"Hands off my mate'
The struggle against racism has been one of the most thing about Le Pen's National Front (FN) and the mobilisation in the racists is mainly expressed within the schools and the initiated colleges, where students spend three quarters of their last two years. Racist violence is mainly against Arab youth on the feeble pretext that they much noise in the towns or cafes. Such demonstrations. It also receives a fair amount of media coverage. The This mobilisation is not a superficial phenomenon.
This pattern of events is beginning to repeat itself daily newspaper, Liberation featured an article on youth last March, entitled 'From the Bof generation
The main characteristic of these developments is to the Pote generation' (1) in a reference to the badge pas a mon pote' (Hands off my mate)
that they mainly involve young people. Anti-racist demonstrations led by ranks of young students are launched by the organisation SOS-Racism at the time now a common sight. The determination to do some- of the march against racism in December 1984.
FRANCE important elements in the youth violence is being met by on a day to day basis.
What has made the media break with the image of young people as passive and need to go into some schools all the young people wearing the hand-shaped a mon pote badge and discuss it with do they label themselves anti-racist but they are also prepared to take action over it. For example, been committed in Menton were organised in many schools, with one had already been two national marches racism in December 1983 and December 1984 which brought the first refutation to the theoreticians of the 'bof generation (the generation of apathy). The idea of the first march was conceived by Toumi Djaidja, the organiser of SOSMinguettes whilst he was in hospital following an attack by the Lyons police.
the youth of the Minguettes on the outskirts of Lyons, Delorme, who organised it. (2) 'Convergence '84', organised around the
"public works' (TUC) schemes introduced by the government, which employ young people on derisory wages in boring work institutionalise precarious situation of employment which
The goal of the bosses and the bourgeoisie lies precisely in expanding such precarious jobs. All the speeches about work flexibility try to make out that this idea will improve the quality of life by extending leisure time. In fact, this policy represents an attempt to create a reserve army of labour for which women and youth are the guinea-pigs. Such a of rapid turnover of labour minute's silence, debates on racism and slogan 'France is like a moped, to go system in some cases demonstrations were held in the streets to get their hands off our mates once and for all'.
Is the badge just a passing fashion or profound occuring amongst youth? The success of this anti-racist symbol cannot simply be explained by the fact that a handful of show business personalities and some members of the intelligentsia
For a start, the anti-racist mobilisation did not begin with SOS-Racism. There
DROIT DE
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"The right to vote for my mate' forward it needs a mixture. Youth on mopeds criss-crossed the whole of France final convergence in Paris
Anti-racist activity has been growing among young people for the last two years in a context where racial hatred has, due to various factors, become more and more systematised and legitimised. polarising political life in France. Some parliamentary demanding a debate on immigration in the national assembly (parliament). In a where the National Front is becoming a force on the political map, the structuring of a national movement against racism and fascism stakes enormously.
The increase in racist violence and incitement of course stems from the economic crisis. The effects of this and long-term crisis have disarray and malaise among certain sections of the population. For wide layers of youth, whether or not they are in school or college, the future is
The consequence of the crisis for most young people is the impossibilgetting anywhere immediately or indeed of even conceiving of a future career in the long term. Many training courses today simply do not cater for forced to retrain in the short term or to content with unskilled work. The creates a permanent lack of job security. This results in even deeper divisions among youth sparked off by the contradictions between the minority of youth who have been able to get training and a stable job and this reserve army of labour. youth provides demoagogery and oversimplificaton of the problems. Despair resulting from the lack of a future and from the absence of any short-term solutions can feed ideas that the responsibility for unemployment with immigrants. National slogans such as "Two million unemployed equals two million too many immigrants' which are also endorsed by other bourgeois political groups in a more modified form, open the way for racist violence. Such notions encourage and even legitimise this violence. These views may not but Le Pen's racist equation between have many passive supporters amongst divisions, lack of job prospects and the
In the eyes of the younger generation the traditional political scene appears, to a large extent actually The bof generation usually refers to generation of the late 1970s who were less political apathetic than those of previous generations.
