Sarfraz Manzoor in his article on Enoch Powell provides the answer. Writing to mark the 40th anniversary of his ‘rivers of blood’ speech, he points out that had Powell and Baig had met they might have connected as poets and not necessarily as a men, one white the other Asian, living in Wolverhampton.
Manzoor also is big enough to say that “Enoch Powell was right for highlighting the dangers of communities failing to integrate and right to say that the sheer number of immigrants coming into a country can have a serious impact on its culture”. (How ironic because if Powell had really got his own way, the writer and his family would have been deported to Pakistan!).
However, manor’s real tribute is to those on the receiving end of the prejudice and racism which was fuelled by Powell’s speech. He mentions locals such as Lance Dunkely (I had the pleasure of working with him when he was the Chair of Wolverhampton’s Race equality council and me its education officer). He says that they and those who supported them were the true Great British heroes.
Excellent article!
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Submitted by karamat on Sat, 2008-04-12 08:52.