and precarious workers in the recent Uber strike. Labour has become home for a young, diverse crowd of newly politicised activists. | BAME Momentum members have also been key in pushing motions on Palestine and Windrush at this year’s conference, mobilising with trade unions and feminist groups against fascist organisations such as the Democratic Football Lads Alliance and supporting migrant and precarious workers in the recent Uber strike. Labour has become home for a young, diverse crowd of newly politicised activists. |
| But there’s still much more to be done. It’s widely recognised that local party meetings are overwhelmingly white, with BAME representation stymied right throughout the party’s internal structures. That’s why Momentum is launching a new campaign to support and train 250 young BAME Momentum members from across the country in media and campaigning skills, to give young BAME members the skills and confidence to stand for positions of power within the party and the movement. | But there’s still much more to be done. It’s widely recognised that local party meetings are overwhelmingly white, with BAME representation stymied right throughout the party’s internal structures. That’s why Momentum is launching a new campaign to support and train 250 young BAME Momentum members from across the country in media and campaigning skills, to give young BAME members the skills and confidence to stand for positions of power within the party and the movement. |
| With so much at stake right now for people of colour in this country, more than simply “inclusion” and “diversity”, Labour needs BAME members who can fundamentally transform the culture and policy of our party so it represents the working class in all its diversity. Anything less than this isn’t the socialism I signed up for. | With so much at stake right now for people of colour in this country, more than simply “inclusion” and “diversity”, Labour needs BAME members who can fundamentally transform the culture and policy of our party so it represents the working class in all its diversity. Anything less than this isn’t the socialism I signed up for. |
| • Natasha Josette is a member of Momentum’s National Coordinating Group | • Natasha Josette is a member of Momentum’s National Coordinating Group |
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