See International Viewpoint No 56, 2 July
International Viewpoint 17 June 1985
fossilised, stale and unattractive. The vacuum amongst youth is evidenced by the limited attraction to them of political organisations. The reformist parties, who have no credible solution to the crisis have great difficulty in attracting young people. The workers movement and its traditional organisations no longer appear as a reference point for struggle. The period of the 1970s is a long way away and nowadays the rate of unionisation of young people and their participation in political parties is very low.
workers movement has little attraction for young people and is not a reference point for their struggles, and given that bourgeois political figures failed to unite around common political goals - is there a real danger of a growth of the far right amongst school gates or in the universities, although they do have a presence in the marketplaces.
However, even if the main danger at present is not a huge wave of joining the National Front, this organisation is nonetheless latching on to the exasperation of young people who reject the policies of the traditional political want to fight on certain issues related to their work or studies. This was clearly in evidence at the time of the vast mobilisations of the right against the Savary laws, introduced by the then socialist minister of education, and proposing very Catholic education lobby, during which extreme right activists tried to organise within that movement.
On occasions the far right really proposing to go and do battle with the police, as was the case in confrontations in Paris in 1982.
Having said that, such developments are still marginal.
is characterised Marxist ideas compared to a few years ago. Such attitudes come of anti-Communist which is already common in law departfor example. Propaganda about
'politicians' or those who want to control or 'manipulate' gets a certain Front have realised that in order to build up its electoral base around issues like unemployment they need some kind of network. In the town of Roubaix they have set up an unemployed committee and have gained a real influence in areas young people?
moment the successes of Le Pen have not given rise to regular appearances by the FN at the state, and they do not shrink from
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1090 WIEN of high unemployment such as Perpignan, where the National Front obtained its highest vote in the bye-election. This method of operation is mainly effective in places where openings were left by the inactivity of the trade union organisations, usually at times when they were most strongly tied in the with the policies of the Mitterrand government before the withdrawal of the French Communist Party (PCF) from it last summer. Right attacks workers' movement
The danger of the extreme right amongst youth lies precisely (unemployed committees, youth centres give credibility to the Pen's propaganda. It is those sectors of youth most affected by the ravages of unemployment that would be liable to turn to this organisation, if it ivities such as those in Roubaix.
Finally the growth of the audience for Le Pen has resulted in the dawn of new hopes for several small far right groups who are trying to take advantage of the new situation. For example, in
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) organised a meeting in Paris that attracted 600 young people and they are waging a campaign against international communism.
Elsewhere, local FN members are often less anxious to preserve their respectable electoral image than they are to put the ideas of their programme into practice immediately, that is to attack the workers' movement and its institutions. The Revolutionary Communist League (LCR - French section of the Fourth International) and the Revolutionary Communist Youth (JCR) have already been the target of such activity; through being physically prevented from attending meetings on New Caledonia at Nantes university; through threats against LCR comrades
15
For through FN members Alain Krivine in Caen, with grenades pockets. Other oganisations have also been threatened, for such is the inherent logic of the growth of the
An anti-racist sentiment already exists amongst the youth and therefore the far right, if they want to make any headway amongst this layer will have to deal with the undeniably broad based response. There are already several examples of this type of response. In every town that the National Front leader has set out to hold a meeting, protests have organised, and this has been the situation since the 1983 Something approaching this might have been expected in the 1985 cantonal elections especially in the towns where Le Pen had already been. In fact it turned out better than expected. This against Le Pen's meetings that took place were bigger than the meetings themselves.
