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Multiculturalism in the UK

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What is Multiculturalism?• Multiculturalism implies a respect for

ethnic and cultural diversity.• In a political context it has come to

mean the belief in extending equitable status to distinct ethnic and religious groups without promoting any specific ethnic, religious, and/or cultural community values as central.

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What is Multiculturalism?• Multiculturalism is often contrasted with

the concepts of assimilation and social integration and has been described as a "salad bowl" rather than a "melting pot."

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An overview of key events and dates

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/short_history_of_immigration.stm

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An overview of key events and dates

• Ten key moments in UK race relations:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1517672.stm

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Various views and understandings about the

term • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3

600791.stm

In 2011 Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron said in a speech that "state multiculturalism has failed".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12371994

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Diane Abbot BBC article on multiculturalism and multiracialism

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/dabbott_01.shtml

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The British Nationality Act 1948

• The British Nationality Act 1948 was a revision of the way in which subjects in the British Empire were legally considered.

• As Dominion countries like Canada began to establish their own national identities yet remained within the British Commonwealth it became necessary to distinguish between British subjects in the Empire vs. those in the Dominions.

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The British Nationality Act 1948

• In effect the British Nationality Act 1948 was to allow the 800 million subjects in the British Empire to live and work in the United Kingdom without needing a visa.

• No one thought at the time that so many would ever want to.

• However, things were going

to rapidly change...

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S.S. Empire Windrush

• One of the early, famous examples of immigration was the arrival of the ship Empire Windrush from Kingston, Jamaica, which docked at Tilbury on the 21 June 1948.

• The ship carried 492 Jamaican passengers, with 1,427 passengers in total, and this was one of the first large scale arrivals of afro-Caribbean immigrants from the British Colonies in the West Indies.

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S.S. Empire Windrush

• Those on the Empire Windrush were initially welcomed, but difficulties would arise for both West Indian immigrants and English natives during the process of integration.

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Why come to Britain?

• New Commonwealth immigrants came to Britain in search of work, a higher standard of living and better prospects for their children.

• Many on the Empire Windrush were typically young males who had been in the armed forces during WW2 and seen what Britain had to offer.

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Why come to Britain?

• There were also push factors. For example one fifth of the West Indians who were repatriated to Jamaica after the war, finding themselves unemployed and with little prospects of finding jobs, immediately spent some of their gratuities on returning to Britain in empty

troopships on their return voyages.

George Mason as a young man in RAF uniform

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The labour shortage in Britain• The expansion of the British economy in the

1950s and 1960s created substantial shortages of labour, particularly in the relatively stagnant sectors of the economy, for example, textiles, metal manufacture and transport, where low pay, long hours and shift work made the jobs unattractive to British workers.

• These industries were unable to

compete with expanding sectors for

workers in short supply.

Agatha Hart at Stockwell bus garage, 1962.

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The late 40’s and early 1950’s• Additional numbers of doctors arrived from the Indian

subcontinent to staff the newly established National Health Service.

• In 1956 London Transport

agreed with the Barbadian

Immigrants Liaison Service

to loan Barbadians their fares

to Britain to be repaid as part

of their wages.

Nurses receiving their training certificates and badges, Bethnal Green Hospital, 1960s.

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The late 40’s and early 1950’s• Indians began arriving in the UK in large

numbers shortly after their country gained independence in 1947.

• More than 60,000 arrived before 1955, many of whom drove buses, or worked in foundries or textile factories.

• Later arrivals often opened corner shops or ran post offices.

• By 1961 over 100,000 Indian and Pakistani nationals had taken up residence in Britain.

• A 1960 Home Office Report recorded a total of 34,600 Indian and 4,800 Pakistani children in Britain - around 64 per cent of them were British-born.

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The late 40’s and early 1950’s• Tensions between immigrants and native Britons

intensified over these years.• Racist abuse and violence were experienced by many

black or Asian immigrants.• Inequality and discrimination in every sector of life were

omnipresent – Housing being a common source of problems.

• Inner city Socio-economic problems were typically at the root of much of the problem.

• Watch the last 20 minutes of the

documentary Windrush for more depth:• http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2618093601046655014

#

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Notting Hill riots 1958• The riot is thought to have started on Saturday 30 August

when a gang of white youths attacked a Swedish woman, Majbritt Morrison.

• The youths had seen her the previous night arguing with her Jamaican husband Raymond at Latimer Road tube station. They had shouted racial insults at him and were incensed when she turned on them.

• Seeing her the next night,

the same youths pelted her

with bottles, stones and wood

and struck her in the back

with an iron bar, until the

police intervened and she

was escorted home.

