jimboo wrote:Copehead wrote:jimboo wrote:And in the end nothing changed.
I'd take issue with that
Through the decade from the mid 70s to the mid 80s the Fascists attempted to establish themselves on the streets of the UK in the same way that the Brown Shirts had in Germany in the 20s and 30s and they were stopped in that by various left wing groups from Rock Against Racism through to Red Action.
When they marched they met bigger counter demonstrations and were forced off the streets as at Lewisham and Southall in the late 70s, this was organised by RAR, the ANL and various SWP front groups and it was successful int that it forced the far right away from mass action into criminal attacks on BAME people in the community.
I'd suggest it was here in the mid to late 80s that left wing groups that weren't adverse to violence came to the fore - WAR and RA - because when you are facing groups like Combat 18 then passive resistance and debate is not going to work. WAR basically ambushed these people in their attempts to intimidate and attack minorities, especially in the East End and they made it pretty much impossible to continue in any organised fashion.
At this point the far right started dressing up in suits and infiltrating the Tory party, which in the end has brought them a measure of success when you look at what Farage and Patel are suggesting.
So you could say that those attitudes still exist and they are coming to the fore again today but it appears to be largely the same age group to me, they appear to have little or no traction in the under 30s.
So was it Red Action busting heads or was it MDMA? A bit of both; RA took out the hard core and MDMA did for the less committed, but when was the last time we saw large scale organised street action by the far right in the UK? So something changed.
Yeah, that's an excitable tale of derring do and lore. It also ends as you would expect.
If you are black in this country NOTHING changed.
They don't march anymore the far right. They just quietly get voted in and carry on like they did then and like they do now. Despite what indie kid students reminiscing over a few beers 40 years later like to think , alas.
I think a fair bit changed; not so much in how the state treats BAME people as a threat rather than as a citizen but at least BAME communities aren't having burning rags pushed through their letter boxes and bricks through their windows or 10,000 fascists marching down their local high streets these days.
The defeat of the organised far right as a presence on the streets was real and tangible.
For the rest of it I wouldn't argue with you, but I think you down play the threat posed by the far right in the 70s and 80s as a street force for the simple reason that it doesn't exist these days and so it it is hard to believe what a terrifying presence they were to many BAME communities.