3c: Race and immigration

Question 1

What was race and immigration like at the start of the 20th century?

Answer 1

At the start of the 20th century, Britain did have a small section of ethnic minorities (non-white). These people were mostly living in port cities.

Question 2

What was race and immigration like in the interwar years?

Answer 2

In the Interwar years, these minorities experienced physical, passive and institutional racism (in some of the govs legislation.)

Question 3

What was race and immigration like in 1948?

Answer 3

In 1948, Clement Attlee’s Labour passes the British Nationality Act which encourages mass migration from the Empire across the late 40s, 50s & 60s.

Question 4

What was race and immigration like in the 1950’s?

Answer 4

In the 1950s, as the number of Black and Asian migrants grows, there were still many examples of physical racist violence. Eg. The Notting Hill Riots 1958

Question 5

What was race and immigration like in the 1960’s?

Answer 5

By the 1960s, the government began to take steps to fight racism with a number of Race Relations Acts. Although there are still issues with assimilation and racist attitudes still persist in some sections of society.

Question 6

Where were minirties manly living?

Give example?

Answer 6

minority communities were almost exclusively in port cities:

eg. Liverpool, Hull, Cardiff, Southampton, Bristol.

By around c.1914 Liverpool was the most ‘diverse’ city in Britain. There were significant numbers of Irish, Chinese, Black, Italian and German migrants living there.

Question 7

What happened in 1919?

Answer 7

The Race Riots of 1919

Question 8

What happened at the Race Riots of 1919?

Answer 8

In the summer of 1919 there was an explosion of racist violence in Britain’s port cities. Cities include: Cardiff, Newport, Glasgow, Hull, South Shields and most notably Liverpool.

Question 9

What was the causes of the 1919 race riots?

Answer 9

Were the long held attitudes of the time that black people were inferior to white Britons.

Moreover, the trigger factor was the demobilisation of White British troops from the Western Front. (angry about the Britain they were coming back to).

Question 10

What did jobs have to do with the race riots?

Answer 10

ompetition for jobs was tough in industrial cities and there was boycotting/striking from white workers of workplaces where Black and Asian men were employed before white men before and after the race riots.

Question 11

What was the The Alien Orders Act, 1920?

Who was affected?

Answer 11

required Migrant workers (or ‘aliens’) to register with the police before seeking work; those who did not could be deported.

This was supposed to apply to all ‘Aliens’, however, white European migrants were not affected. Instead, the police only applied the law to the Black and Asian minorities (even those who were technically British citizens)

Question 12

When was the The Alien Orders Act,

Answer 12

1920

Question 13

What was the Special Restrictions Act, 1925

Answer 13

-This Act forced ‘coloured’ seamen to prove their British citizenship to immigration authorities when they requested or faced deportation. The Act assumed that coloured seamen were non-British unless they could prove their status as citizens. Most seamen at the time did not carry documentation in this way - often led to problems and deportation.

Question 14

When was the Special Restrictions Act?

Answer 14

1925

Question 15

What was the impacts of the Special Restrictions Act, 1925 and the The Alien Orders Act?

Answer 15

Created a hostile environment for migrants.

Normalised racial discrimination, particularly towards Black and Asian minorities.

Encouraged migrants to leave Britain & gave the gov a legal framework to repatriate migrants.

Question 16

What kinds of things happened at the Liverpool 1919 race Riots?

Answer 16

Boycotting from white workers in factory work & dock work if Black men were employed.

Black men were robbed, attacked and culminates in one member of the black community called Charles Wootton being Lynced by the Liverpool Docks

Question 17

What happened after the 1919 race riots in Liverpool?

Answer 17

Boycotting intensifies and 400 black men, women and children have to mashed under police guard though the streets of Liverpool to protect them from harm from the white masses.

Question 18

What groups were fighting for the rights of black, Asian and Jewish workers?

Answer 18

Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the International African Service Bureau (IASB).

Question 19

What was the IASB?

