Racial Citizenship Timeline

The Common Code

No distinction between citizenship and nationality; a transnational and radically inclusive notion of citizenship encompassing all of the British and Dominion citizens united under the monarch; this consolidated the colonial effect (Karatani, 2003)

Komagata Maru Voyage 1914

Sailed from India to Canada in September; however, migrants were restricted from entering Canada based on suspicion and desire for state control from the government, the ship was returned back to Budge Budge where a massacre occurred; this challenge from Canada sparked a need for greater control over British citizenship (Chakraborty, 2016) (Banerjee, 2016)

British Nationality Act 1948

Formed the expansive category of ‘United Kingdom and Colonies Citizenship’ alongside three other groups; this formally allowed around 25% of the global population to live, work and vote in Britain yet policymakers did not intend for this to facilitate mass non-White migration from the Commonwealth (Karatani, 2003) (Perry, 1979)

Empire Windrush Voyage 1948

Arrived carrying a huge number of Afro-Caribbean migrants who had pursued a move to the ‘Mother Country’ as Britain promised greater economic opportunities and a better quality of life; however, the lived experience of this generation did not reflect their formal equitable status (Paul, 1964)

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962

The first statutory attempt to restrict free movement of Commonwealth citizens justified by attempting to manage the strain of Black immigration on housing, resources and social tensions; this required employment vouchers issued by the Ministry of Labour of special circumstances (Karatani, 2003)

Immigration Act 1971

Regulated entry and settlement of immigrants by establishing a ‘right of abode’ system that distinguished between those with close (patrial) ties to the UK and non-patrials (Karatani, 2003)

British Nationality Act 1981

Finally established a defined British citizenship as a logical result of racist policies since WW2 to clarify who ‘belonged’ in Britain; this required a blood link and formed a new ‘citizenship gap’ between the British state and formed colonies (Tyler, 2010)