London is a melting pot with people from all parts of the world living, working and sometimes loving together. The lady who assists me in formatting my books and other administrative tasks is black British. Her boyfriend is white. This is, to me a sign of progress, that love and friendship can overcome racial and other differences.
Unfortunately not everyone thinks in the same way. Yesterday evening as I sat in my favourite Indian restaurant enjoying a curry I overheard the following snatch of conversation
Man, “Enoch Powell was right”.
Fellow diner sitting on an adjacent table, “Yes”.
Back in April 1968, the late Enoch Powell (a member of Edward Heath’s Conservative Shadow Cabinet) delivered what has come to be known as “The Rivers of Blood” speech, so called because of the line
“As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like
the Roman, I seem to see ‘the River Tiber foaming with much blood.'”
Powell was referring to the racial conflict which he believed would flow from allowing non-white immigrants into the United Kingdom. He called for “voluntary repatriation” of non-white immigrants and opposed the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation.
The speech lead to Powell’s dismissal from the Shadow Cabinet and is, to this day still sighted by opponents of a multi racial society.
I have known the owner of the Indian restaurant for many years. He and his staff are wonderful, kind, charming people and it is particularly sad that a customer chose to invoke Powell’s views on race in an approving manner in that restaurant. I wonder if the speaker considered the irony of his support for Powell’s sentiments as he sat enjoying his curry in an Indian restaurant which (had Powell had his way) would, in all probability not have existed. I doubt that this gentleman has much capacity for self examination so the answer is, almost certainly no.
Ultimately love and friendship cut across racial lines and Powell’s views are, thankfully slowly dying out.
For information on Powell’s speech please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech
K Morris - Poet 
I recall reading somewhere that he didn’t actually write the speech, one of his aides did. But given Powell’s intellect and his classical education re the reference to the Æneid, I think it unlikely it wasn’t his work, or largely his work.
People will always be racist. You don’t even have to look at immigration, just local enmity between groups of people from different towns or areas.
While I don’t agree with his suggestions that commonwealth people couldn’t immigrate, I think the reason people are saying he was right was because exactly of his sense of foreboding. There have been riots, people don’t recognise the place they grew up in not always for the better.
I wrote a post recently about a book a former colleague has written about the islamification of our home town. I titled the post racism or reality. I should probably have added, maybe both. I don’t agree with his controversial statements and sentiments but he paints a dark picture of life in that town. To residents of that town, I suspect they might also think Powell’s words were right.
Thank you for your comment. There is a difference between race and culture. I think that people often confuse the two. A black person born and raised in the UK is as British as I am with my white skin. There are genuine concerns about people trying to impose their cultures on others but these are worries about culture not race. The issue is complex. Many Muslims integrate fully into society but a minority try to live as though they still inhabited their homeland. For example there was a tragic case of a westernised Muslim lady in the north-west of England who’s parents took her to Pakistan and attempted to force her to marry a man she had never met. The girl drank bleach and her parents returned with her to the UK. Later she was murdered by her parents who disliked her western ways and they are still imprisoned for the crime. Most Muslims are horrified by such incidents and many do, as I say make a valuable contribution to the communities in which they live. The issue is one of culture though, not race. I hope we can live in a society where people are judged as individuals not according to the colour of their skin.