Diane Abbott: a mistaken, wrong letter – and a witch-hunt
JVL Introduction
In a sensitive contribution Kevin Ovenden argues that Diane Abbott’s letter was wrong in saying that only Black people experience racism and notes her apology for this.
But he is quite clear that being wrong is not the same as being racist and he rounds on the double standards of those who have accused Abbott of this.
No individual has suffered more from racism over her 40 years as an MP than Abbott and to even think of characterising her as racist is grotesque political chicanery.
Both the Tories and Starmer-Labour look set on making this a full-blown witch-hunt, each of them aiming to smear the left.
We all have to stand firmly in our support of Abbott in the face of this malign campaign of demonisation.
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Jenny Manson was interviewed on the topic on the BBC Radio London’s Eddie Nestor programme on 24th April (at about 45 mins in). The whole programme is to be congratulated on its measured tone and serious attempt to discuss complex issues.
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And Caribbean Labour Solidarity has issued a brief statement of support for Abbott – reposted below – which we endorse.
This article was originally published by Counterfire on Mon 24 Apr 2023. Read the original here.
Diane Abbott: a mistaken, wrong letter – and a witch-hunt
Kevin Ovenden explains why the view of racism in Diane Abbott’s letter is wrong, but so is the pile-on against her instigated by Starmer and the Tories
Long-standing anti-racist MP Diane Abbott’s letter to the Observer has provoked a political storm. It was misguided and wrong.
She has withdrawn it and apologised.
The letter was mistaken in saying that only black people can face racism. It said that other, overwhelmingly white groups – the letter mentioned Jewish people, Irish, Travellers and Gypsy people – may face discrimination and even violence, but that is due to “prejudice… not racism”.
That is not a true distinction. Not just historically, but today. You will find pubs today in many parts of England with signs saying “No Travellers”. There used to be signs saying “No Blacks”. Decades of anti-racist activity have at least achieved the removal of those.
The brutal physical attack on two elderly Jewish bakers in Stamford Hill, north London, last year was of the same kind as the racist murder of pensioner Mohammed Saleem in Birmingham ten years ago.
But being wrong in your categorisation of racism, different forms of racism or of xenophobia and prejudice is not the same as being racist. Tory minister Grant Shapps’ claim that the letter amounted to “hateful anti-semitism” is a calumny from a man who serves in a government that:
- has passed a law enabling the seizure and destruction of Traveller caravans. To be clear: that is the destruction of the homes of an ethnic minority
- has a Home Secretary who diverts the fight to end Child Sexual Exploitation into a dangerous campaign to blame “British-Pakistani men”. A lie that her own department refutes
- has a former leader, Boris Johnson, who said he didn’t like being bypassed as he was supposed to be “the Fuehrer”.
- maintains close links with the antisemitic nationalist right in Eastern Europe…
We could go on… and on.
It is not only the racist Tory government that is unscrupulously trying to make political capital. Keir Starmer ignored Diane Abbott’s apology and withdrew the whip from her.
Who can doubt that he spotted an opening to move against a Labour left MP? Journalists have reported that all left MPs are under heavy manners and threat by the leadership.
After all, no move was ever made against an MP of the Labour right, Siobhan McDonagh (or others). She suggested on Radio 4 that Jewish people were connected with capitalism, saying “yes” in response to the question “to be anti-capitalist you have to be antisemitic?”
And this suspension of the whip is by a Labour leader who has sought to bury the report by Martin Forde KC into racism in the Labour Party and the handling of complaints.
Forde has had to go public to restate his findings that there is a “hierarchy of response to racism” in the Labour Party.
It means that complaints of racism against black and Asian – and especially Muslim – members are taken far less seriously, or even ignored.
Incidentally, those who join the pile-on over the letter by pointing out only that Jewish people do indeed face racism (they do) while ignoring the same mistake made about Travellers betray their own selective anti-racism.
