Migrants In Britain: 5.4

Question 1

In the 1950s, what were two features of the Metropolitan Police Force ?

Answer 1

• 97% of all officers were white and male
  [] many held the same racist views as other white people at the time, which encouraged police brutality and discrimination
• the police made little effort to establish good relations with the black community, or understand those they policed
  [] many black applicants who wanted to join the force were denied without given reason (most likely on the basis of racism)

Question 2

Why didn’t the black community trust the police (4 main reasons) ?

Answer 2

• in the 1950s, there was no legal protection against police brutality
  [] police officers went looking for black people to arrest and used racist slurs
  [] aggravated black people on purpose to get grounds for arrest (like stepping on toes and getting close so people would push them away, then could arrest for ‘assault’)
  [] framed black people for crimes they didn’t commit, such as supply of drugs, possession of weapons or theft
• police brutalised arrested black people in jail
  [] reportedly whipped with wet towels so marks wouldn’t show
  [] reportedly flushed heads down toilets
• did little to persecute white people for crimes against black people and denied race as a motivation
  [] supported white business owners when they denied service on racial grounds
  [] during racist attacks by white gangs, police let the offenders go and told the victims to just ‘go home’
  [] in the case of Kelso Cochrane and the Notting Hill race riots, the police cared more about denying that the attacks were racially motivated than convicting white perpetrators or protecting the black community
  [] until the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the Race Relations Act of 2000, no records of racially motivated crime were kept, instead denouncing attacks as thuggery or hooliganism
• did little to challenge institutional racism and racist beliefs in the police force
  [] only a 30 minute talk was given on racial and cultural issues in the entirety of police training, and almost never by a specialist
  [] one police commissioner even denied the help of WIF (the West Indian Federation) to train police officers about Caribbean culture, thus KNOWINGLY continuing the tradition of racism and police brutality
  [] many officers found black culture to be overly-foreign, un-British and threatening (xenophobia)

Question 3

Who were the Teddy Boys ?

Answer 3

• anti-immigrant and racist group in the 1950s and 60s
• often drove/went to Notting Hill in gangs specifically to find black people to attack

Question 4

Who were the Union Movement ?

Answer 4

• formed by Oswald Mosely (notorious fascist and neo-Nazi) in 1948
• motto was ‘Keep Britain White’
• made violent, racist speeches and encouraged racist attacks
• offices were in Notting Hill, helping to incite racist violence quickly and frequently
• their activity in Notting Hill increased drastically after 1958 (the race riots) as Mosely saw the increase in racist violence as the perfect opportunity to stir the pot further
• Mosely purposefully played on the fears and prejudices of white people to promote racial tension
  [] released a pamphlet after the murder of Kelso Cochrane in 1959 which urged white people to “take action” against (coloured) immigrants
• 1959, the Union Movement ran for Parliament trying to win the Kensington North seat
  [] Kensington North included Notting Hill
  [] having control over these areas meant could impose racist policies and do even less about racist violence, promoting it instead and making life hell for the black community
  [] however, failed miserably and won so little of the vote (8%) that Mosely lost the election deposit
  [] could show that, whilst many white people were still vehemently racist, did not support an outright fascist and neo-Nazi like Mosely (had previously run the British Union of Fascists which supported Hitler and incited anti-Semitic violence as well as racist violence)

Question 5

Who were the WDL (White Defence League) ?

Answer 5

• neo-Nazi group
• slogan was similar to the Union Movement, saying Britain should be “kept white”
• published a monthly magazine w/circulation of 800
• went deliberately looking for black people to attack
• offices were in Notting Hill
  [] made it easier to organise, incite and carry out racist violence against the black community in Notting Hill
  [] made it easier to provoke black people, as the racist groups made their home in the heart of the black community in Notting Hill, directly attacking culture and identity
• later united with other racist groups to form the British National Party

Question 6

What were the effects of racist groups like the Union Movement, the Teddy Boys and the WDL on the black community in Notting Hill ?

