Confronting the racists in Blacktown

June 5, 2016
Issue 

The racists were well and truly outnumbered in Blacktown on June 4 when the community turned out to counter a protest by a far right, racist grouplet who call themselves "Party for Freedom".

Despite torrential rain, about 100 anti-racism protesters confronted the 12 Nazis, who called for the deportation of “violent African and Muslim gangs” and the reinstatement of the White Australia policy.

Party for Freedom (PFF) is an extremist, Christian, white-nationalist party that alleges that crimes by black people or by Muslims should be met with extreme penalty, but are silent when white people commit the same crimes. They say they are concerned about violence in our communities, but they are merely using it to vilify and dehumanise people of colour.

The PFF contingent was led by the would-be Fuhrer from Rozelle, independent senate candidate Nick Folkes, who declared by megaphone that refugees were “clogging Centrelink and the prisons” said he'd “like to see third world immigration stopped”.

Blacktown is home to thousands of African migrants, none of whom deserve to be told that they're not welcome because of the colour of their skin.

Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Sydney, Peter Boyle, said: “I think we made the point well in Blacktown, one of the most multicultural suburbs of Sydney, when an anti-racist rally many times outnumbered the dozen racists who held a demonstration attacking African and Muslim migrant communities.

“The anti-racist rally was called by Antifa and it was all the more powerful for the words spoken by First Nations poet-warrior Elizabeth Jarrett. Folkes and his band of racist crackpots looked ridiculous with their 'WhiteLivesMatter' placards and their Confederate flag.”

Riot police kept the groups separated by 100 metres, two fences and six police officers mounted on horses.

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