This is not surprising from political parties who have councillors who routinely mount racist agitation against Gypsies.
Public figures as far from Diane Abbott as broadcaster Robert Peston and Tony Blair’s former political secretary John McTernan said on Sunday that Abbott’s apology should be taken in good faith. They pointed out the decades of systematic racist abuse she has faced.
But both the Tories and Starmer-Labour look to be for a full-blown witch-hunt, each of them aiming to smear the left.
The left, the unions and the anti-racist movement should stand up to that and point out what is happening.
Frank debate
But that requires more than Diane’s apology. It requires engaging in what those in bloodlust battle cry want to drown out from public life.
That is a full and serious discussion about racism and how to fight every aspect of it, and the broadest unity in action against racism and the growing far-right. It is a discussion to have throughout the movement and among all those we reach.
The biggest and tragic mistake behind the letter was to lose touch with the potent sentiment of unity. When widely held it has always been when the anti-racist movement has leapt forward. It is the foundation of the working-class movement.
It is a sentiment Diane herself has voiced at countless anti-racist and anti-fascist events, from which Tory MPs and all but a few Labour ones have studiously absented themselves.
In response to the rise of the fascist right and racism in the 1970s, Phil Lynott of the band Thin Lizzy wore a T-shirt saying: “More Blacks. More Dogs. More Irish.” It inverted the infamous signs on B&Bs in the 1950s refusing service to black and Irish people.
It was not only popular racism that was the problem. Black people were subjected to the most vicious police racism. Asians especially faced obscene immigration raids and intrusions at the airports.
It was the height of the Irish Troubles. Irish homes in Britain were frequently raided. Not only the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six, but in many lesser cases people were fitted up. We are talking about state racism of the kind belatedly admitted to in the irreformable Metropolitan Police.
The National Front was semi-openly antisemitic and encouraged attacks on Jewish people.
In the face of this the cry was unity.
Many Jewish people, and not only those of the left, brought their families’ traumatic histories to bear in exposing the far right as actual Nazis.
Those who had experienced the fight against anti-Jewish racism in the 1930s funnelled that into the movement of 40 years on.
It also meant, for example, that the most militant and socialistic elements of the Black revolutionary movement insisted on “Black” as a political concept.
Not a skin colour, but a community of interests experiencing racism and state repression of different but related characters.
This was the work of many people such as Olive Morris, Darcus Howe, Ambalanaver Sivanandan and others. It met on the road the arguments and agitation of the anti-capitalist left in general.
There was an important debate where revolutionary, as opposed to separatist, black and Asian strands argued that the “white” Irish were in fact “politically Black”. After all, they had hundreds of political prisoners held under the kind of legal regime that Britain had imposed on its African and Asian colonies.
Above all, there was unity in the struggle, an urge to further that unity, and – at its best – serious debate and fraternal disagreement over how to do so. Sometimes schisms, but overall an upwards curve and towards each other.
The retreat of the movement in the 1980s was as if a river had gone from full flood to ebb tide. Instead of different streams coming together, they tended to fall into their own channels and rivulets.
The same had happened on an even greater scale in the US, from where all sorts of ideas were imported that emphasised separateness, division and even mutual antagonism.
The Marxist-influenced left had looked at the precursors to the full-blown racist ideology developed to justify the transatlantic slave trade.
They found a shift in 15th century Europe from antisemitism based on religion to what would later become race and how that noxious ideology provided tools for the systematic racism of the 18th century onwards.
The separatist or “identitarian” backlash against the radicals instead tried to invent a deep and historic antagonism between Jewish and black people.
Unfortunately, and despite all sorts of positive developments, we are living with the impact of these sectional and separatist politics still today. They have a baleful influence. They are incapable of confronting reaction effectively. And they frequently provide openings to the racist right while demoralising the anti-racist left.
There is much more to discuss about all this both historically and in the experiences of our own lifetimes. There are different points of view and debates.
