1. J A M E S R H O D E S
U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A N C H E S T E R , U K
White backlash, unfairness and
justifications of the British
National Party (BNP) Support.
A presentation by
Jeremy Griffith
Pere Aspinall

2. INTRODUCTION
 White Backlash: It is a response to minorities getting
equal rights and protection under the law.
 BNP: The British National Party is a far-right
political party in the UK. It was formed by John
Tindal in 1982, but did not gain relevant
representation till 2001.
 Unfairness: It refers to the sense of exclusion and
marginalization within multicultural discourse.

3. The Politics of White Backlash
 The Politics of White Backlash arose in the 1960’s
along with the appearance of the Far Right
movement.
 It gained force with Margaret Thatcher in power in
the 1980’s and 1990’s.
 This feeling of unfairness towards the whites was
strengthened in 2001 with 9/11, and then in 2005
with the attacks in London.

4. The Politics of White Backlash
 As other cultures gained recognition, some whites
felt that their culture was lacking recognition.
 Education
 White culture appeared invisible
 Discrimination against whites is not treated the same
as discrimination against minorities.

5. The BNP and Backlash Politics in Burnley
 The BNP promotes the idea of “The Rights for
Whites”, which inverts the true nature of racial
power relations.
 Positive discrimination forces whites to lose out.
 Multiculturalism threatens white culture.
 The BNP in Burnley criticized what it viewed as the
favouritism towards the Asian community.
 Tension escalated with the 2001 riots in Burnley and
Oldham between whites, Asians and the police.

6. The Burnley Study
 The study was engaged in Burnley to gauge political
trends.
 BNP voters believed multiculturalism, positive
discrimination and political correctness has caused
racism.
 Some voters believed that the Racial Discrimination
Act was abused as something minorities could hide
behind.

7. The Swinging Pendulum
 The Swinging Pendulum is an idea among the BNP
voters that the Government has gone beyond
equality in favour of ethnic minorities.
 Ethnic minorities concerns are given too much
attention.
 Some BNP voters felt that racism against the whites
is not treated equally as racism against ethnic
minorities.

8. Equalities for whites?
 BNP voters felt like victims because of multicultural
policies favouring the ethnic minorities.
 BNP voters want equality
 Equal benefits
 Equal opportunities
 Fair Government policies
 However, BNP voters ignored, that Government
policies favoured Asian areas because they are the
most deprived.

9. Conclusion
 Since the 1980’s “white backlash” has been present
in British Politics.
 The fight for equality by BNP voters masks the real
racialized inequalities that exist.
 There is a danger here that a lack of critical
engagement with “white backlash” could lead to the
popularizing of perceived unfairness and injustice.