enock powell

[Forth Bridges]

a grate man or a very evil man
oR
 in my opion a very honsrty guy who was 40 year to ealier
I woudl liek to hear your views on this before I say any more, ( please don;t turn thsi ine a sl*ging macth)

[loulou]

Is that the MP who said blacks would take over and there would be riots in the streets?

[oldspice]

Yes. He was wrong. There are many people who would like him to have been right. The problem with Powell's argument was that it centred around only black immigrants. Surely, if people are concerned with jobs, housing etc, any sort of immigration is a threat? What Powell said caused offence to many, many very hard working and clean living black immigrants.

[Forth Bridges]

the thing is ther not alot of indepent information about him on thenet ( I wronder wnhy I can't be bethoer with the right wing proeganer)

but the thing isif he turn his word in to all imagranntion then jut mayby yuo can see a bit of his speech in the north west area of UK)

imagrataion is a good in in moduration! it help give a coutry a but selction of cottries, and thus give people a wider aspect of the world but  it comes to a time when you can have too much imagrantion,

point is I state "GET YOU OWN HOUSE IN ORDER FIRST"

thsu uk shuodl be helping all the homeless and poor ppl of UK  FIRST before not anywhere esle, that is just wrong,

[oldspice]

Not all immirgants come here and demand homes. Many arrive, get themselves a job and rent privately.

The sickening thing about Powell's speech was that it ignored the positive contribution black people made to this country before, during and after the war. They were INVITED here to do jobs that many whites would not do.

In the city that I live there are thousands and thousands of immigrants. Some, particularly the Italians and Polish, came here fifty years ago to work in the brick yards and the fields. Next came the Asian community who started their own small businesses and became self employed. Now we have Portuguese, Ukrainians, Albanians, Afghanistanis and dozens of other nationalities. Most of them want to settle down, find work and raise their families in a non-threatening environment. Some of them don't work and laze around BUT SO DO MANY OF THE HOME-GROWN LOCALS! I know white, local families who have three generations of non-workers living under the same roof or near to each other and they are the first in queue for hand-outs they haven't paid in for.

[EasterBunny]

I wasn't around at the time but from what I understand he was neither a great nor an evil man- just someone who wanted to improve his country but went about it the wrong way.  The problem is that there have been a lot of people throughout history who, i think, have wanted to do the best for their country and their people but in doing so have tortured or killed other or just manipulated and used people from other countries. Often when a country is going through economic hard times, immigrants are the first to be blamed for the troubles, they are used as a scapegoat for a government's bad management and are an easy target for people to take out their anger on.  When a country is going through hard times people are more susceptible to extreme politics hence the rise os the BNP in certain parts of the UL and the Front Nationale in certain parts of France.

I think Oldspice is spot on when she says

"Some of them don't work and laze around BUT SO DO MANY OF THE HOME-GROWN LOCALS!"

I also agree to a point with the quote

"GET YOU OWN HOUSE IN ORDER FIRST"

I can't understand when certain charities like children's hospices and the NSPCC and Childline have to be charities, I mean surely ill and abused children should be a nation's priorities.  I feel sometimes in our country people are lulled into forgetting the extreme poverty and hardship some children grow up in as, in my opinion, it is brushed under the carpet.  I think some causes are considered more fashionable than others, which is a shame.

Right i shall get off my soapbox now!

[oldspice]

I agree with all of your points Easterbunny.

I don't think Enoch Powell was evil but I do think he was, for an intelligent man, incredibly stupid to say what he did because he was pandering to public misconceptions and played right into the hands of the National Front.

Hitler, of course, blamed the Jews and others for the mess Germany was in and for the grinding poverty experienced by many Germans between the wars. He started out with good intentions and look what it lead to.  Enoch should have known better. In anycase, it ruined his career.

[loulou]

Anyone got any idea why there's a load of men in German uniform marching through Tynemouth today?

[EasterBunny]

I have just re read my post and it sounds as though I am justifying the horrors of what the Nazi's did, which is not what I meant to do.

I was trying to say that i don't think one person can be put on a pedastal for making change happen- for the good or the bad.  It depends on the socio-economic climate, although it is scary how propaganda can influence everyday people into supporting political parties whose policies are so extreme.

Screaming Lord Sutch was sadly misunderstood. RIP.

[oldspice]

I don't think it sounds like you were justifying the Nazis. What you wrote makes perfect sense