Short THREAD on rising #racism & far-right extremism, based on very concerning updates from @IRR_News.
Please follow & support The Institute of Race Relations & the @RunnymedeTrust - organisations struggling for racial justice in very worrying times.
irr.org.uk/article/calend…
Please follow & support The Institute of Race Relations & the @RunnymedeTrust - organisations struggling for racial justice in very worrying times.
irr.org.uk/article/calend…
Not just in the UK, but in Spain, Portugal & France, governments & quangos are warning universities & institutions that re-evaluations of colonial history will bring dire consequences – at the exact same time presenting themselves as 'champions of free speech' & academic freedom.
The DoE's proposal for ‘free speech champions’ suggests ‘unacceptable silencing & censorship’ is now widespread on campuses.
It builds on the Govt’s attacks on critical race theory, the ‘dreadful’ (Priti Patel) #BLM protests, as well as the nebulous concept of a ‘woke agenda’.
It builds on the Govt’s attacks on critical race theory, the ‘dreadful’ (Priti Patel) #BLM protests, as well as the nebulous concept of a ‘woke agenda’.
Meanwhile, the outgoing right-wing Chair of the Charity Commission - who had previously taken aim at the race equality sector - says regulatory action may be needed against charities that support ‘culturally contentious causes’.
WTAF?
theguardian.com/society/2021/f…
WTAF?
theguardian.com/society/2021/f…
Nearly ALL charities for the promotion of human rights - whether in the field of racial justice, gay rights, or even child poverty - were seen as ‘culturally contentious’ when they were set up - THAT'S WHY THE CHARITIES WERE NEEDED IN THE FIRST PLACE!
For charities with a focus on racial justice, is it really desirable or even possible to avoid the issue of #racism’s historical roots?
The recent independent inquiry into the causes of the #Windrush scandal, whose recommendations were accepted by the government, is instructive:
The recent independent inquiry into the causes of the #Windrush scandal, whose recommendations were accepted by the government, is instructive:
Wendy Williams found that the #Windrush scandal happened in part BECAUSE OF public & officials’ poor understanding of #Britain’s #colonial #history!
Perhaps the government needs reminding of the recommendations that they have signed up to!
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
Perhaps the government needs reminding of the recommendations that they have signed up to!
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
The momentum in academia, in the arts & heritage sector, & in popular culture, is TOWARDS interrogation of the past. That spirit of inquiry should NOT be repressed by regulating free speech or weaponising the law - does the Govt want to DELIBERATELY ENCOURAGE far-right extremism?
In October, the head of MI5 warned that violent right-wing extremism is "A MAJOR THREAT" in the UK, with more than a quarter of serious terrorist attacks stopped in the final stages linked to neo-fascist & racist groups, with young people showing interest.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Hate Crime warned that far-right group 'Patriotic Alternative' is promoting an alternative home-schooling curriculum, which includes racist songs, claims that only white people are English, & that #BLM is out to destroy ‘western civilisation’!
'Patriotic Alternative' claims 10,000 people a month are viewing its syllabus online.
It claims it helps kids “learn history & culture free from the shackles & ideology of the National Curriculum”, focusing on a “heroic age” when Britons were “a #SUPERIOR kind of people".
It claims it helps kids “learn history & culture free from the shackles & ideology of the National Curriculum”, focusing on a “heroic age” when Britons were “a #SUPERIOR kind of people".
The group is run by two controversial figures.
One is neo-Nazi Mark Collett, 40, from Leeds – a former BNP official & Holocaust doubter who has tweeted claiming “white genocide” is taking place.
The other is Laura Towler, a critic of #BlackLivesMatter.
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
One is neo-Nazi Mark Collett, 40, from Leeds – a former BNP official & Holocaust doubter who has tweeted claiming “white genocide” is taking place.
The other is Laura Towler, a critic of #BlackLivesMatter.
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
'Patriotic Alternative' backs capital punishment, wants a complete halt to immigration unless in “exceptional cases”, promotes a “traditional nuclear family” unit consisting of a mother, father & children – & vows to ban “sexualised material or #LGBT propaganda” in public.
Counterterror experts warned 'Patriotic Alternative' is recruiting children AS YOUNG AS 12 online.
Leader Mark Collett was exposed in a 2002 documentary about the BNP: he said he admired Adolf Hitler & called AIDS a “friendly disease because blacks, drug users & gays have it”.
Leader Mark Collett was exposed in a 2002 documentary about the BNP: he said he admired Adolf Hitler & called AIDS a “friendly disease because blacks, drug users & gays have it”.
So when MPs, journalists, & people like Andrew Neil, Piers Morgan, Laurence Fox, Hartley-Brewer & Farage mention "the war on woke", or use far-right antisemitic conspiracy theories like "cultural Marxism", or denigrate attempts to learn from colonial history, it's #TERRIFYING.
If the Left don't stop this slow descent into increasingly dangerous populist nationalism, nobody will. Trump was a trial run, which came close to succeeding.
It's well under way & playing out here in the UK.
It really isn't a drill.
It's well under way & playing out here in the UK.
It really isn't a drill.
https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1362732931538632704
@threadreaderapp please unroll.
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