I’ve received an e-mail from someone who has read my book Race with the Devil and is curious about the ways in which the racist Britain of my youth is different from today’s America. I’m appending the relevant parts of his e-mail below. My response follows.

 

One of the things that struck me was how different England seemed to be from this country, based on your description and what I know about America.  It seemed that there was a strong clash over there between the native English and immigrants (I presume this is still the case).  Here in this country, Pat Buchanan and others caution about the dangers or evils of immigration.  I cannot say I have kept up with them all that well; but while at school I used to pick upChronicles magazine.  Given your unique experience with agitation or propaganda of the race struggle bent, do you have any concern about the attitude of Buchanan and Chronicles? (I admit these two viewpoints may be not identical, but as I say, I have not kept up with them very well).  I am asking about any kind of trigger notions or familiar ideas that reflect any similarity with those you used to espouse.

 

     I said above that England seemed very different than this country.  Do you observe any similarities or trends here, which remind you of the trouble over there?

 

     You had some contact with groups that advocated violent confrontation.  I was struck by the large scale riots you describe.  Do you see these sort of things as possible here, or do you think that the armed citizens would likely prevent such outbreaks? (I recall your description of the occasion when you ran towards a Catholic street, but were not followed by your companions, who feared an IRA sniper might have protected the place.)

 

My reply:

 

I have no objection to opposing immigration, especially if it’s on a scale that will inevitably prove socially and/or economically harmful. The question is not about immigration but about racism. Immigration might be good or bad but racism is always bad. If one’s opposition to immigration is the bitter fruit of racism, one might be right for the wrong reasons. A right thinking person should never succumb to wrong reason!

 

The main similarity that I see between the USA and the UK is the similarity between American imperialism and its earlier British counterpart. The Pax Britannica was very problematic as a global phenomenon and so is the Pax Americana.

 

I don’t think that an armed citizenship will prevent riots, especially in the cities. Such riots will simply become more dangerous and deadly because of the presence of firearms. (This cold, hard fact does not mean that I believe that citizens should not have the right to bear arms. Quite the contrary. My experience of Big Brother in the UK leads me to believe that an armed citizenship is the best defence against a tyrannical central government.)