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Notting Hill riots 1958• Later that night a mob of 300 to 400 white people, many

of them "Teddy Boys“ attacked the houses of West Indian residents.

• The disturbances, rioting and attacks continued every night until they petered out by 5 September.

• The Metropolitan Police arrested over 140 people during the two weeks of the disturbances,

mostly white youths but also

many black people found

carrying weapons.

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How many immigrants were living in the UK in the period 1945-1991?

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How many immigrants were living in the UK in the period 1945-1991?

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Population by Ethnic Group, April 2001:

 Total Population Minority ethnic population

Thousands per cent per cent White 54,154 92.1Mixed 677 1.2 14.6Asian or Asian British Indian 1,053 1.8 22.7Pakistani 747 1.3 16.1Bangladeshi 283 0.5 6.1Other Asian 248 0.4 5.3Black or Black British Black Caribbean 566 1.0 12.2Black African 485 0.8 10.5Black Other 98 0.2 2.1

Chinese 247 0.4 5.3Other 231 0.4 5.0

All minority ethnic population 4,635 7.9 100

All population 58,789 100

Source: Census, Office for National Statistics

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Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962• This attempted to limit immigration by restricting the right

of entry to those who actually had jobs to go to.• It was heavily condemned particularly by the left-wing as

being racist.• Gaitskell called it

"cruel and brutal

anti-colour legislation".• Although Labour

stoutly opposed the

measure it would introduce

a second Commonwealth

Immigrants Act in 1968.

No Room at the Inn, Leslie Illingworth cartoon, 1961

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Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962

• In response to this Act there was a rush of immigration into the UK before the Act was passed into law.

• Between 1960 and 1962 over 230,000 New Commonwealth citizens entered the UK.

• This in fact marked an immigration peak, but was to such an extent

that it led to concerns most

notoriously voiced by

Enoch Powell in his 1968

Rivers of blood speech.

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Race Relations Act 1965

• Prohibited racial discrimination in public places

• Made incitement to racial hatred an offence

• Set up a Race Relations board to investigate complaints of racial discrimination

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Race Relations Act 1968

• Outlawed racial discrimination in areas such as housing and employment

• Set up the Community Relations Commission to promote inter-racial understanding

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Rivers of blood 1968

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The second generation grows up

• The children of the ‘Windrush’ were growing up, but they had been born in Britain.

• They were also being influenced by very different cultural icons and attitudes were not the same at all…

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Race Relations Act 1976• Reinforced earlier Race Relations

Acts.

White City, c. 1970Platform guard seeing off train.

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Education

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Babylon(Law and Order)

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The New Cross Fire• The New Cross house

fire was a devastating house fire during a birthday party in New Cross, southeast London, on Sunday,

18 January 1981.

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The New Cross Fire

• The blaze killed 13 young black people, but it was felt that the obvious possibility that the fire was started for racist motives was being ignored by the Police, and instead the Black community found themselves the subject of suspicion.

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The New Cross Fire• Protests arising out of the

deaths in the fire led to the first real mobilisation of black political activity in Britain when on Monday, 2 March 20,000 people marched in protest.

The march was overwhelmingly peaceful but The Sun newspaper reported it with the headline "Day the Blacks Ran Riot in London".

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The early 80’s

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From politics to riots

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Stephen Lawrence

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Cultural changeMusic and sport

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The debate…

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Were the Race Relations Acts successful?

• There have been many positive changes in attitudes in the UK.

• The Race relations Acts have helped to enshrine some of these attitudes into law.

• On the other hand there still remain significant issues and problems. The most outstanding examples of this would be the 2001 Oldham riots or the death of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.

• The investigation into his death led Sir William Macpherson to conclude that the

Police force was

"institutionally racist“.

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Key questions• What is meant by term ‘multiculturalism’ in a political sense?• What factors encouraged immigration to the UK in the post-war

period?• In what ways has Britain benefitted positively from immigration?• How far were socio-economic issues the main factors that led to

tensions between immigrant and native groups?• Explain the causes behind one of the race riots the UK

experienced during the period 45-91.• Was Enoch Powell right?• To what extent were the Race Relations Acts effective?• How far has there been political consensus regarding immigration

and race relations?• Racism was at the heart of collapses in race relations, not

multiculturalism. Discuss.

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Articles• The New Commonwealth Migrants 1945-62

by Zig Henry.• http://www.historytoday.com/zig-henry/new-co

mmonwealth-migrants-1945-62• Black People in Britain: Response and

Reaction, 1945-62 by Paul Rich.• http://www.historytoday.com/paul-rich/black-pe

ople-britain-response-and-reaction-1945-62

23 December 1958: Guests at a Christmas party at Holland Park Comprehensive School.