Racism in the 1960s:
The Notting Hill riots
When the Second World War ended in
1945, it was quickly recognised that the
reconstruction of the British economy
required a large influx of immigrant
labour. The Royal Commission on
Population reported in 1949 that
immigrants of 'good stock' would be
welcomed 'without reserve', and
potential newcomers from the
Caribbean and elsewhere soon became
aware of the pressing needs of the
labour market in the UK.
Even in the 1970s the Irish remained the
largest immigrant community in Britain.
In the years immediately after the war,
new arrivals came from all over
Europe.
Immigration from the West Indies was
encouraged by the British Nationality
Act of 1948, which gave all
Commonwealth citizens free entry
into Britain.
From the Indian subcontinent, the
majority of immigrants arrived in
Britain during the 1950s and 1960s.
Although often lumped together as
one group by white Britons, these
newcomers in fact came from a
variety of backgrounds. They
included Hindus from the Gujarat
region of western India, Sikhs from
the eastern Punjab region, and
Muslims both from the west part of
Pakistan and from East Pakistan,
which became Bangladesh in 1972.
Many immigrants
experienced predjudice
and discrimination
when they settled in
Britain.
1958: Race riots in Notting
Hill
Enoch Powell’s’Rivers of
Blood’ speech
The Latimer Road area in North Kensington
was a focus for new arrivals from the West
Indies when Roger Mayne took this photo in
the street. A thriving West Indian
community developed here and in the
Notting Hill area.
Immigrants settled in Britain where
there was a shortage of labour
especially for low-paid jobs:
- After recruitment campaigns for
the NHS or the London Transport
- To work in textile factories.
Many migrants had to live in the
inner-city areas of London
(Brixton, South London),
Birmingham (Handsworth) or
Bradford for instance.
1957: the government is
preoccupied with ‘white-flight’
and residential segregation: white
people leave districts where
migrants settle.
1959: Oswald Mosley (British Union
of Fascists) campaigns for the
general elections. He got 8% of
the votes).
1964: A conservative candidate in
Birmingham used « if you want a nigger
for a neighbour vote Labour » as a
slogan.
1967: The National Front Party is
created. It had a working-class
membership of 20,000.
1968: Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood
Speech. Heath sacked Powell but the
latter was supported by dock workers
and other working-class people.
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In 1960, Bristol's Caribbean
community numbered about 3,000.
Most had arrived from the Caribbean
after World War II. The 1948 British
Nationality Act meant they had
British passports with full rights of
entry and settlement to the UK.
Many had served Queen and country.
Nearly all, like Bailey, had been
schooled under the British education
system. And at a time of virtually full
employment, employers like London
Transport and the National Health
Service had actively sought their
labour.
But the reception they received from
their fellow British subjects was
frequently less than welcoming.
Some migrants
- couldn’t find jobs that matched their
qualifications,
- Had to be accomodated in substandard
overcrowded tenements,
- Suffered from outright racism,
- Were isolated from their families who stayed in
their native countries,
- Were likely to forget their hardships through
alcohol and night life.
Asian migrants faced extra problems
as they understood little english,
practised different religions and
traditions (feasting, arranged
marriages). They were more likely
to set up their own businesses
and bought cheap flats.
South Asian migrants to the UK after
1947 come from different
countries and for different
reasons - to escape civil war, to
seek better economic
opportunities and to join family
members already settled here.
The ties between the British and the Punjab region of India go
back a long way. From 1857 onwards many Punjabis
served in the British army. Sikh soldiers who served in
elite regiments, were often sent to other colonies of the
British Empire, and saw active service in both world
wars. There is a memorial in Sussex which honours the
Sikh soldiers who died in WW1.
Britain’s labour shortages shaped the post-war migration
patterns from the subcontinent. It was primarily men from
middle-ranking peasant families, particularly those who
had been previously employed in the colonial army or the
police force and their relatives, who took up this
opportunity.
Pakistani migrants who came to Britain after the war found
employment in the textile industries of Lancashire,
Yorkshire, Manchester and Bradford, cars and engineering
factories in the West Midlands, and Birmingham,
and growing light industrial estates in places like Luton
and Slough. After the Mangla dam was building 1966
which submerged large parts of the Mirpur district,
emigration from that area accelerated.
These migrants found work in the manufacturing, textile
and the service sectors, including a significant number at
Heathrow Airport in West London. After the
Commonwealth Immigrants Act was passed in 1962 which
restricted the free movement of workers from the
Commonwealth, most workers from South Asia decided
to settle in the UK and were eventually joined by their
families.
The Teddy Boy (also known
as Ted) were young men
wearing clothes that were
inspired by the styles worn
by dandies in the Edwardian
period ; They were associated
with rock and roll. The
name Teddy Boy was coined in
a 1953 Daily Express headline
. Some Teds formed gangs and
gained notoriety following
violent clashes with rival gangs
which were often exaggerated
by the popular press. The most
notable were the 1958 Notting
Hill race riots, in which Teddy
Boys were present in large
numbers and were implicated
in attacks on the West
Indian community.
The Notting Hill riots
August 1958
A district with many Carribean migrants
Poor housing
Violents clashes between youths: stabbings, attacks with iron bars,
petrol bommbs, etc. and abuses.
Demonstrations
After the riots around 4,000 Caribbeans returened to their native
country.
Public opinion was deeply divided.
Migrant groups became better-organised. The Organisation for the
Protection of the Colored People was set up.
A rent strike was organized to demand repairs in sub-standard
dwellings.
Immigration policy changed.
Controls on Immigration
1959: election of Edward Heath
(Cons.)
1961: increase in immigration
(24,000 migrants from the New
Commonwealth in 1959; 63,000
in 1960; 112,000 in 1961).
1962: Commonwealth Immigration
Act. Immigrants had to have a
pre-arranged job or special skills
to enter Britian. Three quarter of
the public supported controls on
immigration.
As a result, the immigrants already in
Britain, stayed.
1965 + 1968: Race Relation Act: the
colour bar in public spaces is
banned. All racist restrictions are
banned. Indictment to racial
hatred is illegal.
1968: Commonwealth Immigrants
Act. Migrants needed to have a
parent or grandparent born in
Britian.
1971: Immigration Act. Immigrants
with a job only get a 12-months
permit.
By 1970s there was scarcely any
primary immigration from black
and Asian commonwealth
countries.
Enoch Powell
In that infamous speech Mr Powell gave
apocalyptic-style predictions of what would
happen to pockets of Britain - such as
Wolverhampton - if mass immigration
continued.
From Riot to Carnival
In 1959 the Notting Hill Carnival began, first indoors. It
became a public outdoor festival in 1966.
The Media played a role in creating a multiracial,
multicultural Britain:
To Sir with Love, 1967 (Negro teacher (Poitier) finds
himself in charge of a tough, subordinate class of
youths in the East End of London....)
BBC Sitcom Love Thy Neighbour, 1972
BBC Sitcom Till Death US Do Part, 1965-75 (centred on
the East End Garnett family, led by a reactionary white
working-class man who holds racist and anti-socialist
views and who is constantly ridiculed.)