Black communities could determine who wins and who loses

Never before in British history has the black vote been so powerful. In over 70 mostly inner-city seats, such as Battersea, Bristol, and Luton, black communities could determine who wins and who loses.What is also noteworthy is the changing dynamic of the black electorate. Not so long ago the Labour Party could safely take this vote for granted: 85 per cent of those who did vote, voted Labour. But no longer.The war in Iraq ensured a haemorrhaging of black support, particularly Muslims. At the same time a growing black middle class has alternative choices with the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.Furthermore, the absence of clear distinctions between the main three parties has left many black voters undecided. In a closely fought election, a black electorate that refuses to be taken for granted is afforded a golden opportunity to challenge the present political thinking.No one pretends this vote which by our definition includes those of African, Caribbean and Asian descent is homogenous, but there are many policy areas such as unemployment, health and housing in which race is a factor. Nor is it, as the rap artist and impresario P Diddy told African Americans during the US presidential elections, a question of vote or die, it is rather that black communities can articulate an agenda not only for social justice and equality of opportunity but also for the politics of hope.Last week a coalition of black organisations such as the 1990 Trust, the National Assembly Against Racism, and Operation Black Vote will toured the country in a campaign bus, armed with pledge or demand cards and a manifesto, Equality in our Lifetime.Instead of political parties telling communities what they will do for us, we inspired a generation to tell politicians what we wanted from them. Top of the agenda was for party leaders to demonstrate the political will to dismantle the instruments of institutional racism.It is unacceptable that two thirds of black communities live in the poorest areas of the UK. In the fourth richest country in the world, is it acceptable that infant mortality rates for Africans and Asians born here are no better than in many developing countries?Without radical action, we consign generation after generation to an endless cycle of poverty and inequality. A show of intent by the next government would be to raise the present post of Minister for Race from Under Secretary of State to cabinet level. Race equality champions should also be deployed to marshal the health, education and employment departments.They would act both as promoters of diversity, and to ensure necessary changes within departments are made. To ensure greater black representation at our premier seats of learning, the Government should introduce quotas.It's time political leaders were brave enough to promote affirmative action in this and other areas. It is not a question of handing out special favours, rather putting in place measures to circumvent practices that shackle talent.For those involved in black politics, these are exciting times. In a recent visit to London, the veteran civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson said that a small minority vote can not only hold the balance of power, but it can also be a moral majority vision. Part of that vision is how we treat those fleeing persecution and/or seeking work from other countries.But our political elite, goaded by xenophobic section of the print media, sees no wrong in demonising asylum-seekers and migrant workers. The effect is profound. It engenders arrogance and disdain towards those who look different, particularly those with darker skin.Worse still, it has given the rhetoric of race hatred a new lease of life. Another mark of a progressive society would be one in which the Prime Minister, on behalf the nation, apologised for slavery and its legacy.For over a million African descendants in this country alone who, like me, have had our African history erased, an apology would be a small but significant step. Furthermore, addressing the legacy of slavery and colonialism would dramatically shift the present debate away from Africa's debt to the modern world, to the modern world's debt to Africa. Righting a historical wrong, ensuring equality of opportunity and affording sanctuary to the persecuted is hardly radical, but in a climate of moribund, self-centred politics, our vision for justice sounds revolutionary.The clarion call from Bradford to Luton, from Brixton to Bristol is that our communities don't have the luxury not to vote. Our message for the political establishment is unequivocal: ignore us at your peril.