theme 3 society in transition 3C race and immigration

Over 1/3 of Britain’s manpower during WW1 had been black and Asian colonial troops and labourers including:

• million Indian soldiers fighting in Europe and the Middle East

• Around half a million locally recruited troops in Africa

• West Indian volunteers in labour battalions on the western front

In 1919 following the demobilisation of much of the British Army there was an explosion of racist violence across Britain

In Cardiff, Newport, Glasgow, Salford, Hull and London angry mobs of unemployed white people attacked black and Asian people - considered foreign and not entitled to jobs in Britain

• in Limehouse, an east end district, black peoples were attacked in 4 days of white riots

• In Cardiff white violence led to 3 deaths and £3k of property damage

The colour bar in the 1920’2 and 1930’s - exclusion form employment and refused service in public - was based on

• widespread prejudice

• Union and businesses working together to dent rights of black and Asian people

• Police indifference to racism

• The absence of govt action to end racism

The National Union of Seamen demanded:

That the jobs of ‘non-white’ sailors should be given to white seamen - local branches of the union took action to force black workers out of their jobs

In 1919 white workers in —— went on strike against working alongside black workers. Led to the sacking of —— black workers.

Liverpool, 120

The Alien Orders Act 1920

Required ‘aliens’ to register with police before seeking work or be deported - the police only applied the law to black and Asian’s. Many ‘aliens’ were citizens of the Empire. The act placed all Black and Asian people under suspicion

Special Restrictions Act 1925 (Coloured Alien Seamen Act)

Forced ‘coloured’ seamen to prove their British citizenship to immigration authorities or face deportation - the act assumes that ‘coloured’ seamen were non-British unless they could prove status

Age rates were weighted in favour of white workers

Report presented in HoC 1919 states that Asian chefs were paid £5 a month when white chefs were paid £20

In the year 1934-1935 the League of Coloured People reported:

That 80% of black and Asian men had been unemployed for a prolonged period compared to 30% of white men

Cardiff Race Riot 1935

The local police collaborated with white workers to prevent BlackBritish sailors from working on ships (AOA)

The Communist Party of Great Britain played a significant role in the fight against Britain in the 1920’s:

• party had a high proportion of members from minority ethnic groups

• 1930 the NUS tried to force Arab and Somali seamen out of their jobs - CPGB organised regional strikes - unsuccessful but showed that some WW would support antiracist campaigns

• Organised campaigns against BUF (other slide)

CPGB vs BUF - cable street 0 mid 1930’s

BUF attempted to incite anti-semitism in East End leading to firebombing and ‘Jew-bashing’. The local JPC and CPGB organised 10k people to stop the march.

Battle of Cablestreet - series of fights between the BUF and anti antifascist campaigners.

The International African Service Bureau

• dedicated to fighting racism and imperialism.

• Est 1937

• Established newspaper: International African Opinion

• Lobbied for black and Asian people to have equal access to healthcare and shopping facilities

Britains Uni’s played an important imperial role:

In the interwar years around 50 people from West Africa, 150 from the Caribbean were educated in British top Uni’s

Harold Moody

Born in Jamaica, came to Britain in 1904 to study medicine, choosing to stay he was repeatedly refused employment in British hospitals

The LCP was established by Moody in 1931 to support immigrant students:

• worked to expose the colour bar - end white ignorance of discrimination

• Started campaigns to ensure equal access to all facilities

• Equal access to healthcare

Around 1,200 men from across the Caribbean were employed in factories in ——- and ——-

Lancashire and Merseyside

Between -,000 and -,000 Caribbean men joined the —-

6,000 10,000 the RAF

Around ——— Black African men served in British Forces

500k

By 1945 the —— Army numbered — million men. The largest multi-ethnic volunteer army the world had ever seen

Indian, 2 million

Govt propaganda encouraged white men from Australia and New Zealand to help the war effort - it discouraged men from the Caribbean:

In 1940 the govt rejected an offer from a Caribbean shipping company to pay for 2,000 Jamaican workers to travel Britain for war work

West Indian soldier found that there were marginalised and workers faced discrimination from unions and factory owners:

Some Caribbean workers were refused work in factories due to ‘cultural differences’ with white workers

Promotions for black and Asian soldiers were rare

There was considerable social pressure against black men marrying white women

New opportunities

Education and training was offered to all ex-servicemen after the war and many recent immigrants made full use of this provision

New common wealth immigration:

Following WW2 there was a Labour shortage - provided opportunity for migrants from across the Empire to earn money.

The British Nationality Act 1948

Created a new legal right for all people in British colonies to enter the UK - led to waves of migration

SS Empire Windrush

June 1948 bringing 492 Jamaican people to Britain - celebrated as the beginning of mass migration

Distinction between old and new commonwealth

Old: predominantly white population, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada

New: predominantly black or Asian population such as Jamaica, Ghana, or India

The NHS recruited —— nurses from the Caribbean between 1949 and 19–

3,000 1954

Attlee and Churchill tried to discourage ‘new commonwealth’ immigration by pressuring govts to restrict the availability of

Passports

White people objected to black and Asian people:

• buying houses

• Claiming welfare benefits

• Getting jobs

• Committing crime

• Behaving in ways that reflected ‘cultural differences’

The colour bar in the 1950’s

Unions, employers and the govt enforced the colour bar. Unions and management in businesses enforced a quote where 95% of jobs had to go to white peoples