It is a discussion of the labour movement, of all the social movements, among anti-racists and among all of goodwill. And we should have these discussions in an open and comradely way.
It is very unfortunate that Diane Abbott’s ill-considered letter has given a golden opportunity for a Tory government that is beset by problems and a Labour leader whom more and more people find underwhelming.
That is not an excuse either for falling in behind an unjustified pile-on and wouldbe witch-hunt or for not clarifying things ourselves on the left and being honest about disagreements.
That is best done in a comradely atmosphere, as opposed to heresy hunting.
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Kevin Ovenden is a progressive journalist who has followed politics and social movements for 25 years. He is a leading activist in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, led five successful aid convoys to break the siege on Gaza, and was aboard the Mavi Marmara aid ship when Israeli commandoes boarded it killing 10 people in May 2010. He is author of Syriza: Inside the Labyrinth.
Solidarity Diane Abbott
Caribbean Labour Solidarity stands in solidarity with our friend and comrade Diane Abbott. Diane has a record second to none in publicly opposing racism, antisemitism and xenophobia. We have stood beside her on demonstrations against racism and in defence of immigrant workers. We recall in particular her wholehearted support of the Stansted 15’s practical attempt to stop the illegal deportation of asylum seekers.
Whether you agree with the formulation of Diane’s letter to the Guardian or not, we must be clear that this is not the real issue at stake here. She has been suspended from the Labour Party for being a socialist who opposes the class-collaborationist position of the Starmer leadership. We may wish to discuss with Diane the terms in which we discuss the nature of racism, we do not doubt her commitment to the struggle against racism in all its manifestations. We cannot say the same about Kier Starmer. She has apologised and withdrawn the statement. Let that be the end of the matter. We demand that she be reinstated forthwith.
Kevin Ovenden argues for dialogue after Diane Abbott’s mistaken letter and so echoes the Forde Report and JVL Education, in supporting an approach which Keir Starmer shelves for a familiar round of “zero tolerance” but only when it comes to bashing the left. If there was any shred of consistency in his understanding of racism he would have to now withdraw the whip from himself for in calling Diane Abbott’s text “antisemitic” he ignores racism against Irish and Traveller groups, and so repeats the hierarchy of racism dear to his heart. However, before we polish our haloes we should consider that the too quick denial that Diane’s remarks are antisemitic repeats the same lack of consideration of Irish and Traveller communities and it too can be seen and felt to be racist. We could sort this out of course but only when we respond to mistakes with calm communication than a rush to press the nuclear button.
Diane’s letter was ill-considered – in fact I found it puzzling.
The first part appears to be saying that Black people
experience racism every day on account of their skin
colour. It is the next part which puzzles me for she
appears to differentiate between “prejudice” and “racism”
as distinct entities when surely the second is an example of
first?
This is never addressed in her letter – so if a person fails to be
promoted because they are Jewish what kind of prejudice
is this, surely the same kind as if they fail because they
are black. In both cases it is because of racism.
PS I agree about unjustified “pile -on” when what
should have been a response is a critique of elements
of the letter.
Conventional definition of racism is prejudice + power – that is in our current circumstances and situation. I can see how romany and travellers may be powerless, but I struggle to see how Jews in the UK are powerless.
An excellent contribution from Caribbean Labour Solidarity saying pretty much all that needs to be said on the issue.
Comrade Ovenden’s contribution however raise more issues than it sheds light on.
I come from a family of Welsh travellers, gypsies, didicoys, sheisters and thieves (on my father’s side at least; my mother was a gajo). I might still retain some dark pigmentation in my skin but I have never been subjected to racism, nor indeed are “travellers” per se an ethnic minority. I have, however, been subjected to massive prejudice because of my class, and it’s because of that I identify with black people’s and other anti-racist struggles.
My last two partners were both Jewish women and neither of them ever complained about being the targets of anti-semitism. Then again, they both came from well-heeled middle class families.
