Blaming the Victims - gun crime, violence and the Afro-Caribbean community

NUS NEC Notes:
1) The tragic murder of Rhys Jones, shot dead playing football in Liverpool, that follows a spate of shootings in recent months in Liverpool, London, Nottingham and Manchester.
2) Much of the debate and discussion in the media and parliament on crime and violence has revolved around the Afro-Caribbean community, with the use of phrases such as “black on black” crime and “gang warfare” used frequently.
3) That there has also been much talk of the need for “positive role models” in the black community, coupled with the idea that many black families are dysfunctional, with black fathers in particular being part of the problem.
4) Figures such as black businessmen, politicians and now army officers have been promoted as an example for black youngsters to try and emulate.
5) The recent Reach report into “raising the aspirations and attainment of black boys and young black men” focuses heavily on individual psychology of black teenagers without looker at wider issues – “racism” is mention just five times in the 85 page report.

NUS NEC Believes:
1) That black teenagers are the victims of this situation and not the perpetrators – the average age of black Londoners murdered by a gun is 19 and the average age of black Londoners charged with murder using a gun is also 19.
2) The current “solutions” and suggestions ignore the real roots of the real problems faced by black young people, and the idea that military officers can help counter violence in communities is laughable.
3) It is poverty, deprivation and lack of opportunities, all of which are fuelled by racism, which are at the heart of the problem. Afro-Caribbeans are more likely to live in poverty, be targeted by the police, be victims of crime, and be discriminated against in the job market.
4) Black children are also disproportionately affected by exclusions from schools and colleges.
5) Racism, as well as being the root cause of the problem, is also behind supposed government “solutions” – the idea that black children have more dysfunctional families and inherent problems with their culture is disgraceful. Terms such as “white on white” crime are never used, implying that the race of a criminal is only important when they are black.
6) NUS has a proud history of opposing the rightwing concept of “blaming the victim” and demonising the poorest in our society.
7) Initiatives like “Tell It Like Is”, a campaign based around a book addressing the root causes of the problems black children face in education, and the NUT’s recent initiative around black boys in education are campaigns that look at the real problems being faced by the Afro-Caribbean community without pandering to the racism prevalent in the media and rhetoric of politicians.

NUS Resolves:
1) To release the following statement to the press:
“NUS expresses our sympathy with the families and communities torn apart by violence and gun crime. It is tragic that we live in such a violent world and that violence has found so destructive a presence in our communities. Crime is so often a result of people falling out of society through poverty, racism and desperate personal circumstances. The current drive in the media and government is to further criminalise communities and youth and ignore the real problems of poverty, deprivation and racism.
NUS believes that the only way to end gun crime is by pulling communities out of poverty and creating a more equal and just society. The government has made a lot of noise about being “tough on crime” but done very little to tackle the root causes of poverty, inequality and racism. We call on all progressive individuals and organizations to add their names to the call for a real debate on ending poverty and racism to tackle gun crime.”
2) For the NUS Vice-Presidents of FE and Welfare to work with NEC member Rob Owen to work on a campaign to launch in FE colleges (that include the age group most affected by these issues) around these issues.
3) To organise joint meetings with trade unions such as the NUT and UCU around these issues, including “Tell It Like It Is” meetings, in FE colleges to address the issues, raise awareness about the real problems and to campaign both for the kind of equality that can eradicate crime, and against the current climate of racist demonistaion and scapegoating.

Assed Baig for NUS Black Students' Officer

Student Respect member, Assed Baig, will be standing for NUS national Black Students Officer at the conference next May.

Assed is a committed activist both around his local community in Alum Rock, Birmingham and at Staffordshire University where he sits on the students’ union executive committee. At this year’s NUS conference he stood as Student Respect’s candidate for National Secretary and achieved our best ever vote at national conference. And at this year’s Black Students Conference he was elected to the Black Students Committee with the highest vote for the “open rep” position.

“My recent campaigning priorities have included Stop the War activity, and campaigning against Islamophobia and racism – but I see a link between these issues”, says Assed.

“The war, in addition to the destruction of the Middle East, has created an increase in racism back home as politicians have tried to scapegoat minorities. But there are many other important issues too – I was at the Heathrow Climate Camp recently. The results of climate change are going to disproportionately affect poorer countries, as is the fight to grab the world’s resources in the interests of profit”.

“Part of my vision for the Black Students Campaign involves a massive increase of our activist base, in addition to building closer links with existing student groups such as Stop the War coalition societies, anti-racism groups and other important campaigns. Crucially, we need more activists and more radical action”.

