Anti-Apartheid: The Black British Response

Abstract

Although histories have been written about the transnational character of the anti-apartheid solidarity movement, thus far little has been written about the black voices raised in solidarity in Europe or in Britain, arguably the centre of the international anti-apartheid movement. There is a long history of pan-African sentiment from the late nineteenth century among Africans of the diaspora settled and transient in Britain. The deteriorating racial situation in South Africa throughout the twentieth century therefore attracted the concern of black communities living in Britain. People of African descent in Britain felt the insult of apartheid most keenly because of past and contemporary manifestations of racism in Britain. This empathy was transformed into acts of solidarity and material support. Black Britons viewed the African liberation struggle in Southern Africa with more than casual detachment. There was a willingness to identify with the liberation struggle whether through supporting the ANC or the PAC. However, there were ambivalent feelings in some quarters about the former. The following article will focus on aspects of black British anti-apartheid solidarity during the nearly 45 years of apartheid.