Make No Concessions to Trump and the Racism of the Global Far-Right
By Denis Fernando, Rainbow Coalition Against Racism
LGBTQ+ people are threatened by Trump, and by those he energises including the KKK and far right. They will be celebrating the outcome of the US presidential elections and will be emboldened by it.
Trump represents a threat to people and planet. We need all those who reject his hatred to stand against him and for each other. This means empowering women, black, LGBTQ+, disabled communities and all who will be impacted by the fall out of him being in the White House.
Mainstream parties must heed the warning of the advance of the far right, as the pattern is the same the world over. Concessions to racism, often codified in terms of vilification of migrants, Muslims, refugees and others, creates oxygen for the far right. Kamala Harris being ‘tough on immigration’ didn’t work as polls in the week before the election showed that voters trusted Trump more than Harris on immigration.
On the contrary, mainstream politicians making such concessions legitimises the far right who then advance. This is happening at the ballot box and, as the far right riots in Britain showed this summer, on the streets. However, the antiracist mobilisations against the far right led by Stand Up To Racism (SUTR), which included LGBTQ+ activists, were a massive and effective show of unity and diversity. These antifascist mobilisations set a positive agenda in which solidarity with migrants, refugees and Muslims was a cornerstone.
We know that LGBTQ+ asylum seekers face the threat of deportation which is why we must ally with all those standing up for refugee and migrant rights. ‘Say it loud say it clear refugees are welcome here’ was a regular chant at antifascist mobilisations across the country. It demoralised the far right who were rejected and outnumbered by people of all backgrounds, faiths and walks of life uniting against them.
Last month, tens of thousands of antifascists, including trade unions, faith communities and environmental activists joined together at a national demo called by SUTR to reject Tommy Robinson in central London.
Mainstream politicians in Britain would do well to learn from these results on how to challenge the far right instead of making concessions to them. The antifascist movement would have imploded and even energised the far right if it had, as some mainstream politicians do, made concessions to racism and bigotry. Imagine how grotesque it would have been if a movement purporting to challenge fascism did so through concessions to racism, adopting slogans such as ‘stop the boats’, ‘deport faster’, or ‘build the wall’. Politicians should be very clear – if it wouldn’t work on the streets to defeat the far right, it won’t work at the ballot box either.
The reality is that policies presiding over a fall in living standards and a toxic immigration narrative have become the mainstay of politics. In tandem, these create a febrile climate for fascism to exploit. Pointing at the foreigner is a blunt form of racism, aimed at diverting attention from those in power who are responsible for stagnating wages and rising bills. We are clear that we must not fall for this diversion as we all lose out when the far right recruit in this atmosphere.
We have more in common with migrant workers and refugees than we do with billionaires who profit misery that austerity inflicts on those who are made to pay for the economic crisis that Trump and his counterparts the world over have created.
The re-election of Trump is a setback on many fronts, including anti-racism, peace, justice for the Palestinians and climate change. However, in the bleakest moments history shows us change for the better is possible when people rally to progressive causes. Let’s take inspiration from those who came before us including the civil rights movement that defeated segregation in America, the movement for universal suffrage, and those who campaigned against all odds to topple apartheid.
Trump’s presidency opens a new dangerous chapter in America and for the world. Racism and reaction will be regularly deployed to sow division. It is therefore all the more important that we build a contemporary rainbow coalition for peace, international justice, equality and against racism, sexism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, LGBTQ+ bigotry, and any other hatred that Trump and the far right thrive off.
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