Rock Against Racism – how an artistic movement took on the National Front

By Tom Seymour

Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a meeting of musicians and artists and political activists. Working together, they promoted racial harmony and understanding in the fraught political environment of the late 70s – a time of major social and economic instability.

But it also acted as a counterweight to the insurgent rise of white nationalist groups such as the National Front – a party which, in the 1979 election, fielded 303 candidates, polling 191,719 votes nationally.

Anti-immigrant graffiti regularly adorned the walls of housing estates and demonstrations (such as the infamous ‘Battle of Lewisham’) could easily descend into rioting – sending terrifying shockwaves …read more

Via: BJP