Well, Saturday saw the latest anti-BNP rally by the UAF, and it was much better in some ways, but much worse in others.
First the positives, of which there were quite a few. The range and diversity of speakers was far greater this time, with all the main parties in Sheffield represented, as well as several minority ethnic groups, LGBT, students, and with unions being no longer dominant but a welcome part of the mix. The stalls and handouts were still mostly socialist kinds of material, but I gather the organizers have little control over which groups turn up to flyer an event. The crowd also seemed much more diverse, and I think at times I was surrounded by people who probably don't go to that many protests.
Some of the speakers were excellent, and some even managed to avoid over the top description and hatred against the BNP, concentrating instead on the people who voted for them and the need to reconnect with these people. One speaker in particular stressed that the situation of some people in the Sheffield area meant the BNP had fertile ground for their views, and had more attention been paid to these people's needs in the past the BNP would not had gained so many votes as they did.
However, there were several negatives, and one glaring fuck-up in the form of an illiberal and very misguided speaker. The first problem was frankly the turnout: the official organizers said only 150 people came to the rally, which is potentially less than the previous two. I would be more though and say the crowds were roughly equal, but when this was organized well in advance and was supposed to be something larger, it's very disappointing. Perhaps part of the blame can be laid with the location, having been shifted from Barker's Pool to the Town Hall at a late date, and then further onto Fargate without any prior notice. Maybe one or two people got lost and could find it, which is unlikely, but I'm being generous here as I won't be so in a second.
The reason why not to be generous is well, to be honest, having been to all three rallies/protests since the elections, I don't think they have much of an answer to the BNP problem. There are only so many times you can say, 'Down with the BNP!' and 'We need to work together!' before you wonder what the next step is. I'm happy to come out and protest against the BNP, and maybe that will be really useful in the run up to the next general election, but what else? I hope that over the summer they'll formalize and organize a more solid campaign to deal with why people have voted BNP and to persuade them not to in the future. I would like to be part of that, as I really would like to do something, because otherwise attending UAF rallies just feels like a sticker for being a good person. That's nice, but ultimately gets us nowhere.
Okay, I'm far too harsh on the UAF. I'm sure they're good people and try hard, I would just like to see so much more as the BNP are increasingly coming to define the political debate for some parts of the population, and that's where the real fuckup from this rally comes into play. There was a speaker (I won't name him, sadly) who decided that the best way to deal with the BNP was to withdraw their political rights, specifically the right to free speech. Yup, he thinks that a political party which already leans hard on its 'outsider' status should be handed the biggest free gift ever. Not only will it cement its place as an anti-politics party, but it will make their supporters so much harder to reach. Such a move will signal to their supporters, the people whom we most need to reach out to, that they're completely denied access to the normal political processes. Damn right we need to avoid debate with the BNP on their, and we need to oppose their hate, but in order to challenge their analyses of problems you don't engage with their supporters by first labelling them unconscionable. I want to see current BNP supporters another way of understanding why they are having problems with housing an employment, but you have to be willing to speak to them, and to let them speak to you. The speaker was heckled, and I wish I had heckled him too. I refused to clap his suggestion and consider him just as dangerous as the BNP. There, I said it.
First the positives, of which there were quite a few. The range and diversity of speakers was far greater this time, with all the main parties in Sheffield represented, as well as several minority ethnic groups, LGBT, students, and with unions being no longer dominant but a welcome part of the mix. The stalls and handouts were still mostly socialist kinds of material, but I gather the organizers have little control over which groups turn up to flyer an event. The crowd also seemed much more diverse, and I think at times I was surrounded by people who probably don't go to that many protests.
Some of the speakers were excellent, and some even managed to avoid over the top description and hatred against the BNP, concentrating instead on the people who voted for them and the need to reconnect with these people. One speaker in particular stressed that the situation of some people in the Sheffield area meant the BNP had fertile ground for their views, and had more attention been paid to these people's needs in the past the BNP would not had gained so many votes as they did.
However, there were several negatives, and one glaring fuck-up in the form of an illiberal and very misguided speaker. The first problem was frankly the turnout: the official organizers said only 150 people came to the rally, which is potentially less than the previous two. I would be more though and say the crowds were roughly equal, but when this was organized well in advance and was supposed to be something larger, it's very disappointing. Perhaps part of the blame can be laid with the location, having been shifted from Barker's Pool to the Town Hall at a late date, and then further onto Fargate without any prior notice. Maybe one or two people got lost and could find it, which is unlikely, but I'm being generous here as I won't be so in a second.
The reason why not to be generous is well, to be honest, having been to all three rallies/protests since the elections, I don't think they have much of an answer to the BNP problem. There are only so many times you can say, 'Down with the BNP!' and 'We need to work together!' before you wonder what the next step is. I'm happy to come out and protest against the BNP, and maybe that will be really useful in the run up to the next general election, but what else? I hope that over the summer they'll formalize and organize a more solid campaign to deal with why people have voted BNP and to persuade them not to in the future. I would like to be part of that, as I really would like to do something, because otherwise attending UAF rallies just feels like a sticker for being a good person. That's nice, but ultimately gets us nowhere.
Okay, I'm far too harsh on the UAF. I'm sure they're good people and try hard, I would just like to see so much more as the BNP are increasingly coming to define the political debate for some parts of the population, and that's where the real fuckup from this rally comes into play. There was a speaker (I won't name him, sadly) who decided that the best way to deal with the BNP was to withdraw their political rights, specifically the right to free speech. Yup, he thinks that a political party which already leans hard on its 'outsider' status should be handed the biggest free gift ever. Not only will it cement its place as an anti-politics party, but it will make their supporters so much harder to reach. Such a move will signal to their supporters, the people whom we most need to reach out to, that they're completely denied access to the normal political processes. Damn right we need to avoid debate with the BNP on their, and we need to oppose their hate, but in order to challenge their analyses of problems you don't engage with their supporters by first labelling them unconscionable. I want to see current BNP supporters another way of understanding why they are having problems with housing an employment, but you have to be willing to speak to them, and to let them speak to you. The speaker was heckled, and I wish I had heckled him too. I refused to clap his suggestion and consider him just as dangerous as the BNP. There, I said it.
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