Dundee anti-racist protest: setting the record straight

By Dundee Young Socialists 

A successful anti-racist protest demanding justice for George Floyd and in solidarity with all those facing racist attacks was held on Sunday, June 7 in Dundee City Square.

The event was coordinated by Dundee Young Socialists, the youth wing of Socialist Party Scotland. It was just one of a number of BLM events taking place in Scotland on that day.

Around 250 took part, including many from the BAME community. Moving speeches and testimony were heard, a majority of whom were from people from the black community in Dundee. It was an overwhelmingly viewed as a positive event, based on the feedback we received on the day and since

However, some criticisms have been voiced by a small group who were politically hostile to the organisers, both before, on the day and since. Some have taken to social media with unfounded and unacceptable attacks on the YS and Socialist Party Scotland since Sunday.

This response is aimed at briefly responding to those attacks.

The run up to June 7

Since May 25 and the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, a massive movement of young people – both black and white – has erupted in the US. Very quickly the revolt spread across the world. Systemic racism, police violence, poverty, low pay, unemployment and the horrific effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have all added to this explosive mix.

Mass protests have been organised that have seen huge numbers taking part. Scotland has been no different.

A very welcome decision was taken to call a BLM event in Dundee for Sunday, June 7 by a young black woman. We welcomed this. YS and SPS members immediately offered support and assistance. We offered a PA system, PPE, hand sanitizers etc. We also offered speakers for the event. Indeed it was agreed via the BLM event page on Facebook that there would be a YS speaker and one from Socialist Party Scotland, among others. There was no opposition to this.

However, in the run up to Sunday enormous pressure was applied to have BLM events cancelled amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Scottish government, politicians from all parties and Police Scotland appealed for the events to be called off. If that was not done they asked people not to attend. There were also hostile comments on various local media websites.

This and fears over the possible spread of the virus led to the cancellation/postponement of the Dundee event and also one in Glasgow as well. An alternative event was called in Glasgow by different organisers.

In Dundee, Young Socialists discussed what to do now the event was called off. We waited to see if another individual or group would call something. It was clear from the original FB event that some people were still intending to go on Sunday to protest racism.

With just a few days left, on the Wednesday evening, we created a FB event: Stand/Kneel in Solidarity – Justice for George Floyd! #BLM. We appealed for people to attend for a socially distanced protest with PPE. It would be an open mic and asked people to bring banners etc.

Our sole intention was to try to ensure a properly organised event with appropriate health and safety and a decent turnout. Not least because the local press had widely covered the cancellation of the original protest.

As it was the YS FB event started to gather support and interest, leading to a very good turnout on Sunday.

However, in the run up to Sunday a few individuals began to raise complaints/criticisms. These can be boiled down to two related issues: 1. that it was not legitimate for white people to organise an event against racism, and 2. that it was not legitimate for socialists to organise an event against racism.

On the day

On the day itself a member of the YS compered the event. As it was a socially distanced protest it was necessary for him to go round different parts of the square asking people if they wanted to speak. The effectiveness of this approach was shown by the fact that there were 16 contributions through the mic, ten of these were from BAME participants. 

Indeed for all the noise about the YS seeking to dominate and co-opt BLM, from the 16 contributions made there was only one YS speaker and one from Socialist Party Scotland – who is also a leading trade unionist in the city. These were the two people who it had been agreed would have spoken anyway at the original BLM event.

Two members of the Socialist Workers Party spoke – one representing Stand Up to Racism. Fight Racism Fight Imperialism also spoke. Even if all the so-called “white socialist” speakers were added together it only made up fewer than one-third of the contributions on the day.

Towards the end of the protest one individual spoke and launched, it’s fair to say, a pointed attack on the organisers. At various points she commented that she was “sick of hearing white socialists say we are standing in solidarity”. And that:”all you socialists can fuck off”

She was then heckled by two individuals – which was unnecessary and not in the tradition of how anyone should conduct themselves. Although it has to be made clear that they were not members of the YS or Socialist Party Scotland. Nor indeed had they anything to do with organising the event.

When the only YS member to make a speech spoke later, he simply called for a united struggle of black and white workers and young people to defeat racism – and did not refer to the criticisms articulated by the young black women. 

He also offered solidarity to those BAME workers who had died as a result of contracting Covid-19 while at work, specifically mentioning Belly Mujinga – a London transport worker who had recently lost her life.

While the YS member was speaking a shout was heard from the small group who had been hostile to us: “You can fuck off with your solidarity”.

We don’t think that such comments assist the anti-racist movement in the city. We also believe they are completely at odds with the views of the vast majority of anti-racists, black and white, in Dundee.

What was clear was that these views were reflective of only a tiny minority of those at the event. We can draw this conclusion because we were thanked again and again by BAME people, young and old, who had taken part.

As the event was finishing, the YS stall was mobbed by young people asking about information about socialism and the Young Socialists.

Later that evening we received a message from someone with close connections to the African community in Dundee. She helped encouraged people to attend the protest. “Looks like it was a great turnout and a good range of speakers. A few guys have been in touch with me and said they felt really moved. Gutted I couldn’t be there but well done guys!!”

socialism is necessary to defeat racism

Since Sunday, a small number of political opponents have said that a “black woman was shouted down” and that the YS and Socialist Party Scotland tried to “co-opt” the BLM movement and that there is no place for white socialists in organising such events.

We can only repeat that we called the event very late in the day and only after the original event had been cancelled. That the majority of those who spoke were from a BAME background and they would not have had a platform had we not facilitated one. That only two of the 16 contributions were made by Socialist Party Scotland members. That if we had not called an event the turnout would undoubtedly have been much smaller.

Socialist Party Scotland members have a long and proud history of opposing racism and fascism in Dundee. A history that goes back decades to when the BNP tried to organise in the city in the 80s and 90s and we played an important role in the battle to drive them out.

We set up Youth Against Racism in Europe in the 90s, and run buses to London to the mass protests to shut down the BNP bookshop in Welling.

Our opponents base their hostility to us – to one degree or another – on their support for Identity Politics. In essence, that means sectionalising – seeking to keep separate – the essential struggles against oppression from the overall struggle to overthrow the system that perpetuates all oppression.

Socialists take a different approach. We call for a mass united struggle of all of the oppressed in a movement to defeat racism and capitalism while also supporting every step possible to undermine racism in the here and now. Including helping to organise protests and other anti-racist events.

The capitalist elite consciously creates divisions between different genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities and nationalities etc to pit workers against each other to the benefit of the ruling class. When we fight each other, we can’t unite and fight back against our common exploitation by the capitalists. The only way we can overcome racism for good is to fight for socialism – with an organised movement of the entire working class.

Perhaps it is a crime to explain that racism and capitalism are like co-joined twins but we don’t think so.

We’ve seen black and white youth quoting Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Fred Hampton and others: for a joint, working-class, multiracial fightback against all the social and economic injustices this system breeds.

All these black leaders were advocating, or moving towards, a socialist solution to the racism and class inequality of this rotten system. For a new generation of black and white youth awakening into struggle, those socialist ideas are more relevant than ever.

We look forward to the next anti-racist protest in Dundee and indeed to an even larger and stronger protest. We will certainly do all we can to build such an event, whoever organises it.