Famous SOASian: The Unfortunate Legacy of Enoch Powell

Roxanna Brealey, Senior Sub-Editor (History & Politics) & SOAS History Society 09/12/2024

‘I’m going to make a speech at the weekend and it's going to go up like a rocket, but whereas all rockets fall to the ground this one is going to stay up’ were Enoch Powell’s words as he pre-empted his infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ Speech (1968), which provided him with a reprehensible claim to the racist's hall of fame. 

When walking through the halls of the School of Orient and African studies (SOAS), you will find various posters commemorating different inspirational alumni. From Paul Robeson, an American singer and Civil Rights activist to Ramla Ali, an Olympic boxer.

Who you won’t find however is Enoch Powell (and understandably so).

He attended SOAS in the 1940s to study Urdu, he too spoke other languages, such as modern and ancient Greek, Welsh and Portuguese. His reason for studying Urdu came from an Orientalist desire rather than a genuine appreciation for the language. Instead, he wanted to exploit and control the country, as one of his biggest political aspirations was to become Viceroy of India. In letters he claimed that ‘he fell head over heels with it’ (India) and many claim that he was absolutely shattered when India gained its independence as it signified the inevitable crumbling of the Empire. Powell is known as one of the most blatantly racist politicians in British modern history and truly represents SOAS’s dark and murky colonial past. 

Powell rose to fame in 1968 with his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech which was spoken at the Conservative Political Centre in Birmingham. Although this was not Powell’s first attempt at notoriety, as two months prior he had attempted a similar speech in Walsall, near Wolverhampton. However, this attempt was unsuccessful, so Powell decided to give it another go but with much more divisive and inflammatory language. 

The ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech ironically occurred two years after Walter Rodney graduated from SOAS with his doctorate in African history in 1966, he went on to become an influential Pan-Africanist and black liberationist. Here is a core example of the crossroads of SOAS’s history, whilst these two figures attended the institution a mere 20 years apart their outcomes in history are starkly different. 

Many soundbites have become inextricably famous. For example, Powell reiterated a quote he supposedly noted down from one of his constituents, “In this country in 15- or 20-years’ time the Black man will have the whip hand over the white man”. Or “As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood”. Which references what he deemed the inevitable societal destabilisation that immigration would cause. Additionally in his speech, he refuted any possibility of assimilation. Much of this was accompanied by a chorus of ‘Hear, Hears’ from the audience. 

He was so confident in the messaging of his speech that he sent the published version of the speech to the press before the conference so it could make the front page the next morning. Powell’s intention for the speech was very clear.

He wanted to create intense racial division in the UK.

Fifty-six years on, how can his impact be measured? Did his infamous speech ‘go up like a rocket’ and then ‘stay up’ as he intended? In some sense, his individual status within society and politics is not as influential as he had intended. This speech put a stop to any chances of him reaching high political office as Prime Minister Edward Heath fired him from the Shadow Cabinet as his speech was ‘liable to exacerbate racial tensions’. 

British Future, a think tank that focuses on issues such as freedom, human rights and multiculturalism published a report in 2018 which measures the state of racial and religious division and harmony in the UK, in context of the ‘Rivers of Blood’ legacy. Powell himself as a recognised figure is fading into the background of history, with only 17% of 18–24-year-olds associating the phrase ‘Rivers of blood’ with him. Whilst the statistic does increase with age, his notoriety has decreased over time. Even Nigel Farage, who claimed in 2008 that Powell was his ‘political hero’, (apparently based on their shared Euroscepticism) could not identify Powell’s words in a 2014 Sky News interview but subsequently stated that he agreed with the speech’s ‘basic principle’. 

The impact of the ideology he spread however is a different story, while he is not an ‘icon’ of the far-right his ideas stand strong, so in some sense, his prediction was right.

Opponents of multiculturalism and immigration take up a large space in our political discourse. Newspapers such as the Sun were particularly obnoxious and obsessive in their biases when it came to reporting Princess Kate and Meghan Markle. For example, they applauded Kate for cradling her baby bump and portrayed it as a maternal act, however for Markle, she was slammed by the media for doing the same thing and branded a ‘Baby Bump Barbie’. Many believe the difference in treatment is down to Markle’s mixed-race heritage, however this is only the surface of the problem…

More concerningly, this ideology has strengthened significantly in the UK over the past few years especially with the rise of the Reform party, gaining five seats in the recent election and coming second in 98 constituencies. This type of ideology incentivises violence as demonstrated by the summer race riots that were triggered by misinformation from high profile right-wing figures. They advocated for the baseless lie that the boy who murdered the young girls had arrived on a small boat and was on an MI6 watchlist. 

Whilst these fringe movements demonstrate a distinctive lack of progress and the clear discerning influence of Powellism, it cannot be stated that these are majority beliefs. 

British Future found that only 12% of people think it is bad that someone of mixed race is joining the Royal Family, so clearly the media is pushing out a minority sentiment. 

Additionally, a further study was conducted in 2023 and found that 68% of ethnic minorities agree that ‘The United Kingdom(UK) has made significant progress on racial equality in the last 25 years’, and this has been caused via legislation, diverse schools and ethnic minority figures in key positions of power. Powell’s own constituency of Wolverhampton Southwest has also since been held by minority ethnic members of Parliament such as Paul Uppal and Eleanor Smith, suggesting that racial prejudices do not exist to the same degree.

What Enoch Powell represents is a very dark strand of history that SOAS is hoping to forget. He was a divisive figure who opposed the Race Relations Act (1968) which legislated against employment, housing and education discrimination. He described this as ‘throwing a match on to gunpowder’. His words did not consider the contributions or dignity of the Windrush generation who helped to rebuild the UK post-WWII. They took up jobs such as nurses, manufacturers and bus drivers all of which are pivotal for the running of this country. 

SOAS’s past should be no mystery. It is important to confront it proactively and recognise how an institution that is now so set on decolonising education, does play an unfortunate part in current racial violence and scapegoating.