Cause for concern: Darcus Howe and the struggle to expose police racism

One of the most exciting books on the shelves at the moment is the new “political biography” of Darcus Howe, the activist and journalist. Howe has steadfastly refused, unlike so many others, to join the ranks of the establishment. We’ll be publishing a review soon, but in the meantime, you can read an extract at the New Statesman, who are also offering a hefty discount on the book’s academic RRP. At the Staggers, the biography’s authors Robin Bunce and Paul Field discuss the one of the key turning points in the race politics of the 1960s and 70s: the struggle against the censorship of a BBC documentary exposing police racism. And the video above discusses, through first-hand accounts, the trial of the Mangrove Nine – where with incendiary words from the presiding judge, for the first time the police faced an accusation of racism from the heart of the establishment.