Countering Racism

yours, Matloub Husayn Ali Khan

I am writing to share my experiences of attending a meeting in Oldham recently to launch the Coalition Against Racism - Oldham . Many local speakers said that the disturbances in Oldham were stoked up by the BNP. The TUC president, Tony Wood, said ‘fascism is not a new threat and it has been evolving, we should not be complacent’. Ashid Ali (Bangladeshi Youth Association) said: ‘the media hype in the wake of the 11th September event, was mainly responsible for 'Islamphobia’. The recent comments by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett on a so-called ‘British Test’ have taken us back 30 years. Segregation is identified as the main problem. 

We should learn lessons from local events and national events and develop a principled and broad-based group to counter racism and fascism across Sheffield and show our local MP and Home Secretary the best way forward.