On February for example, following a joint call from the Movement and for Cooperation Peoples (MRAP), the CGT [Communist Party dominated union], and the LCR. Also in that 1,400 people attended meeting addressed by, among others, actor-producer of the film Train d'enfer (Train to Hell) which tells the story of the murder of a young Algerian by Legionnaires in a train one year ago. In the town of Apt, demonstrated against a fascist meeting at which only 150 people were present. In Quimper, National Front service d'ordre (advance guard). In Le Mans one thousand demonstrators responded to an appeal put out by the JCR organisations of Arab workers
Pointoise, 400 people came out with the
JCR, LCR youth organisations.
examples that are just as significant and show that there is a very possibility of a broad anti-fascist mobili-
The composition of these demonstrations is in general young, with a number of school students turning up in groups, seen leaflets put out in their such as this give a real measure of the impact the campaign is having. Basically any anti-racist or antifascist leaflet put out at the school gates, is read straight away and always provokes a response, rather than being ignored as often happens on other issues.
This situation has sparked beginnings of a political revival amongst youth, and has led to a greater awareness young people about the important to examine what driving force behind these mobilisations because they constitute cutting edge among could continue beyond the parliamentary elections in 1986.
The anti-racist movement which began to develop on a national level in 1983, was not the work of any political organisations, unions or even of the traditional anti-racist organisations like MRAP or the Organisations (FASTI). beginning, was that it was led by young second-generation immigrants largely of young people were making their entry onto the political arena for the first time and wanted to set up an ongoing movement. The youth collective was a structure which came out of the
1983 march based suburbs of the large towns which aimed to organise young people against racism and for equal rights between French and immigrants. A series of demands such as were advanced at the time of the anti-racist demonstrations
December 1983 and 1984. problems arose in the structuring of an ongoing and united movement that would centralise all the different local antiracist organisations.
The breadth of the mobilisations was not merely a product of the organisers' willpower. It was also due to the originality of the movement which escaped the social control of the traditional organisations. What possible credentials for initiating and leading a campiagn could the PCF present when
Murdered by the racists ... (DR)
it puts forward a policy of quotas aimed at limiting the number of immigrants in each town and demands the strengthening of police powers? Similarly, the Socialist Party, subordinated to policies of the government could not have directly launched such a movement. At the end of the first anti-racist march in minister of social affairs was given a very cool reception by the demonstrators. On the second march in 1984, the socialist input was weak and any presence from the government was non-existent.
The JCR took part in the preparation of the 1983 march from the beginning Although mistrust of political organisations still runs very deep among the youth because of the absence of any serious intervention in the fight against racism by these organisations, the JCR were nevertheless able to initiate, along with the march organisers, committees and to activities (days or weeks of action against racism, actions against Le Pen, replies to racist aggression etc).
SOS-Racism emerged out of the march in December 1984. This movement met with an unprecedented response when out the hand-shaped entitled 'Hands off my mate'. SOS-Racism managed to get the support of a whole of show business personalities. Nearly two million people are wearing the badge and many of those are young people. It is the largest mass progressive movement of youth for ten years.
develop a firm basis equal to its media image it is important to build up active anti-racist committees of 'Stop racism'. Such committees could avoid the problems of two separate movements developing with the young second generation immigrants who have a long experience of campaigning on the issue on the one side and other, those who have just begun to be mobilised and who are developing their
"Touche pas a mon pote' badges.
Unite and fight
The gains of the 1983 and 1984 actions could be broadened and could get a second wind from the establishment of SOS-Racism. The concrete context of such an enlarged movement should be to call on those who buy the badge to take action as Harlem Desir, a leader of actions taken following a racist murder, did. An anti-racist rally is to be held in
Paris on June 15 and this could bring together hundreds of thousands of people. This will really make Le Pen and his mob sweat!
The JCR is involved in building this movement and in organising anti-racist committees that could, on a local level in the schools for example, bring together several hundred young people to do something about the
International Viewpoint 17 June 1985
Youth against racists. Many of these youth have, in the last two years, built up a certain experience in the anti-racist area which has helped them to make the correct response to the appearance of this new youth
NETHERLANDS.
radicalisation.
What sort of intervention is required nuclear weapons today? How can a revolutionary youth organisation be built in the context of a mixture of anti-racist actions, including revolt against racist violence