BLACK POWER IN BRITAIN - A MORE CRITICAL WELCOME by Geoff Crossick Marx argued in "On the Jewish Question" that the emancipation of the Jew could only be achieved as a part of the emancipation of man. The context and the specific criticisms were different; nevertheless I believe that these ideas of Marx can form the basis of a relevant criticism of the ideological basis of the Black Power movement. Bernard Reaney was right to welcome the publication of the manifesto of the Universal Coloured People's Association (THE WEEK Sept.14) -all involved in the struggle against imperialism must welcome the development of a revolutionary militancy among the section of society most oppressed and illused by Western capitalism. And their alignment with coloured peoples (widely defined) throughout the world is an important attempt to break through the complex structure which inhibits the unity of those who, objectively, should combine to fight imperialism. But one of my major criticisms of the analysis in the Manifesto is that it shows no awareness of just that Marxist concept of the objective situation. This appears most clearly in the rejection by the Manifesto
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