Tagged with Paul Field

Darcus Howe: setting the record straight

Darcus HoweFour of us stood glued to the television for the best part of five minutes. We were all familiar with Darcus Howe. For my part, I’d seen his gripping TV series on English identity, White Tribe, several years before. This was 2011, and in the wake of riots that the political establishment were struggling to understand, and reported by a visibly shocked and baffled media, Howe was being interviewed live by the BBC’s Fiona Armstrong. Finally calling him by his correct name (as opposed to “Marcus Dowe”, which she used repeatedly in the interview) Armstrong asked: “Mr Howe, if I can just ask you, you are not a stranger to riots yourself, I understand, are you?”

Howe paused, and replied: “I have never taken part in a single riot. I have been on demonstrations that ended up in conflict. And have some respect for an old West Indian Negro and stop accusing me of being a rioter, because you won’t tickle me to get abusive. You just sound idiotic. Have some respect.” It was clear that though the news channels had been repeating the same clips of the riots, this interview would never be repeated by the BBC. Continue reading →

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.