Answer 6

• helped to create a permeating fear of even walking around alone or in a smaller group
• broke down community
• any retaliation or self-defence from the black community was used against them in the media
• made the black community trust the police less and less to protect them
• leading up to 1958, created long-term racial tensions and white confidence in their own violence that exploded in the form of the Notting Hill race riots in August 1958

Question 7

What was the breaking point that caused white racists to start the Notting Hill race riots on the 30th of August 1958 ?

Answer 7

• a mixed race couple were walking down the street outside of a pub
  [] the black man in the relationship was shouted at with racist slurs and racist ideology, telling him to “leave [our] white women alone”
  [] ignored at first and kept walking, but the white racist followed him and waved his hands in his face to provoke him
  [] the black man grew tired of him and punched him

Question 8

How long did the Notting Hill race riots last ?

Answer 8

6 days (from 30th of August to the 5th of September 1958)

Question 9

Describe the events of the Notting Hill race riots

Answer 9

• 30th August 1958
  [] night-time, mob of almost 400 white racists attacked Caribbean homes on Bramley Road
  [] mob armed with petrol bombs, molotov cocktails, scissors, iron bars etc.
  [] Baron Baker, ex-RAF organised to throw their own molotov cocktails back into the crowd for self-defence
  [] many black people stayed inside their homes, but others went out to defend
  [] racist slogans, slurs and songs were chanted and police did little to break it up

Question 10

Describe the aftermath of the race riots

Answer 10

• police denied that they were motivated by race (despite evidence of being directly told by mobbers that they wanted to kill all black people)
• arrested 72 white people and 36 black on accounts of possession of weapons, rioting and so on, though black people were just trying to protect themselves
• no deaths, though were serious injuries
• September 1958, over 170 cases connected to the riots were tried, with the majority of these people being white (around 75% speculated, as race wasn’t always recorded)
• helped to grow black activism in England
• provided tensions and build-ups for more racial violence, like the murder of Kelso Cochrane in May of 1959
• made black community feel further abandoned by the police

Question 11

Describe the murder of Kelso Cochrane

Answer 11

• 14 May 1959
• was walking home after work and was stabbed by a gang of white youths unprovoked
• died an hour later in hospital

Question 12

Describe the police investigation of Kelso Cochrane’s murder

Answer 12

• arrests were made quickly but these suspects were released within a day
• the murderers were never caught
  [] BECAUSE the police didn’t try
  [] Frank Crichlow stated that his neighbours saw the killer, and that he hadn’t been caught because of a lack of effort from the police, not being smart
• the police insisted that the murder was not racially motivated, but instead motivated by robbery or other petty crimes
  [] even the Daily Mail supported this version of events, with the front cover reading “It was not a racial killing”
  [] this greatly angered the black community, as racial violence was repeatedly being covered up to avoid addressing the inherent racism present in England and Notting Hill, making it easier for it to carry on unchecked
  [] it is possible the government didn’t want to incite more riots by acknowledging that the riots were racially motivated

Question 13

Describe the response of the black community to Kelso Cochrane’s murder

Answer 13

• PM of Jamaica immediately visited Notting Hill to meet with and talk to local black people to investigate further
  [] shows importance and severity of the crime, exacerbated by it being in the months following the race riots (said to be the largest in British history)
  [] was disrespected by police whilst standing on street corner; told to “move along”
• more black civil rights groups were set up, like WISC (West Indian Standing Conference)
  [] WISC campaigned for racial equality over the next 50 years from 1958
  [] WISC campaigned for greater understanding between races, as well as leadership in the Caribbean community
• 6 June 1959, over 1200 attended Kelso Cochrane’s funeral, both black and white
• Claudia Jones’ Interracial Friendship Coordinating Council (IRFCC) wrote to the PM to make racially motivated violence a crime, arguing that black citizens had lost faith in law enforcement to protect them
  [] PM didn’t do this, but earlier that year (24 May) had given permission to the WDL to host a rally in Trafalgar Square

Question 14

What effect did the murder of Kelso Cochrane have on the black community’s view of the law and government ?

Answer 14

• made trust them less and less
• made it clear that black people would have to fight on their own to make their lives and community safe