National Assembly Against Racism

The National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR) was a British anti-racist and anti-fascist group.[1]

NAAR was a predominantly black-led national anti-racist grouping, formed after the acrimonious collapse of the Anti-Racist Alliance. It first met on 4 February 1995, when it launched the Anti-Racist Charter for the New Millennium, endorsed by Bill Morris of the Transport and General Workers Union and Labour MPs Diane Abbott and Keith Vaz.[2]

Lee Jasper, race relations adviser to Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, was NAAR's chair. Socialist Action played a key role within it.[3] NAAR's student arm was Student Assembly Against Racism, organised in 1995.[4]

By 2003, its co-chairs were black Labour MP Diane Abbott and councillor Kumar Murshid, a close ally of Livingstone.[5] It had active local groups in Birmingham, Coventry, Lewisham, Manchester and Sheffield.[6]

NAAR merged into the Socialist Workers Party (UK)-led Unite Against Fascism (UAF) in 2003,[7] Jasper joining UAF's first steering committee and NAAR's Sabby Dhalu acting as joint secretary with SWP/ANL's Weyman Bennett.[8]

References

  1. Stefano Fella; Carlo Ruzza (24 December 2012). Anti-Racist Movements in the EU: Between Europeanisation and National Trajectories. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 67-68. ISBN 978-0-230-29090-7. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  2. Peter Barberis; John McHugh; Mike Tyldesley (26 July 2005). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  3. Martin Bright "Secret sect giving PSC mask of respectability" Jewish Chronicle 19 September 2009
  4. Peter Barberis; John McHugh; Mike Tyldesley (26 July 2005). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  5. Nigel Copsey Anti-Fascism in Britain
  6. Nigel Copsey Anti-Fascism in Britain
  7. Stefano Fella; Carlo Ruzza (24 December 2012). Anti-Racist Movements in the EU: Between Europeanisation and National Trajectories. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 67-68. ISBN 978-0-230-29090-7. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  8. "Unite Against Fascism: Powerful forces are coming together in a new coalition called Unite Against Fascism to confront the threat of the British National Party" Socialist Worker

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.