4.3) (1948 - c2010) post-war commonwealth immigration

Question 1

what was the 1948 british nationality act?

Answer 1

affirmed the legal rights of commonwealth citizens to settle in the UK

Question 2

why was there a labour shortage after WW2?

Answer 2

• many people died during WW2; less workers + construction workers were needed to rebuild destroyed cities
• creation of the NHS (in 1948) - the biggest employer in europe, which needed doctors, nurses etc.
• massive growth in transportation
• increase in emigration to australia, canada and new zealand

Question 3

what was the empire windrush? and what was its significance?

Answer 3

• the empire windrush was a ship carrying 492 west indian immigrants to britain

Question 4

did black immigration start with the windrush in 1948?

Answer 4

• no, black immigration actually started thousands of years ago and there were already established black communities in port towns. → a prominent black figure was john blanke

Question 5

did the british government expect the arrival of the windrush?

Answer 5

• the arrival of the windrush took the british givernment by surprise and they were not welcomed by authorities
• minister of labour george isaacs: ‘i hope no encouragement will be given to others to follow them

Question 6

how did the arrival of the windrush affect immigration from the carribean to britain?

Answer 6

• immigration from the carribean slowed down and more west indians were heading for the USA instead.
• it only picked up again once the USA had imposed controls

Question 7

how many black immigrants had come to the UK by 1950?

Answer 7

`100,000

Question 8

what sort of work did black immigrants do in britain after WW2?

Answer 8

nurses, bus conductors and factory workers

Question 9

what were 4 examples of discriminatiom/persecution faced by ‘coloured’ immigrants in this period?

Answer 9

• organised attacks on indian seamen
• housing discrimination as well as being refused entry into public places - ‘no blacks. no dogs. no irish’
• a series of riots

Question 10

where in manchester and london did black immigrants settle?

Answer 10

• tottenham and paddington in london
• moss side in manchester

Question 11

what happened to the british economy at the end of the 1950s?

Answer 11

• the economy was in trouble so competition for employment increased
• immigrants were blamed for the fact that not as much migrant labour was now required

Question 12

how did some politicians and the press stir up anti-immigrant feeling?

Answer 12

• daily sketch: ‘for years the white people have been tolerant. now their tempers are up.’
• daily mail: ‘should we let them keep pouring in?’

Question 13

what effect did the politicians stirring up anti-immigrant feeling have on the immigrants?

Answer 13

• there were many organised attacks on those who weren’t white
• major violence in notting hill when a gang beat up five black men with metal bars
• several hundred men attacked black shops and homes with weapons like petrol bombs

Question 14

what happened to kelso cochrane?

Answer 14

• may 1959, a 32 year old antiguan man was attacked by a white gang and stabbed to death
• many (of all races) stood for his funeral and the killer was only publicly named in 2011

Question 15

what were the terms of the 1962 commonwealth immigrants act and what was the unintended outcome?

Answer 15

• the act stated that holders of the commonwealth passports no longer had the right to live and work in the uk and instead they had to apply for a limited amount of employment vouchers to those who had professional skills
• therefore, men who initially had come for work also brought their families with them so they too could gain residence before the law was set in stone.

Question 16

what is chain migration?

Answer 16

migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality had previously migrated there

Question 17

what was the bristol bus boycott and what was its outcome?

Answer 17

• in 1963, a group of young black residents decicded to boycott the bristol buses because the company refused to hire non-white crew
• the colour bar eventually ended
• politicians on the other hand accomodated racism and saw ‘coloured’ immigration as a threat to and cause of racial tension, therefore more laws to limit immigration were made

Question 18

what impact did the 1962 commonwealth immigration act have on immigrants and their right to work?

Answer 18

• instead of having the right to work they had to apply for a limited number of employment vouchers
• although, these mainly went to white immigrants from australia, new zealand and canada etc.
• non-white people were least likely to get a voucher and therefore the labour party called the act a ‘cruel and brutal anti-colour legislation’

Question 19

what does the term ‘salt, soap, soy’ mean?