Answer 19

The IASB was established in London in 1937 by the Caribbean intellectuals C.L.R. James and George Padmore. They lobbied for black and Asian people to have equal access to healthcare and shopping facilities.

Question 20

WHAT DID THE CPGB ENGAGE IN?

Answer 20

Engaged in several campaigns to protect minorities. To elucidate this, One of the CPGB s major campaigns involved the defence of the rights of Arab seamen.

In 1930 the NUS tried to force Arab and Somali seamen out of their jobs in South Shields in South Tyneside. The CPGB, working with groups representing the Arab and Somali seamen, organised regional strikes against the union’s racist policy.

Question 21

What did WW2 see when it came to race relations?

Answer 21

saw huge changes in Britain’s relationship with immigration. Post-1948: Mass migration.

Question 22

What changed after WW2 when it came to race relations?

Answer 22

More opportunities for migrants (education, jobs)

Affects British culture: new sub-cultures start to emerge.

Racism (in may forms, passive, institutional, physical)

Question 23

What happened during WW2?

Answer 23

it is undeniable that migrant workers and Black and Asian members of the Empire were crucial to the war effort. Nonetheless, there was still prejudice from the government. Government propaganda encouraged white men from New Zealand and Australia to serve in the war effort but discouraged it from the Caribbean.

Question 24

What new opportunities did the war open up for Black and Asian people in Britain?

Answer 24

.Eg. education and training offered to all ex-servicemen after the war.
Many minorities also contributed to the war effort. Around 1,200 men from across the Caribbean were employed in factories in Lancashire and Merseyside. Other men joined the armed forces.

Question 25

How many Caribbean men joined the RAF?

Answer 25

Between 6,000 and 10,000 Caribbean men joined the RAF.

Question 26

How many Black African men served in the British forces?

Answer 26

Around 500,000 black African men served in the British forces.

Question 27

How many people were in the Indian army?

Why was this significant?

Answer 27

By 1945 the Indian Army numbered 2 million men. It was the largest multi-ethnic volunteer army the world had ever seen.

Question 28

What was the Learie Constantine Case?

Answer 28

Learie Constantine was a Trinadadian cricketer. Trinidad was part of the British Empire and Learie had moved to live in Britain. In 1943, Learie and his wife had booked a room at London’s Imperial Hotel, however, he was refused entry into the hotel due to the colour of his skin. Learie Constantine then took the hotel to court and won a legal victory vs the hotel the year after. Crucially, government officials were happy that he won his case.

Question 29

What was the impact of the Learie Constantine case

Answer 29

started to normalise the concept that Black Britons had the same legal rights as white Britons. It also showed the government were keen on the idea of racial equality, although they were not proactive in fighting racism themselves.

Question 30

What did Labour shortages after the War led to?

Answer 30

This provided an opportunity for migrants from across the Empire to earn money. Britain was devastated by War and needed to be rebuilt. Consequently, Attlee’s government passed the British Nationality Act in 1948.

Question 31

What was passed in 1948?

Answer 31

the British Nationality Act

Question 32

What was the the British Nationality Act?

Answer 32

Created a new legal right for all people in British colonies to enter the UK. British nationality and created the status of “Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies” (CUKC) as the national citizenship of the United Kingdom and its colonies.

Question 33

What Boat arrived in 1948?

Answer 33

The Boat SS Empire Windrush

It bought 492 Jamaican people to Britain

Question 34

What was the impact of the British Nationality Act?

Answer 34

Together, the British Nationality Act and the labour shortage led to waves of migration, which significantly increased the proportion of black and Asian people living in Britain.

Question 35

How did the Demographic change between 1939-1958?

Answer 35

Immigration changed the population of Britain as Asian and Caribbean communities grew from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

Question 36

What was the population of people from the Caribbean like in

1939
1949
1959

Answer 36

8,600
133,000
173,000

Question 37

What was the population of people from India and Pakistan like in

1939
1949
1959

Answer 37

9,300
64,000
462,000

Question 38

How did the Opportunities change between 1939-1958?

