immigration and race Flashcards
what is new commonwealth?
countries which had become independent from britain more recently e.g. india, pakistan, west indies
what is old commonwealth?
countries which had become independent from britain some time ago e.g. australia, south africa
what was the law regarding immigration in 1948?
-british nationality act introduced
-gave all people in the commonwealth the right to british citizenship
-because of this, windrush arrived with 800 carribean immigrants - no limit on number of them
how did this law change in 1962?
-commonwealth immigration act introduced
-meant that the immigration of commonwealth passport holders was controlled - only people with work permits (aka high skilled workers) could come into britain
-controversial
pattern of immigration into britain between 1950-1964:
-the 1950s saw immigrants coming from both old commonwealth countries and new commonwealth countries
-1950s = 676,000 immigrants - not mass migration but a major increase from pre war levels
-up to 1970, net emigration exceeded net immigration - 1.32million britons left
-in 1961, there was a rush of immigration as people heard about the commonwealth immigration act
reason for immigration: RCBBF
-recruitment campaigns by british firms
-e.g. london transport went to the carribean to search for staff - in 1956 140 staff were employed by them from a recruiting office set up in barbados
reason for immigration: OFI
-opportunities for immigrants
-seen as good wages
-most early immigrants were male and aimed to work in britain for a short time while sending money back to their families
reason for immigration: SOL
-shortage of labour
-most of the shortages were for low paid and unskilled workers
reason for immigration: EASFI
-encouragement and support for immigrants
-some were given interest free loans from their own gov, for travel costs
-london transport provided many hostels
examples of anti-immigration from the british public:
-sign in guest house early 1960s reading ‘no irish, no blacks, no dogs’
-‘keep britain white’ slogan, later adopted by the national front 9far right group)
-many of the early immigrants were young men, who acted just like white young men e.g. gambling and drinking, but were viewed with hostilty
-trade unions complained about immigrants taking jobs from white people by accepting lower wages
-housing was often substandard which led to exaggerated newspaper reports about cleanliness
when were the the notting hill riots?
29th august to 5th september 1958
what were the causes of the notting hill riots?
-exaggerations about immigrants in newspapers
-problems with accommodation due to some boarding policies not allowing black people to stay there
-spreading hostility in the streets
-teddy boys hated immigrants due to young male competition and territory marking, said they were stealing their women
-groups of right wing extremists who were underlying agitators e.g. white defence league
-notting hill was known as an area of black people, near to soho which was a liberal area
-notting hill = near to BBC HQ, so easy coverage of hostility
-race violence in Nottingham was publicised, youths wanted to replicate it in london
-area had an impoverished and resentful white population
-mixed demographic in housing
-argument between mixed raced couple kickstarted riots
consequences of riot: punishment
-100s arrested
-majority were white working class
-some rioters were members of faschist white defence league
-sentencing of 9 white youths was known as ‘exemplary sentencing’ as they got 6 years in jail - actual jail time considered a harsh punishment
consequences of riot: immigration
-increase in emigration back to carribean
-but some were now more determined to stay in england
-government Salmon report ruled that the riots weren’t racially motivated, but they were caused by the teddy boys, poor pay of the whites and sexual jealousy
-this made them say there should be a stop to immigration
-commonwealth immigration act introduced in 1962
which groups of people were involved in the riots?
-hostile groups of white people
-young people (bystanders)
-agitation from extremist groups
-teddy boys
-black people who began to fight back
