Originally conceived as a one-off concert with a message against racism, Rock Against Racism was founded in 1976 by
Red Saunders, Roger Huddle and others. According to Huddle, "it remained just an idea until August 1976" when
Eric Clapton made a drunken declaration of support for former
Conservative minister
Enoch Powell (known for his anti-immigration
Rivers of Blood speech) at a concert in Birmingham.
[2] Clapton told the crowd that
England had "become overcrowded" and that they should vote for Powell to stop
Britain from becoming "a
blackcolony". He also told the audience that Britain should "get the foreigners out, get the
wogs out, get the
c00ns out", and then he repeatedly shouted the
National Front slogan "Keep Britain White"