The Clash, ''White Riot''...

[Fuggle]

The Clash, ''White Riot'' (1977)

''White Riot'' is a phenomenal punk rock song. It has lines that are forever emblazoned in my memory: ''Are you taking over/ Or are you taking orders?/ Are you going backwards/ Or are you going forwards?'' I try to answer those questions for myself every day today. It's a song that was written when, in the black communities of London, there were riots against police brutality. [Clash singer/guitarist] Joe Strummer was saying that white working-class youth are oppressed too, and yet we're too chicken to get out there and join forces with our brothers and sisters of different ethnicities. It's a great call for unity in action.

[Syd]

this is the only clash song i enjoy listening to.

[Fuggle]

Have you got 'The Story Of The Clash' ? It's a double album of their greatest hits and well worth a listen.

[gooner]

i agree with you all. white riot was possibly the first song that turned my eyes skyward. so much did it enthuse me that i wrote an essay on it in uni.

[Fuggle]

Do you still have a copy of the essay?

[gooner]

i still have a copy of it, i can email you a copy if you like. there yoiu go i've just done it. you must remember that its an academic view and the punvtuation is shit.

[Fuggle]

Punk and Racism: are there racist undertones in The Clash’s White Riot.





I shall be looking at White Riot, by The Clash. My reasons for choosing this particular song is because it has been used by the extreme right wing National Front party as a racist song. The reason why I find this unusual is because The Clash regularly headlined anti-racist concerts. In my essay I shall look at the political and social climate of the period that the song was recorded. I shall also look at both the anti-racist and racist messages the song may hold. I shall then summarise by presenting my own opinions based upon the evidence I have discovered.

In 1976 the Labour party were in power and were not too overly concerned about the rising tide of fascism. In the case of the police or the courts in particular. Not much was done about conservative MP Enoch Powell and National Front’s Martin Webster being invited on to talk shows across the medial spectrum. This was seen by many as the government taking a neutral stance on the racial question. The population was split between those that took notice of politicians such as Powell and Webster and those that took people at their face value and who had no affiliation’s with either political party: namely the youth. It was this youth, who became pawns in street level politics. In the schools it became common to use such words as: nigger, coon, chinky, wog, paddy and jock; these words came from television programmes such as love thy neighbour and the Sweeney. In 1976 the National Front had, despite not having any parliamentary seats, become one of the largest political parties in the country. In order for the NF to gain seats, it was a wise move to target the youth sub-cultures in recruitment drives. In order to carry out this new recruitment drive, the NF concentrated on activism in areas where the population was heavily non-white. Around 1976-8, racist graffiti, particularly NF symbols appeared all over London, the NF had more activist members than ever before. Its ethos was to wage a violent race war”; this, added to the recently released government figures concerning black crime became unbearable to the Caribbean community, culminating in the inevitable Riot of Notting Hill Carnival late in 76’ when the black youth rioted against the Police. It was this battle, and in particular, the bravery of the black youth that inspired the Clash to write White Riot.

The song highlights the differences between the black and white youth of the day. The lyrics can be taken a number of different ways; they may be construed as being racist. The title of the song, indeed, alludes to it being a racist anthem. The chorus could be described as being sung with a goose-step, the words beat in resonance to a militaristic chant; it could also be said that it is inciting the listener to riot. The fact that it mentions the word ‘White’, infers that it is a chant for whites only. The first verse is interesting as it introduces you to the idea of there being a definite distinction between black and white. On first looking at the verse, it could be said that it is being racist. The black, having problems, they are associated with the throwing of a brick; it infers that the blacks are an anti-social race. The whites go to school, however they go there to learn how to be thick. But in racist eyes, could this mean that we are oblivious to the problems we, as a country, were putting ourselves in when we invited minorities into our country. After all it was the government, or rather the people ‘rich enough to buy power’ who brought them over in the first place. The last verse indicates that White Riot is heavily racist, ‘Are they taking over or are you taking orders’. It must have seemed a godsend to the National Front when Punk was born. White Riot encapsulated all that the National Front stood for.