In 1955 white —— workers were on strike due to a breach of the — rule in Wolverhampton

Transport, 5% rule

White violence

• black and Asian men who dates white women were often subject to beatings but white men

• Anger at the loss of Britains colonies was expressed by violence

• Black and Asian people were blamed for social and economic problems

• Police offices were more likely to prosecute crime by people of colour

Notting Hill riots 1958

Notting Hill riots of 1958 are the most notorious mass violence. Mobs of between 300 and 700 white men armed with iron bars, knives and leather belts beat black residents

Police did little to stop the attacks and the black community defended themselves

Politicians and immigration:

• conservative and labour politicians attempted to win votes by proposing policies to restrict immigration

• A minority of politicians ‘played the race card’ - tried to win votes or political advancement by appealing to popular racism

• Politicians began to advocate multi-culturalism

• A number of black rights to groups were founded to lead the fight against racism in Britain

Factors that led to the introduction of restriction on immigration from 1962:

• widespread public concerns about ‘racial tensions’

• Govt reports that blamed B&A people for crime, rising costs of welfare and overcrowding

Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962 (Conservative)

Designed to end large-scale immigration - prevent a multi-cultural society.

Did allow families to be reunited - spouses or children of people living in Britain had entry rights

The 1962 CWIA - people from former colonies could obtain an entry voucher for two main reasons:

• they had a specific job waiting for them

• They had specific skills that the briths economy requires i.e medical profession

Commonwealth Immigration Act 1968 (Labour)

• Migrants children who were over 17 were denied entry

• Children with only one parent living in Britain were denied entry

• Entry required a connection to Britain, a parent or grandparent had lived in Britain = Grandfather clause

The Immigration Act 1971

• partial: people born in the UK, or whose parents of grandparents were. Tended to apply to old commonwealth people

• Non-partial: people who were born outside the UK, and whose parents and grandparents were

The immigration acts had widespread support

1962 - 62% approval rating

1968 - 72%

1971 - 59%

Controversy

The 1968 Act effectively denied Kenyan Asians who were fleeing prosecution, entry to Britain, it was attacked by press and student radicals

How did the 1968 CWIA create a multicultural society

1. In order to beat the ban large numbers of B&A migrants moved to Britain before it came into force - the B&A population doubled 1960-1961

2. Led to many B&A people who had planned to leave staying for fear or denied re-entry

3. Immediate family could enter Britain

4. 30k-50k work vouchers were issued a year between 1963 and 1979

1964 General Election in Smethwick

‘If you want a N— for a labour vote labour’

B&A radical groups

• 1968 British Black Panther Party

• 1971 Jamaican-born radical Olive Morris founded Brixton Black Women’s Group

• 1974 The Race Today Collective - founded by Darcus Howe

• 1975 Asian Youth Movement - in response to murder of Gurdip Singh Chaggar

Roy Jenkins (labour home sec) and multiculturalism

• rejected the foal of cultural assimilation: argued that immigrants shouldn’t be obligated to adopt English customs

• There should be a common commitment to equality of opportunity

• Britain to become a country of cultural diversity

During the 1970’s the Black Panthers and the Race Today Collective proved extremely effective at organising challenge against racism:

• Black Panthers forced the first official acknowledgment that there was ‘evidence of racial hatred in the Met police’

• 1974 Darcus Howe and the RTC helped organise the imperial typewriters strike - forced white unions to support Asian workers

• 197401976 Howe and the RTC helped organise the biggest squat in briths history to ensure the Bengali population on Tower Hamlets had access to safe housing

Race Relations Acts were motivated by:

• pressure form B&A people to deal with racism

• Govt concerns that poor race relations would lead to widespread rioting

• Political commitment to multi-culturalism

The ban on inciting racial hatred led to a number of prosecutions - however it was often used against black radicals:

Micheal X - Leader of Racial Adjustment Action Society was the 1st to be arrested of infighting racial hatred for a speach given in 1967

Rivers of blood = Enoch Powell 20th April 1968 argued that:

• mass migration and antiracist laws meant that B&A people had more rights than whites

• White Britons were ‘strangers in their own country’

• Multi-culturalism would segregate communities and violence

• Govt should give grants to B&A’s to encourage ‘re-emigration’

Aftermath of Enoch Powell Rivers of blood

Sacked from conservative shadow cabinet

Opinion poll showed 74% of Britons agreed with his ideas

3 days later a march of 1k dock workers expressed support ‘don’t knock Enoch’

Race Relations Act 1965

Outlawed the colour bar - illegal to dent people access to derives and public places on the basis of race

Outlawed incitement of racial hatred

Established Race Relations Board to monitor law enforcement

Race Relations Act 1968

outlawed racial discrimination in housing and employment

Established the Community Relations Commission to promote multi-culturalism through education

Race Relations Act 1976

Further protections from racial discrimination

Indirect discrimination (not based entirely on ethnicity) outlawed

Combined the CRC and RRB to create Commission for Racial Equality

The Notting Hill carnival

1967 aggressive attempts by the Met Police to close down the carnival

Policies to force assimilations continued

The policy of dispersal - some local govts had a policy that students with Caribbean or Indian heritage could not be more than 30% of the school - bussing - abandoned in late 1970’s

The three race relation laws did create the beginnings of an official commitment to cultural diversity

The 1976 law was used to uphold the right of Sikh boys to wear turbans to school following the 1982 court case Mandla v. Dowell-Lee