The Black Students Conference will be held on 17–18 May. Student Respect activists and supporters should be getting themselves delegated and talking to other delegates about Assed’s candidature. More information and publicity will be available soon, or contact students@respectcoalition for more information.

National Organising Meetings

With the start of the student year just weeks away hundreds of student activists will be coming to London to discuss the politics of the movement and how we can organise to stop the war and build a society based on equality, justice and respect.

National Stop the War Student meeting
With Tony Benn and Gemma Tumelty (NUS President)
8th September SOAS Students Union
11am-3pm
More details on the NUS website.

Student RESPECT national activist meeting.
With John Rees National Secretary of the Respect Coalition
2pm Sunday 9th September central london
venue tbc
Open to all members and supporters email students@respectcoalition.org to register

NUS affiliates to the Stop the War Coalition

NEC - Monday 13th of August

Monday was an unusually tame meeting but one that still marked an important moment for NUS with a near unanimous vote to affiliate to the Stop the War Coalition (www.stopwar.org.uk). Affiliation to Stop the War and support for the Communications Workers Union (CWU) was voted through less then an hour after the NEC accepted a priority campaign without any campaigning, and the most significant points need to be discussed more widely.

Stop the War Coalition
Over the last few years NUS has done more and more work with the coalition. Both Gemma and Veronica King have spoken at recent demonstrations and Gemma is speaking at the relaunch of Stop the War’s student work on the 8th. Stop the War has mobilised thousands of students repeatedly in numbers that no other campaign has reached and maintained a level of visibility and influence on far less money then the NUS spends in a month. Joint work around broad slogans between the NUS and StWc can and will be of huge benefit to both organisations. NUS will be helping with a “Troops Out” tour featuring comedian Mark Steel and ex-SAS veteran Ben Griffen that will be among the biggest meetings to take place at any university this year. This year’s campaign will be discussed at the Stop the War activist meeting on the 8th with Tony Benn.

Stop the War – Student Organising Meeting
With Tony Benn, Gemma Tumelty, Lindsey German.
11am-3pm, Saturday 8th September, Room G2, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh St. Central London

The only attempt to derail affiliation came from Sophie Buckland of Education not for Sale (ENS), the one organisation of the “left” not to call for an end to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. ENS attempted to exploit Wes’ cheap demagogy about the right of Israel to “defend” itself to derail the discussion and succeeded in passing an amendment marking out NUS as on the rightwing of the coalition. The vote on the amendment was close with many abstaining and others pressured into voting for by the emotive (and dishonest) posturing of Labour Students and ENS, and the main thrust of the motion remains an overwhelmingly positive desire to put NUS at the heart of the anti-war movement.

Education
Wes attempted to sell the education priority campaign with the twisted logic that “it’s very easy to campaign but it’s far harder to have breakfasts and lunches with important people.” The campaign will be formally launched on the 4th of September and loath though I am to spoil the surprise there are some things that need discussing now. The concept of the campaign is based around two basic points:
1) We need to “keep our powder dry.” It is argued that it is unwise to run any public campaigns until 2009 because campaigning “puts students off” and furthermore that organisations like the NUS should model themselves on Amnesty International and call on our members for set piece actions every now and again (like turning on and off a tap.)
2) We can’t “pre-empt the review” by proposing what we believe in at this stage as that would stop the government listening to us. Instead we must brown nose officials and gather data to put forwards a pragmatic alternative later which will be considered as a serious option.
The fact that this is deeply flawed on many levels was raised only by the left on the NEC. The comparison between NUS and a lobby group like Amnesty is one of the most worrying aspects of the campaign. It is a marked difference from the idea of a union of students. Our strength is based on the fact that we collectively organise students at the point where they engage with their education and the world around them. To successfully develop that strength we need to be involving them in understanding our education system and attempting to change it. This has to be through a consistent series of activities and events to engage our members with our activists and the NUS. It simply won’t work to expect people to suddenly engage en masse with NUS in 2009 unless we have done the hard work of building up a base.
The second point is the changing nature of universities themselves. It simply isn’t true that the “debate on HE” is actually very narrow and directed. Since New Labour’s theory of “the knowledge economy” the government has systematically accelerated the drive to subvert Universities to the interests of the neo-liberal economy. It isn’t possible for NUS to tinker around the edges and expect a better deal for students - we need to fundamentally challenge the direction the government is moving in. We need to be open about our principles to our members and potential supporters and politically win them to the need for a free and fair education.