Answer 38

As the British economy grew in the 1950s, some immigrants found opportunities to make money & find employment*

*it is crucial to note this did not apply to all migrants. The attitudes at the time meant that many faced racial discrimination when it came to education, employment and wider opportunities.

Question 39

Give some example of how Opportunities changed between 1939-1958?

Answer 39

The NHS recruited 3,000 nurses from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1954.

The Guyanese entrepreneur, Dr Mooksang, opened nightclubs in London.

Jamaican DJ Wilbert Augustus Campbell. He played Jamaican ska and reggae under the stage name Count Suckle in nightclubs

Question 40

How did the race reaction to immigrants change between 1939-1958?

Answer 40

There are example of significant numbers of letters to MPs of White Britons complaining about Black and Asian immigration.

Unsurprisingly, concern about immigration was almost exclusively related to black and Asian people. Letters to MPs did not express concern about immigration from NZ or Canada.

Question 41

What did racists objected to migrants doing?

Answer 41

buying houses
claiming welfare benefits
getting jobs
committing crime
behaving in ways that reflected 'cultural differences'.

Question 42

What was the government reaction to migration between 1939-1958?

Answer 42

Both Attlee and Churchill did not welcome ‘coloured’ immigration. Both actively discouraged it. Churchill even once raised the idea of running the 1955 GE on the slogan ‘Keep Britain White’. Nonetheless, both didn’t act on it as they feared it would damage Britain’s reputation.

Question 43

Would would later become evident when it came to the governments attitudes towards migration between 1939 and 1958?

Answer 43

This sentiment of governments worried about the increasing pace of immigration would later become evident in the Immigration Acts passed in the 60s&70s to curb the amount of Black & Asian immigration from the commonwealth.

Question 44

How did White violence change between 1939 and 1958?

Give some examples

Answer 44

Mass immigration was also accompanied by white violence against new immigrants.

Causes included: Black & Asian men who married white women. Anger at the loss of British colonies (decolonisation). Black & Asian people blamed for socio-economic issues. Police were also more likely to prosecute crimes against Black and Asian people.

Question 45

What happened during the Notting Hill Riots in 1958?

Answer 45

Over several nights mobs of between 300 and 700 white men armed with iron bars, knives and heavy leather belts beat the black residents of Netting Hill, as well as attacking their homes and businesses. The crowd shouted slogans such as ‘We will kill the blacks’ and ‘Keep Britain white!’ Police did little to stop the attacks, and therefore the black community organised its own defence.

Question 46

When was the Notting Hill Riots?

Answer 46

1958 - late August and early September.

Question 47

When was the 1st Commonwealth Immigration Act?

Who was this introduced under?

Answer 47

1962

Harold Macmillan

Question 48

When was the 2nd Commonwealth Immigration Act?

Who was this introduced under?

Answer 48

1968

Harold Wilson

Question 49

What did the Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1962 include?

Answer 49

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

People from former colonies could obtain an entry voucher for two main reasons:
They had a job waiting for them
They had specific skills the British economy needed.

Crucially, the Act did allow families to be reunited.

Question 50

What did the Commonwealth immigration Act 1968 include?

Answer 50

Labour’s Act tightened the rules further…

Children of migrants living in Britain who were over 17 y.o were denied entry to Britain.

Children with only one parent living in Britain were denied entry to Britain.

Entry required a connection to Britain: new migrants had to prove that a parent or grandparent lived in Britain.

Question 51

When was the Immigration Act?

Answer 51

1971

Question 52

What did the immigration act 1971 include?

Answer 52

Two new categories introduced.

Partial: People born in the UK, or whose parents/grandparents were born in the UK.

Non-partial: People who were born outside the UK, and whose parents/ grandparents were born outside
the UK.

Non-partials were subject to strict controls. They had no right of entry or residence and those who had lived in the UK for less than ten years could be repatriated.

Question 53

Did the
Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1962
Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1968
The Immigration Act, 1971

Have support from the British People?

