The banning of Stokely Carmichael, the prosecution of Michael X and the publication of a Labour Party paper on race relations all indicated: the fear and uncertainty in the ruling circles in Britain of the consequences for Britain, of the incidents in Detroit and other parts. of the U.S. These events also confirm that the sort of manoeuvres that have characterised government policy over the last three years go no way to opposing the racialist currents in Britain but have aided them; and that racialism can only be opposed by an uncompromising attitude and a determination to match the violence of racialism with violence, Those who have refused to take up this position, and who have compromised 'in the interests of good race relations’ are inevitably regarded by Black militants as no better than the open advocates of racialism. The logic of the governments position has been to prosecute black militants under the 'Race Relations Act', and to ban from Britain Black men who give strength and encouragement to Black people who are fighting against racialism. But there is also the 'progressive'part of their policy, specially designed to confuse the Left. Part of this is seen in the recent working paper on race relations issued by the Labour Party. Its proposals only go as far as the government's in calling for an extension of the race laws, and the 'progressive' signatories of this document do not once criticise the racialist laws that the government have strengthened. It contributes nothing to the fight against discrimination and racialism, Its only value is that it exposes the bankruptcy of those who wrote it. Its thesis is simple. Black people in Britain must be patient, They must accept the perspective of freedom and equality as something for tomorrow while inequality and repression remain today, just as the working class as a whole must accept unemployment and wage cuts today for the perspective full employment and a steady rise in living standards tomorrow. The Universal Coloured People's Association have understood that if you don't fight for freedom now it won't come tomorrow, and their manifesto is an attempt to bring this message into the Black community. Black power is their philosophy, a revolutionary philosophy, 'which will educate the Black man to be not only reactional but also actional, a philosophy which must teach the Black man that, as Franz Fanon pointed out, man is not only YES...yes to life, yes to love, yes to generosity, but also that man is equally NO...no to scorn of man, no to degradation of man, no to exploitation of man, no to the butchery of what is most human in man: freedom', Black people cannot seek economic power within the existing White structure, This would only mean, 'a replacement of exploitation of Black by White with exploitation of Black by Black, a mere replacement of colour discrimination by class discrimination. Since our object is the annihilation of oppression, not the butchery of colour, this would be unsuitable', The only way forward is to smash the system of exploitation of Black people, If this cannot be done from within, international revolutionary forces must do the same job from without. The Americans made the mistake of thinking that because Black people were in a minority they would not revolt against the exploitative system that they live under, In Britain the government too has made the same mistake in thinking that the restriction on immigration will make an explosive reaction against racialism less likely here, The Universal Coloured People's Association does not advocate violence, But they say, "we believe that the only way to neutralise violence is to oppose it with violence",
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