The Tory "revolt" over the Race Relations Act and the reaction of the Conservative Party leadership to this question cannot be understood in terms of a ruling class plot. There has been too much simplistic thinking on the left on this matter. Many who call themselves marxists have thrown away one of the basic methods in marxist thinking - that of trying to analyse the contradictions in a situation - when discussing racialism and fascism.
The simple truth of the matter is that at this stage it is not in the interests of monopoly capitalism for racialism to become an important factor in British politics. The most far-sighted sections of the ruling class, indeed, were opposed to imposing limits on immigration. The ECONOMIST quite rightly from a capitalist point of view, pointed out that Commonwealth immigration had been a counter-factor to the effects of full employment upon wages.
However, racialism arises from the very nature of monopoly capitalism and imperialism, The deep-rooted racialism of the British people arises from the ideological rationalisation of the domination of the colonies, Because in the real world the peoples of Africa, etc., were in an inferior position, in the world of ideas this had to be justified in terms of the intrinsic and "natural" inferiority of the non-white peoples, Anyone who has extensively read the literature of the 19th and very early 20th centuries will know that most was, at best, patronising to non-white people and at worst, disgustingly racialist. This tradition is kept alive today by cowboy and Tarzan films and books. Such insidious brain-washing will take generations to completely overcome. Hence racialism has fertile ground to sow its seeds,
Modern monopoly capitalism, despite all the talk of the effluent society, still generates immense wealth at one end of the pole and poverty at the other. Quite apart from the policies of any particular government, it just cannot provide decent housing for the mass of the people, full employment is still the exception rather than the rule, and the much-vaunted welfare state has been shown to be a passing phase. Under these circumstances discontent is bound to be rife and in the absence of this feeling being channeled into class struggle the stranger will be the natural scapegoat.
Because the left wing of the Labour Party has failed to present a challenge to Wilson, because trade union bureaucrats have worked hand-in-glove with the Labour Government in cutting the standards of their members, and because no other section of the left appears in the eyes of people to be a real challenge, the stage is set for the demagogues to channel this discontent against the immigrants.
Heath's position must be seen in this light, he doesn't want to go against the basic interests of his class - for international reasons and for the sake of internal stability, just now, British big business would not welcome racial conflict within the country. On the other hand he is the prisoner of [illegible] which is based upon the ideology of "Empire". Also it should never be forgotten that the not inconsiderable Tory working class support rests upon the most backward and bigoted sections, Perhaps, more important, demagogic references to immigrants win elections.
This contradictory position explains the turmoil in the Tory party - it also explains Wilson's position, too: as always his policy is that of defending the interests of monopoly capital, But this should not lull us into thinking that the fight against racialism is not urgent and vital, Wilson and the monopoly capitalists are not masters of the situation and will, if necessary, drastically change course. Wilson's record is one of continually capitulating to the racists, even when from a general capitalist point of view it has been unnecessary or even harmful (what did British big business gain from the Kenyan Asians affair?), These capitulations have only whetted the appetites of the bigots and racist opportunists, The extreme danger will come when Wilson's capitulations co-incide with it being in the interests of big business to use racialism to damp down working class struggle,
From all this flows the basic fact that the best way to fight racialism, which at a later stage (and one perhaps in the not so far future) could provide the ideological basis for a fascist movement) is to counter-pose class slogans. To expect racialism to be dealt with through the courts is short-sighted in the extreme. Any strengthening of the state machine under capitalism is eventually used against the left, (The Labour Government's efforts are no exception, e.g., the prosecution of Michael X and the use of the Race Act against anti-fascist demonstrators, )
Abstract slogans which call upon the black and white workers to unite are meaningless and, can be reactionary if they are designed to stop black workers who want to struggle from organising. Class slogans must be designed not just to make the record but to set struggle into motion, "Fight the Landlord on the Street" is more relevant than "Black and White Unite against rent increases,"
Finally, because the traditional sections of the workers organisations are doing nothing to meet the situation, the responsibility falls upon the small marxist groups to help to nip in the bud any fascist movement which tries to take advantage of racialism. Our position must be clear: we have to smash them before they have a chance to organise, The fascists must be intimidated - persuasion doesn't work! - they must be shown that they cannot march down the streets at will. However, it would be utopian in the extreme to think that the marxists by themselves can do this job. Their role must be that of mobilising sections of the working class to do this and particularly to seek to mobilise the black workers to take the strongest action against hooliganism,