Our Principles

Principles for building an independent, integrated, youth-led civil rights movement…

1.
We are the leaders of a new movement. We are young women and men united in our commitment to justice, equality and respect. We are not held back by fears, hesitation and compromises. We are proudly fighting for a future of equality and integration, because that is the only road to progress for this country.

2.
We are an integrated, youth-led civil rights movement. Our aim is to uproot racism and sexism from society. We are black, African, Caribbean, South Asian, East Asian, Turkish, Kurdish, South American, Portuguese and other ethnic minority youth and anti-racist white youth who are part of Britain’s multiracial society. Our energy, courage and readiness to speak the truth about injustice can change this society for the better.

3.
We speak the plain truth about racism, so that we can root racist practices and behaviour out of the education system and make a success of integration and achieve equality. We demand that schools, colleges and universities recognise our right as students to speak out about racism, without fear that we will get into trouble or be told that we are being offensive.

4.
We are proud to live in a multiracial country. Britain has been built, and is still being built by people of many different races and cultures. We are all part of this society. None of us are second-class. We stand united against the inhuman treatment of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. We stand united against the acute anti-Muslim racism in present-day Britain. Muslim women have the right to choose what they wear. This includes the right to exercise their religious beliefs about dress. We all have the right to celebrate our different cultures and determine our own identities.

5.
We do not accept racist slurs, abuse and mistreatment. We refuse to accept racist mistreatment from individuals or from institutions. We stand against racist harassment and brutality from the police and against racist policies from the government.

6.
We reject the idea that integration means giving up our identity and culture. We have the right to be British as the people we are: as Africans, as Asians, as Muslims, as whatever our cultural or national identity is.

7.
We fight for an education system where equality is real for everyone, and where our cultures are treated with equal respect.  We demand equal, high quality education for all. Our schools, colleges and universities must be places where we can flourish and develop our creative powers to the full, and not be undermined by racist or sexist stereotyping, discrimination and harassment.

8.
We fight for schools, colleges and universities that reflect the diversity of modern Britain. Our schools and colleges should be racially mixed so that we can overcome discrimination and break down the barriers of prejudice. Integrated education that actively challenges racism and sexism will move the whole society forward. We demand a national school integration plan. We demand that the top universities admit ethnic minority students in proportion to their numbers nationally.

9.
We can win – When we act together, collectively, and take on racism we have enormous social power. Our task is to organise our social power to transform British society.

… if you agree with these principles, and act on them, you are a member of MFJ bamn