On 22 August, Nottingham RCG participated in an anti-racist demonstration as part of Nottingham United Against Racism (NUAR). A threatened ‘All Lives Matter’ counterdemonstration against NUAR’s weekly open mic against racism had merged with a larger national mobilisation presenting itself as a march and rally against child abuse in social services and for veterans’ issues, but which in reality was clearly a front for a racist and pro-imperialist agenda. Indicating the political character of the event, a number of explicitly racist organisations including the Democratic Football Lads Alliance joined the march, and banners present included one stating ‘God Bless Donald Trump’, alongside flags celebrating the Operation Werewolf Nazi military campaign.
Nottingham Antifascists committed from the start to defending the NUAR demonstration. Meanwhile, Nottingham Trades Council and Stand Up To Racism called a counter-mobilisation against the right-wing march. The anti-fascist countermobilisation and NUAR’s open mic against racism merged into one event; with NUAR speakers drawing attention throughout the day to the racist character of the British police. A speaker from Nottingham RCG argued that a consistent anti-racism must be one that is against the British imperialist state; indicting Labour councillors who were present for their hypocrisy in posing as anti-racist after Nottingham City Council was the first in the country to throw asylum seekers onto the streets during the coronavirus pandemic.
{vsig}NUAR_22_8_20{/vsig}
