The Brixton Uprising was a response to an intense environment of racism, discrimination and police brutality against the UK’s Black communities. Specifically, the heightened hostility brought about by the racist rhetoric of politicians such as Enoch Powell, and the implementation of the ‘sus’ laws, of which modern stop and search powers are very much an extension.
The subsequent Scarman Report, commissioned as a result of the Brixton Uprising, denied the existence of systemic racism within policing. However, subsequent reports such as the McPherson Report and most recently the Casey Review, have shown that institutional racism is rampant in the police force.
At MRN, we recognise that the fight for racial justice and migrant justice is intertwined. This is because the determination of who is a migrant is closely linked with who is perceived to be a racial ‘Other’. We stand in solidarity with the Black community and all racialised communities who have been subjected to police brutality, as well as all migratised individuals who are subjected to the joint arms of police violence and immigration enforcement. We also understand that the hate filled anti-migrant protests outside of hotels are directly linked to the incendiary racist rhetoric that has fuelled moral panics against Black communities.