On the other hand I have a daughter who is mixed race and lives in a permanent state of paranoia lest someone should attack her for the colour of her skin.
I believe, however clumsy and misdirected Diane’s letter may have been, that many people from the lower stratas of society, both black and white, will have understood exactly where she came from and that she was representing the reality of current life rather than a place that some people would wish it to be.
It comes as no surprise then that Kevin, much as I respect many things he has to say, finishes by attempting to resurrect the toxic SWP in its flopsy-bunny incarnation Counterfire
This letter in the Guardian today is sensitive to all the issues and to Diane Abbott’s legacy in fighting racism, and I think gets it just about right:
I cannot understand why an experienced politician like Diane Abbott could have sent such an ill advised letter. She must have known that such a letter would cause her to lose the Whip. Of course it’s not fair but it is well know that Starmer isn’t fair (to say the least !).
Of course Jews are subject to racism and it is just as unacceptable as any other racism. All racism is equally abhorrent, surely we can agree on that ?
But for me the crucial point is this: the fact you are subject to racism does not prove you are part of a separate race, or people or nation. It is very important to assert our common humanity because Zionism asserts that Jews are different, “the other”, a people apart.
As Socialists we must surely believe that a country should be for all it inhabitants irrespective of their race, religion or cultural background ? A country that gives priority to one race is surely anathema to any socialist ?
Barry Sheerman member for Huddersfield and my MP made a vile, sick anti-Semitic comment a few years ago. It was hardly reported national and the Labour Party told him t o stay off Twitter for a while. Why isn’t he being treated like Dianne Abbot. Because he is on the right of the party.
I would rather push drawing pins into my eyes than vote Labour in the next General Election.
How can Jews be subject to racism given that they identify by a range of Judaisms and are definitely not a race. On the other hand in Israel they are thoroughly racist even subjecting young women from the former Soviet Union to mitrochondrlal testing to prove Jewish descent lest a non-Jew marry a pukka Jew
Excellent article by Kevin Ovenden. Thing is, from my reading of Diane’s apology plus from having worked with her in the Labour Party Black Section 40 years ago, I think she agrees with virtually every word he has written.
Also great statement from Caribbean Labour Solidarity. Similar points have been made by Labour Black Socialists (LBS) which I have just sent to JVL. We’d appreciate JVL publicising it as well.
When does being wrong become being racist? How high is that bar? What kind of wrongness of categorisation would be racist? This looks like the flaw in this model. As it happens, I don’t think Diane was either wrong or racist. Had she been allowed to elaborate on her words, we might all have learned something about a black woman’s experience of racism. Instead, she’s had to present herself for the Starmerite Self-Flagellation Procedure which will end with either her permanent silencing or her excommunication. That’ll be wrong, and racist.
One minor point. She mentioned Travellers not Gypsies. Group definitions are never watertight. Roma and Gypsies are of Indo-Aryan origin whereas Travellers are of white British/Irish origin.
Very well argued from a Counterfire comrade. Today, those who abhor racism most be more determined, clear sighted and assertive than at any time since the Nazi death camps were liberated in 1944- 45.
We must speak out loud and clear in both the national and the international theatre.
National, because in 2023 we have the most viciously reactionary and racist government of the entire postwar period, whose Home Sectretaries in Priti Patel and now Suella Braverman openly demonise refugees for political advantage. Their erstwhile Tory Party leader cleared away the last vestiges of decency and restraint for them with a series of openly racist and homophobic ‘witticisms’ which went virtually unchallenged in the political mainstream.
And internationally we have seen openly fascist formations riding the racist wooden horse towards political acceptance and respectability. In France were Marine le Pen has successfully weaponised Islamophobia. Italy where the fascist Meloni heads the government. In the Jobbik party of Hungary. Unfortunately I have to add ‘etcetera’.
Resurgent fascism in Europe then forms, along with Tory ( and Labour ) racism in the UK an unholy alliance which emboldens the fascist group let’s such as Britain First and Patriotic Alternative to intensify their attacks on refugee accommodation as well as mosques and synagogues.
