Race and Immigration in Britain 1918-1979 Flashcards
How diverse was Britain by the start of 20th c?
By the end of WWI Britain’s black and Asian communities had grown, partly as a result of seamen, labourers and soldiers being stationed in the British Isles during the war.
This was because of Empire and Britain’s trading status.
Some Black, Asian, Chinese communities (as well as European nations eg. Italian)
Most concentrated in port cities like Liverpool, Southampton, Cardiff, Hull etc.
Empire & Racism 19th-early 20th century
People in the European empires saw themselves as white, civilised, advanced and superior to the ‘coloured’ people they colonised.
Due to imperialism, Britishness became bound up with whiteness.
The view of white superiority which justified slavery was part of a broader worldview that placed white people at the top of the racial hierarchy, black people at the bottom.
Striking from white workers
National unions also fought for the right’ of white workers to take the jobs of ‘coloured’ workers.
1919 white workers in Liverpool went on strike in protest at working alongside black workers. The strikes and white violence led to the sacking of 120 black workers.
A report presented in the House of Commons in 1919 by MP Neil Maclean stated that Asian chefs were paid £5 a month while white chefs were paid £20 a month.
The Alien Orders Act, 1920
Required migrant workers (or ‘aliens’) to register with the police before seeking work.
Those who failed to comply would be punished by deportation.
The police only applied the law to black and Asian people and not european migrants
Ignored if they were British citizens, or citizens of the British Empire and assumed they were automatically ‘aliens’.
Placed all black and Asian people under suspicion and under threat of deportation.
Special Restrictions Act, 1925
Coloured Alien Seamen Act
This Act forced ‘coloured’ seamen to prove their British citizenship to immigration authorities or face deportation.
Assumed that coloured seamen were non-British unless they could prove their status as citizens.
Anti-imperialism & anti racism 1918-1939
During the 1920s and 1930s there were a number of groups fighting for the rights of black, Asian and Jewish workers.
The most influential were the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the International African Service Bureau (IASB).
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.
Education & Health 1918-1939
In the interwar period 50 people from West Africa, 150 from the Caribbean and a similar number from India were educated in Britain’s top universities.
Students from the colonies were not expected to stay in Britain and work in elite positions within the British government,
Harold Moody was born in Jamaica and moved to Britain in 1904 to study medicine. Choosing to stay, he was repeatedly refused employment in British hospitals. As a result he established his own medical practice in London.
The Impact of War
As demonstrated by the poster, Migrant workers were crucial to the war effort. Eg. Indian army numbers 2 million.
Yet there was still prejudice, gov propaganda encouraged white men from NZ and Australia
The war did open up new opportunities for Black and Asian people in Britain. Eg. education and training offered to all ex-servicemen
Constantine vs Imperial Hotel 1944
Learie Constantine - Trinidadian cricketer is Refused entry into London’s Imperial Hotel in 1944.
Wins a legal victory - Government officials welcomed this legal victory against the Imperial hotel.
The started to normalise the concept that Black Britons had the same legal rights as white Britons
British Nationality Act (1948)
Cause: Following the war there was a serious labour shortage. Britain was devastated by War and needed to be rebuilt.
The British Nationality Act (1948) gave citizens of the British commonwealth the right to migrate to Britain. It ushered in a major period of mass migration in the UK’s History.
Immigration changed the population of Britain as Asian and Caribbean communities grew from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
Opportunities for Migrants 1948-
As the British economy grew in the 1950s, the new immigrants found opportunities to make money & find employment*
The NHS recruited 3,000 nurses from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1954.
Jamaican DJ Wilbert Augustus Campbell. He played Jamaican ska and reggae under the stage name Count Suckle in nightclubs.
Government Reactions 1948-
Both Attlee and Churchill did not welcome ‘coloured’ immigration. Both actively discouraged it. (Churchill 1955 GE suggested slogan “Keep Britain White”.
Consequently, in the 60s and 70s there were several Immigration Acts aimed to curb ‘coloured’ immigration.
Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1962
Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1968
The Immigration Act, 1971
Racist reaction - attitudes 1948-
There are example of significant numbers of letters to MPs of White Britons complaining about Black and Asian immigration. They objected to…
Physical violence - The most appropriate case study is the Notting Hill Riots of 1958
The race riots demonstrated the prejudice and racism that existed in 1950s Britain. It also showed the passive institutional racism from the police.
Immigration Acts 1962-71
Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1962:
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.
Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1968:
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.
The Immigration Act, 1971:
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.
Race Relations Acts 1965, 68, 76
Collectively, these Acts outlawed racism in British society in a number of forms. It also established boards and commissions to help promote multiculturalism and monitor the enforcement of the new laws