The punk movement was a disaffected subculture, raging at just about anything, in particular, authority and the establishment. The NF attempted to tap into this new punk style. It was helped by traces of ambiguity which punk displayed towards fascism (swastika armbands and union jack’s amongst others); the style was anarchistic, but politically individual. The National Front welcomed the punks openly as equals. Eddie Morrison, a National Front activist argued that “[punk] was totally white in origin… carried a message of the frustration of the masses of white working class youth” (Gilroy 124,).

In the run up to the 1976 general election, the National Front had been targeting the youth. Several ‘anthems’ were utilised for the Fronts purposes: ‘I feel like a wog’ and ‘White man in the Palais’ frequently topped the racist fanzine ‘Bulldog’, music charts, “they held the number one and two positions as late as September 1982” (Gilroy 124,). White riot, to the racist masses has all the hallmarks of a wakening call, however, this is one interpretation of the song.

I feel that there is an element of jealousy hidden between the lines. Why does the narrator want a riot all of his own, he frequently declares his wishes to riot. When you consider the dialectic between black and white, it is noticed that the black has resorted to violence in his quest for justice, whereas the white has not learnt about this violence, he only learns to be thick – he learns nothing of the state of the nation, he only learns how to grow-up, get a job, get married, have children and how not to complain. This is the ethos of punk, but with a twist. Like other Punk bands, The Clash sang about nihilism and apathy and how life can be no fun, however, they also enveloped black problems alongside their own, giving their music appeal across the racial boundary. In the political climate of the day, this went against the NF trend of adopting punk as its own. They had displayed that Punk’s dissatisfaction was not a racial one. The Clash were different from other punk bands in the sense that they took their musical inspiration from their West London roots, not far from Notting Hill, a traditional Caribbean ghetto. The sound of The Clash, with its prominent three-chord repetitions, mixed with the beats of 70s reggae or dub showed that black and white were united in music, if not altogether in society. This led the to the Left Wing adopting The Clash for its own ends. Anti-racist organisation, Rock against Racism, sought to envelop the sound of Punk music with reggae music at their many gigs organised in an effort to win the minds of the angry youth of the country.

I have looked at the possibilities that White riot, had right-wing leanings; I have also looked at the evidence for it being left wing. Although there is strong evidence for both parties to lay claim to being inspirational behind the song, I conclude that the only reasons for it being either pro or anti racist, were down to the political climate of 1976. I have found out that the late seventies were politically turbulent times, with both sides in combat for the votes of the trendy youth sub-culture of the day: Punk. Without this background information we are left with the bare essential that is White riot. At the end of the day, White Riot was more a call to arms, than it being a political calling. It looks at the way black people, in particular during the 76’ Riot at Notting Hill, fought back against repression. There is an element of admiration towards the way the blacks stood up for their rights while the white people seemed to sit down and take whatever the government could throw at it. Had the blacks not rioted, then somebody else would have. White riot was a song epitomising the punk dissatisfaction, it is a punk manifesto rather than a political one.

Bob Beaver.

[Fuggle]

Bob,
this is an amazing article, did you ever think of publishing it? What mark did you get when you handed this essay in?
When reading this essay I was thinking of The Clash's affiliation with black music (an affiliation that was taken up by The Specials) especially their links with Don Letts (and reggae music in particular). John Lydon also once commented about the links between punk music and black music, especially reggae (a predominently black music form) in as much that they were both protest music forms. It's a shame that the Nazi saluting punks didn't 'get' this but you obviously did and I applaud you for it.
Nice one Bob.

Brian.

[Fuggle]

White Riot Lyrics


White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own

Black people gotta lot a problems
But they don't mind throwing a brick
White people go to school
Where they teach you how to be thick

An' everybody's doing
Just what they're told to
An' nobody wants
To go to jail!

All the power's in the hands
Of people rich enough to buy it
While we walk the street
Too chicken to even try it

Everybody's doing
Just what they're told to
Nobody wants
To go to jail!

Are you taking over
or are you taking orders?
Are you going backwards
Or are you going forwards?