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

Abstract

In 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.

The Comic Representation of Apartheid on British Television in the Late 1960s

“…Its activists, such as Trevor Huddleston, who headed the organization from 1978, sought out opportunities to appear on television. 31 In addition, anti-apartheid organizations aided in the production of television programmes and items and produced their own television material about the South African regime. 32 Yet, while both sides contributed to news and current affairs programmes, they did not consider comedy and its potential to offer a new way to influence the perception of apartheid in Britain.…”

“Trevor is ‘News’”: Celebrity as Protest in the Early Anti-Apartheid Struggle, 1948–1960

“…The so called Notting Hill 'race riots' of August 1958, became a formative moment in the history of 'race relations' in Britain, and for Huddleston's future path to activism. From the 1960s, immigration dominated the political agenda, and Huddleston regularly vocalized his objection to overhauling of the country's immigration laws (Zalmanovich 2018). In Notting Hill Huddleston befriended anti-colonial activists working in the Committee of African Organizations (CAO), and groups advocating for racial equality such as the Inter-Racial Friendship Co-ordinating Council (IRFCC).…”