Color-Blind Justice

Britain's Race Relations Act forbids anyone from making public statements likely to incite racial hatred. It was passed in 1965, largely as a weapon against extremist white agitators and segregationists, and provided for maximum penalties of $2,800 fine and two years in jail. So far, the only convictions have been Colin Jordan, leader of Britain's neo-Nazi National Socialists, currently serving an 18-month sentence, and Jordan's assistant who was put on probation for three years.

But whites are not the only people who occasionally stir up racial tension, and British police are quick to crack down on troublemakers of any tint. Last week police arrested Trinidad-born Negro Michael Abdul Malik, 34, the bearded leader of Britain's tiny Black Muslim movement. His alleged crime: making a speech in which he described whites as "vicious and nasty people."

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