Civil Liberties Under Attack

The scan: The Week v8 no6.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)

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Michael Defreitas, best known as Michael X, was stopped last week from speaking at the L.S.E. and is reported as saying that he is under immediate danger of being arrested, There have been press reports that special branch men are carrying out intense investigations in connection with Stokely Carmichael's visit to this country. Doctor Joseph Berke, who organised the Dialectics of Liberation conference, has been informed that he is likely to be prosecuted if he publishes a recording of Stokely's speech to that conference, It would appear that the British ruling class is determined to nip in the bud any development of a militant organisation among West Indians and other black people in this country, The spectre of black power is haunting them too, On the other hand, numerous racialist journals continue to appear and the operation of the Race Relations Board mechanism is characterised by its slowness and ineffectiveness, "Europeans only" notices continue to shame the accommodation notice boards in London and other big cities. A report issued in the London Borough of Hammersmith last week emphasised that immigrant children on leaving school have nothing like the jobs' opportunities that white London-born children have. If the newspaper The People is to be believed - and the Government's mini-worded denials are not very convincing - the Labour administration is actively supporting the recruitment of mercenaries; even to the extent of paying their wages, Truly, this Government must be one of the most hypocritical in British history! The Labour movement must counter the challenge to civil liberties posed by the Government's attitude, It should not be deterred by the hysteria of the capitalist press and reactionary Tory politicians like Duncan Sandys. This movement of ours must be very firm and clear: it must acquire a sensitive and deep understanding of the issues involved. The crude distortions of the concept of black power - whether they come "left" or right - must be opposed, An attack on the rights of Michael Defreitas is an attack on civil liberties and should be countered as such,