Solidarity with the CWU
Almost unanimously the executive voted to show our solidarity with the post workers strike. Scott Cuthbertson spoke well in favour of encouraging a sense of Trade Union solidarity amongst our members. The strike may currently be suspended but the prospects of wider public sector strikes to defend public services are very much on the horizon.

Other motions included unanimous support for the BMA’s organ donation campaign and work to lower the age of consent to 16 across the board.

Two Motions for13th August NEC

We have submitted the following two motions to the next NEC meeting please send any questions or comments to students(at)respectcoalition.org.uk

Stop the War Coalition

NUS NEC believes:
1) That the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan remain the most high profile and significant political issue in the news and popular opinion
2) That the Stop the War Coalition is a broad organisation encompassing the huge majority of peace, anti-war and trade union organisations.
3) Stop the War demonstrations have mobilised millions of people and thousands of students with local demonstrations, meetings and events.
4) That the Coalitions aims are as follows,

"1. The aim of the Coalition should be very simple: to stop the war currently declared by the United States and its allies against 'terrorism'. We condemn the attacks on New York and we feel the greatest compassion for those who lost their life on 11th September 2001. But any war will simply add to the numbers of innocent dead, cause untold suffering, political and economic instability on a global scale, increase racism and result in attacks on civil liberties. The aims of the campaign would be best expressed in the name Stop the War Coalition.

2. Supporters of the Coalition, whether organisations or individuals, will of course be free to develop their own analyses and organise their own actions. But there will be many important occasions when united initiatives around broad stop the war slogans can mobilise the greatest numbers.3. The Coalition shall elect a steering committee which reflects the breadth of those involved to carry forward the aims and objectives. Local groups should have regular, open and inclusive meetings.

4. We call on all peace activists and organisations, trade unionists, campaigners and labour movement organisations to join with us in building a mass movement that can stop the drive to war.

5. We are committed to opposing any racist backlash generated by this war. We will fight to stop the erosion of civil rights."

NUS NEC further believes:
1) NUS has backed almost every national activity of the Stop the War Coalition and had speakers at all the most recent national demonstrations.
2) The coalition is currently re-launching its student work with a focus on activities in universities. Our national president is speaking at the first activists meeting on Saturday 8 September.
3) Many members of the NEC and NUS are under the impression we are an affiliate but we have actually not discussed the war at annual conference since 2003 due to our own internal failures around annual conference.
4) The Society and Citizenship zone meeting agreed in principle to support the upcoming international peace conference on Saturday 1 December and Stop the War Coalition university tour with comedian Mark Steel and ex-SAS Officer Ben Griffen.

NUS NEC resolves:
1) To include the Stop the War national meeting on 8 September in our next mailing to students’ unionsTo agree in principle to affiliate to Stop the War (£200) and request that the NUS president sits on the steering committee on behalf of NUS. If necessary to refer the question to the next Society and Citizenship Committee.

Support Our Post Workers

NUS NEC believes:
1) That the NUS have consistently campaigned against the privatisation of our public services.
2) The Communication Workers Union’s (CWU) ongoing action has involved 130,000 workers in strike action to break the pay freeze in the public sector and halt the devastation of our postal services.
3) That both the government and the Royal Mail management have refused to back off from the harsh new conditions, pay cuts, 40,000 job losses and over 2,000 Post Office closures.
4) That as a national union whose members are both part of and dependant on public services we are clear about which side we are on.
5) The TUC supports the postal workers in their dispute and has called on others to do the same.

NUS NEC further believes:
1) That it is a disgrace that Royal Mail bosses can say that post workers are “25% overpaid and 40% under worked.”
2) That the CWU dispute has to be seen as part of a wider fight to defend public services and break Gordon Browns public sector pay freeze (a freeze on pay increases of 2% - half of the inflation rate).
3) That this dispute may be drawn out and solidarity and wider public support may well be key.
4) That the national CWU demonstration on the 21st August (assemble 12 noon, Clerkenwell Green) will be key in rallying CWU members and joining up the dispute with others in the public sector.

NUS Resolves:
1) To support the national demonstration and advertise it on officer online and the brief.
2) To draw up advice (with relevant NUS staff) on how students’ unions and sabbaticals can get involved with local CWU supporters groups. (Rob Owen to lead.)
3) To encourage officers to visit picket lines with messages of support from NUS and local unions.
4) To write a letter of support to the CWU executive stressing our attempt to build solidarity in line with the TUC’s wishes.