Screening Solidarity in Late 1960s Britain: Racism, Anti-Apartheid, and a Televised Debate

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn October 1969, a debate between anti-apartheid activist Bishop Trevor Huddleston and Tory MP Enoch Powell was broadcast on British television. It presented viewers with opposing ideas about immigration, dignity and duty. This article claims that Huddleston's invocation of apartheid as an extreme case of racism turned the debate into a key moment for educating Britons about apartheid and about resistance to it. The paper argues that the debate presents an opportunity to address the absence of television from current scholarship concerning the role of culture in the global anti-apartheid struggle. In addition, it shows that Huddleston used the emerging genre of the televised debate as a platform to appeal for solidarity. Thus this event and the public reaction to it serve as a case study to explore solidarity as it was recently framed by David Featherstone. Huddleston and Powell's screened encounter fused domestic and post-imperial concerns: its analysis thus helps to problematise artificial divides between domestic and imperial historiographies. From a methodological point of view, the analysis of the debate as text and performance is juxtaposed with letters from viewers as well as newspaper coverage. This method illustrates first, the growing place of television as a site of political debate. Second, it positions television recordings as a new archive for scholars working both on the anti-apartheid movement and on racism in Britain. Third, it serves as a lens onto the impact of Powell's and Huddleston's policies on the lives of Britons.