Black groups challenge Momentum’s ‘Boris racism video’

Re: Open letter to Momentum National Executive from a broad range of national black organisations re your inferred claim that Black people can be racist to Muslims.

On 8 August 2018 in response to Boris Johnson's recent and dreadful comments outlining his views on Muslim women wearing Burkas, you re-circulated a short viral video entitled, "This Is What Boris Johnson's Racism Fuels"

In this video, one of the examples we are shown is of a black security guard working in a McDonald's restaurant who was seen asking a Muslim woman to remove her hijab upon entering the restaurant.

The implication of this video is clearly that black people are being influenced by people like Boris Johnson to subject Muslim communities to grossly offensive " racism". We want to be absolutely clear in our political perspective that Black people cannot be racist in Britain, period. We do not hold the power.

Firstly we’d like to point out a factual error. The video incident occurred prior to Boris Johnson making his comments and is, well documented as such on national news coverage dated 2017 and can therefore be no way to be said to have motivated this particular incident. When making accusations of racism it is important they are based on fact if they are not to end up discrediting and undermining real anti-racist work.

The publication of this video represents a most fundamental and serious error of analysis and judgement reflecting the deep confusion that exists on the British left about the nature and reality of British racism. Furthermore the fact that you used this video to publically humiliate a low paid black worker, who no doubt has been instructed to take such reprehensible action, defied belief and further compounds your serious political error.

Racism in the United Kingdom is cultural, economic, political, systemic and institutionalised. This means that the real basis of oppressive and discriminatory racism is privilege, plus prejudice, plus power.

We all, readily accept that, everyone, including all ethnic groups, can and do suffer from prejudice, however to assert, as you have done, that Black people can be racist towards Muslims, is a dangerous precedent and appears to constitute a perverse, and almost wilful misreading of history and the dynamics of contemporary racism. In addition you, have disregarded the fact that some black people are Muslim and assumed this not to be the case.

Despite being contacted directly re the need to take the video down, by both Black Activists Rising Against The Cuts (BARAC UK) and Momentum Black Caucus (MBC) and indirectly by black community & trade union activists and black Labour & Momentum members via social media, we were told in response that ‘ black comrades in Momentum’ had cleared the advert and further, in direct response to the concerns raised, concluded these concerns as ‘not being relevant.’

Firstly, there is the most significant point, that we are democratically elected leaders of constitutive organisations, with decades of experience in leading the fight against racism.

It‘s a level of disrespect British black organisations are used to from the right wing, however it was with great sadness, shock, and a little anger, that we soon realised this is precisely how we are viewed by Momentum.

That our genuine concerns on this issue, could be so summarily dismissed in this way, is illustrative of both the critical weakness in their flawed political analysis of racism, and the scant political priority attached to challenging substantive and endemic racism.

In contrast, imagine if a major leader of a trade union and expressed concerns about an advert. Momentum's response wouldn't be’

"We've consulted a trade unionist on our national executive and they say it's okay."

In fact a trade union leader who is National Vice President of one union, national chair of another & elected to the TUC Race Relations Committee directly contacted you.

Secondly, the fact that Momentum lacks African and Caribbean descent representation, on its national committee and wider structures, we believe has lead to the Black voice being entirely marginalised within Momentum.

We note Momentum's energy around the current anti-semitism debate, which is seen to be in stark contrast, to the causal dismissive manner in which our important concerns have been treated.

This appears to reflect the existence of a clear, white dominated, hierarchy of oppression that we believe continues to exit within Momentum.

This has resulted in anti-Semitism being prioritised for immediate serious action, whilst action against, anti black racism is reduced to a few "viral ad" examples of "Tory name calling" and the use of “inappropriate language". All forms of racism should be given equal priority and there should be no attempt to set one group up against another.

What we have not seen however, is a clear understanding and vision about the absolute scale, profound economic exclusion and nature of systemic racist outcomes being driven by unacknowledged institutionalised racism.

Serious racial inequality and discrimination, can only be analysed in cultural, political and most importantly, socio-economic terms. The latter, known as structural racism is completely ignored by you. This simply adds to People's confusion about what constitutes real racism.

This historically, has resulted in white left organisations focusing on "cultural racism" and examples of bad language and name-calling, as providing the substantive evidence of British racism.

This is naive in the extreme, and dangerous fallacy, that does not accord with the view, and lived experience of black left organisations, who are clear and resolute in our determination to challenge real, as opposed to what can be considered offensive, but from a black perspective, as an important largely cosmetic petty racism.

This of course results from a failure of your political analysis, and a failure to politically engaged with back organisations, in addition to the failure to ensure serious black political representation on your national executive, as opposed to a collection of Black or Asian individuals.

We call on you to take down this video and begin a serious process of in-depth political discussion that can correct the fundamental errors of approach and analysis demonstrated by Momentum in response to this issue.

Yours in solidarity,

Zita Holbourne Chair of Black Activist Rising Against The Cuts,
Kingsley Abrams, General Secretary of Momentum Black Caucus,
Peter Herbert O.B.E Chair of Society of Black Lawyers,
Lee Jasper, MBC Press Officer

https://twitter.com/PeoplesMomentum/status/1027237852751519744

Lee Jasper
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MBC Press Officer