I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to this excellent campaign that launched this year. Here is their raison d’etre in their own words:
The British National Party’s manifesto encourages its members to insinuate themselves into the folk and traditional customs of Britain. This involves the appropriation of British folk music and culture as a means of spreading its peculiar brand of racism and intolerance.
The UK folk scene is a welcoming and inclusive one; folk music and dance have always been about collaboration, participation, communication and respect. Folk Against Fascism has been created to take a stand against the BNP’s targeting of folk music, a stand against the appropriation of our culture. Folk Against Fascism isn’t a political party or a bureaucratic, top-heavy organisation. It is any and all of us who want to make ourselves aware of the BNP’s bigoted view of our history and culture, and who want to do something about it.
Everything Folk wholeheartedly supports this campaign and encourages everyone else to do the same. Folk music has long embraced people from all backgrounds, and with many different opinions and views about life, politics, religion or whatever. That diversity is what makes it special, and the sort of homogeneous, racist, hate-filled nonsense spewed out by the likes of the BNP needs to be tackled head-on and not allowed to either dominate or become a public face of folk and roots music.
Please visit their site, support them and publicise what they are doing.