Answer 19

the name given to chinese migration to britain and their change in occupations over time
- salt - they first did seafaring
- soap - then turned to the laundry business
- soy - and then to the family run takeaway restaurants that spread to many UK towns

Question 20

why did many people emigrate (leave) the UK during this period? (between 1947 and 1972)

Answer 20

• they emigrated to seek better job opportunities and better lives elsewhere like the USA, canada and new zealand
• between 1947 and 1972, 500,000 people emigrated to australia

Question 21

what did the royal commission on population reccomend in 1949?

Answer 21

• that the UK should take in 140,000 young people to prevent a decline in population
• 1947 economic survey said that the immigration should not be prevented by race or religion

Question 22

who were the national front group, when were they formed and what did they want?

Answer 22

• formed in 1966
• they were a new racist and neo-fascist group that called for immigrants to be deported

Question 23

what was the message enoch powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ speech?

Answer 23

• he believed that mass immigration would exhaust public services
• he predicted that there would be a civil war because of the nations intake of migrants (50,000 annually)
• ‘we must be mad as a nation permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependants’

Question 24

what was the impact of the ‘rivers of blood’ speech?

Answer 24

• marches supporting him and his racist ideas
• survey said that 75% of people in britain felt that there were too many immigrants
• barbara castle (labour) wrote that ‘powell helped to make a race war inevitable’

Question 25

what was the 1968 commonwealth immigrants act?

Answer 25

• banned entry to anyone without a father or grandfather born in the UK
• if someone had british nationality during the british rule but none of their family was born in britain then they had no right to come

Question 26

what was the 1971 immigration act?

Answer 26

• replaced vouchers with work permits for specific time periods, so staying in the country was only temporary
• patrials were still freely allowed in (white australians, new zealanders and canadians), but coloured people with the same passports could not

Question 27

what is a patrial?

Answer 27

people with british-born parents or grandparents

Question 28

why did large numbers of kenyan asians start to arrive in britain?

Answer 28

newly independent east-african governments started expelling asian residents who had been brought over by the british 100 years earlier as indentured labourers so many of them arrived in britain

Question 29

what did the british government do to prevent kenyan asians from entering the UK?

Answer 29

they designed the 1968 commonwealth immigrants act to prevent the influx from kenya

Question 30

why did britain accept kenyan asians in the end?

Answer 30

• there were deep splits in the cabinet regarding the 1968 legislation
• commonwealth secretary, george thomson, saying that “to pass such legislation would be wrong in principle, clearly discrimination on the grounds of colour, and contrary to everything we stand for.”

Question 31

how many race relations legislations were there and in which years?

Answer 31

4 - 1965, 1968, 1976, 1998

Question 32

what was the 1965 race relations act?

Answer 32

made some forms of racial discrimination illegal

Question 33

what was the 1968 race relations act?

Answer 33

stronger than the previous (1965) one and extended to housing and employment. it aimed to encourage the integration of immigrant communities

Question 34

what was the 1976 race relations act?

Answer 34

set up a commission for racial equality to encourage better relations between ethnic groups; to prevent racial discrimination and promote equality and equal opportunity

Question 35

what was the crime and disorder act 1998?

Answer 35

made courts punish crimes more severely if they were aggravated by racism or against someone’s religion

Question 36

what did all of the race relations acts fail to address?

Answer 36

none of the laws addressed institutional racism nor acknowledge its existence

Question 37

what is institutional/systemic racism?

Answer 37

discrimination or unequal treatment on the basis of membership of a particular ethnic group (typically one that is a minority or marginalized), arising from systems, structures, or expectations that have become established within an institution or organization

Question 38

what did the national front aim to do in the 1970s? and why?

Answer 38

• they protested against the increased immigration to britain and wanted to ban all non-white members
• the party members themselves were victims of the economic crisis so believed their jobs were being undercutted by immigrants

Question 39

what did the national front do to scare immigrants?

Answer 39

• during the 1970s there was a steep rise in attacks carried out by the national front
• a young bangladeshi man murdered in 1978 in east london when the national front was active in the area

Question 40

how did migrants communities respond to such attacks? give two examples of organisations

Answer 40

southall youth movement:
- a group of young people who wanted to defend the memebers of the community from racist attacks
- formed after a young sikh man was murdered by a gan of white men
- in 1980, the SYM and other groups organised a protest against the national front

rock against racism:
- a group set up by activists which aimed to bring people together through music in 1976
- they brought many black reggae bands onto the same stages as white bands