As Kevin Ovenden spelled out, a determined and united opposition on the left is imperative. Labour’s politically bankrupt front bench regrettably will not be an asset in the fight but a hindrance.
I do not find the distinction between racism and racially based prejudice helpful. It is more useful to distinguish racism as experienced by individuals from racism as a structural fact affecting the way in which society operates. For example, a Jewish person attacked for being Jewish, even by one or a few people, is a victim of antisemitism. Society as a whole however is only antisemitic if being Jewish is a systematic source of disadvantage. There have been, and to an extent still are, many societies which have been strongly antisemitic in this sense. Britain and the USA today are not now among them. Both these societies are however significantly racist so far as the position of black people is concerned.
The debate about Diane Abbott’s letter seems to be going on within a bubble. People who follow simple dictionary definitions of antisemitism must be baffled by the suggestion that the letter comes under this description. The extraordinary intellectual contortions by which her opponents, and some of her supporters, have reached this conclusion do rather confirm the growing gap between professional politics and real life.
There is a long and inglorious history of virulent abuse directed against Jews. It seems strange to have reached the point where apparently the most offensive thing that can be said about Jews is that they are not victims of racism.
yes a poorly worded letter to say the least. But because she is of the left she is demonised. She apologised that should have been accepted for what it is a apology. Starmer in his vindictiveness and his factualism has again used this to try to boot her out of labour party. yet as pointed he let Barry Sherman who is on the right , stay after a brief period of penitence. There are others who to have been given soft treatment,. Starmer is a particularly Nasty piece of work. He is without any sort of empathy. Surely the worst leader the Labour party has had and there have been a few of them. this is not going to end well is it.
Maybe in the end there has to be the beginnings that is the creation of a social democratic party of the left somewhat like much of Europe. It seems to me that the Labour party as such is now a centralist right wing party. It could well replace the Tories as a electoral force. Probably the young under 35s who will become the dominant group as we oldies Die out. They don’t go near MSM so its influence will decline. Or am I just wishful in my hopes ?
Worth noting that Diane Abbott’s letter came about 3 weeks after Black Briton Chris Kaba was shot dead by police.
He now joins a long list of BLM deaths at the hands of the police – including Marc Duggan, Jermaine Baker, Rashan Charles, Sheku Bayoh and many more.
With all due respect to everyone’s feelings – and as I’ve pointed out many times before – thankfully there is no Jewish equivalent of BLM deaths at the hands of the police or, of the racist murder of 82yr old Muslim grandad with his killer going on to plant bombs at three mosques.
Not to forget that synagogues in the US are sometimes targeted by right wing lunatics though. But is that structural and backed up institutional power and state narratives – the way supposed Muslim ‘collective guilt’ and ‘criminal Black primitivism’ is?
You might, if you are Jewish and on the left, be excluded by the media, but would you also experience the oppressive policing, educational and health provision marginalisation that is the Black British experience?
Sadly if the lobby had not engaged in years of pro-Israel ‘Hierarchies of Victimhood’ we’d all just be talking about these issues in terms of cross community solidarity. It would be nice to get back to that.
Best wishes. G
Gadji is the female equivalent of Gadjo who is a non-Romani male.
My father came from an Irish Traveller Community, who were white and usually Catholic and were most certainly not Sinti nor Romani and never the two shall meet. There are some linguistic overlaps but major differences in culture however what we share is that all nomadic peoples usually do not have a written tradition and depend on the spoken word resulting in vague & often inaccurate records kept & limited understanding. Another thing we share is that ‘gypsies’ have always been the most persecuted people on earth and that being ‘a gypo/didicoy/pikey’ is not a question of ethnicity. We are ‘the others’; the outsiders who do not belong and always an easy target to identify and abuse.
Diane Abbott cannot see outside of her skin colour.