Answer 53

Crucially, all of these policies had the broad support of the British people. It would be wrong to label UK governments as overtly racist for introducing these policies.

Question 54

What were the Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1962
Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1968
The Immigration Act, 1971

designed to do?

Answer 54

it is clear that the way the acts were designed meant they were intended to discourage coloured immigration. It could be argued that governments were trying to appease voters by enacting policies with a layer/hint of passive racism, reflecting the desire of many to halt the changing look of Britain’s both socially and culturally.

Question 55

What was the Consequences of the Mass migration (1962 Act)

Answer 55

In order to beat the 1962 ban, large numbers migrants moved to Britain before the Act came into force.

As a result the black and Asian population in Britain doubled between 1960 and 1961.

In addition, Many Black and Asian migrants stayed for fear of being denied re-entry and

The Act allowed for immediate family to enter Britain .

Question 56

What was the Consequences of Radicalisation & Black Rights groups?

Answer 56

The Labour Party had always been the natural vote for Black and Asian minorities. 1964 Tory tagline “If you want a n**r for a neighbour vote Labour”. However, Labour took a hard-line attitude to immigration between 1965-1968, many young black radicals rejected mainstream politics in favour of Black Power.

Question 57

Give an example of Radicalisation & Black Rights groups.

Answer 57

In 1968 the Nigerian-born playwright Obi B. Egbuna formed the British Black Panther Party. 1974 - Darcus Howe founded the Race Today Collective, the most significant black rights organisation of the period. RTC helped organise the biggest squat in British history to ensure the Bengali population of Tower Hamlets had access to safe housing.

Question 58

What is an example of white backlash?

Answer 58

Enoch Powell, 1968, Rivers of Blood speech.

Powell’s speech stated that Black & Asian people had more rights and privileges than white Britons. White Britons were ‘strangers in their own country’. Multiculturalism would lead to segregation and violence. Gov should pay migrants to go back home.

Question 59

What did Enoch Powell, 1968, Rivers of Blood speech reflect?

Answer 59

Powell’s speech reflected a new kind of post-colonial racism’. It acknowledged that the British Empire was dead, but also advocated keeping Britain white.

Question 60

What was the impact of Enoch Powell, 1968, Rivers of Blood speech?

Answer 60

Impact: 74% of Britons agreed with him. The National Front was founded in 1967 for whom Powell was a hero.

Question 61

What were the race relation acts?

Why did Wilson introduce these?

Answer 61

In the 1960s/70s, Harold Wilson’s Labour introduce three

Race Relations Acts. (Causation: * Pressure to deal with racism. * poor race relations could lead to widespread rioting. * At least a partial commitment to multiculturalism.)

Question 62

What did the Race relations act 1965 include?

Answer 62

Outlawed the colour Bar
Outlawed incitement of racial hatred
Established the race relations Board

The act did nothing to end racial discrimination in housing

Question 63

What did the Race relations act 1968 include?

Answer 63

Extended the 1965 provisions

outlawed racial discrimination in housing and employment

establishing the community relations commission to promote multi-cultism through education

Question 64

What did the Race relations act 1976 include?

Answer 64

Led to further protections from racial discrimination

indirect discrimination was outlawed

combined the CRC with the RRB to create the new Commission for Racial Equality

Question 65

What did the 3 race relations acts create?

Give an example

Answer 65

The three Race Relation laws did create the beginnings of an official commitment to cultural diversity.

For example, 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. Harold Wilson’s Labour Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, was a key proponent of multiculturalism.

Question 66

How did government polices towards race change between 1962 and 1976?

Answer 66

Between 1962 and 1976 government policy pointed in two directions.

First, increasingly immigration laws sought to restrict the number of migrants from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia, while protecting the rights of white migrants.

Second, the Labour Party tried to outlaw discrimination and lay the foundations for a. multi- cultural society.

Neither policy was wholly successful. Immigration laws failed to stop mass migration and race relations laws failed to create a multi-cultural society.