Post-WWI Racism in Britain

• Over one-third of Britain's WWI manpower comprised Black and Asian colonial troops and laborers.

Post-WWI Racism

• The 1919 demobilization of the British Army led to a surge in racist violence across Britain.
• In Limehouse, London, Black individuals faced attacks during four days of white rioting in 1919.
• The National Union of Seamen (NUS) demanded preference for white seamen over "non-white" sailors in employment.
• White workers in Liverpool went on strike in 1919 to protest working alongside Black workers, resulting in 120 Black workers being fired.

Racist Legislation

• Campaigns by the NUS led to the Alien Orders Act of 1920 and the Special Restrictions Act (Coloured Alien Seamen Act) of 1925.
• The Alien Orders Act (1920) required migrant workers to register with the police before seeking employment, with deportation as punishment for non-compliance, but was primarily enforced against Black and Asian individuals, including British citizens.
• The Special Restrictions Act (Coloured Alien Seamen Act) of 1925 mandated "coloured" seamen to prove British citizenship to avoid deportation.

Wage Discrimination

• A 1919 report in the House of Commons revealed that Asian chefs were paid £5 a month compared to £20 a month for white chefs.

Unemployment Disparity

• The League of Coloured People reported in 1934-35 that 80% of Black and Asian men experienced prolonged unemployment, versus 30% of white men.

Cardiff Race Riot

• A race riot in Cardiff in 1935 led to local police collaborating with white workers to bar Black British sailors from working on ships under the Aliens Orders Act

Early Immigration Laws

• The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act of 1914 introduced the first modern passports.
• The Aliens Act of 1919 required immigrants to obtain work permits before arrival, register with the police upon arrival, and maintain lawful behavior to avoid deportation.

Jewish Immigration and Anti-Semitism

• By 1939, the UK hosted 300,000 Jews who had emigrated to escape Nazi persecution.
• Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) fueled anti-Semitism.
• The BUF organized a march through London's East End in October 1936.

Activism

• The Indian Seamen's Union, founded in 1926 by N. J. Upadhyaya, protested the treatment of Indians and allowed Indians to revoke alien status
• The Joint Council to Promote Understanding between White and Coloured People in Britain and the League of Coloured Peoples were both founded in 1931 to combat discrimination.
• Paul Robeson was a supporter of anti-colonial Black empowerment in interwar Britain.
• The West African Students' Union (WASU), founded in 1925 and led by Ladipo Solanke, united with other organizations in 1934 to protest against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, leading to the formation of the International African Service Bureau.

Post-War Immigration

• Post-war economic recovery significantly impacted immigration and British race relations.
• Approximately 100,000 Polish people were recruited as part of the Polish Resettlement Corps.
• The UK recruited workers in Europe to meet the demand for cheap labor due to full employment.
• Black men commonly found employment as bus drivers and conductors in the 1950s.
• The SS Empire Windrush arrived in Britain on June 22, 1948.
• Around 3,000 Black immigrants settled in Britain annually in the five years following the arrival of the Windrush.
• The Inter-Departmental Committee on Colonial People was formed to explore methods of promoting racial integration informally at the local level.

White Flight

• The government grew concerned about "white flight" and "segregation."

Notting Hill Riots

• On August 23, 1958, nearly 1,000 white and Black youths engaged in violent clashes, resulting in stabbings.
• The Notting Hill riots were triggered by an attack by a Teddy Boy gang on a white woman with a Black partner.
• Over two weeks in August and September, the riot in London escalated, with hundreds of young, white men armed with chains, knives, iron bars and petrol bombs attacking groups of Black immigrants and their homes with chants such as 'N..... out'.
• Over 100 white men were arrested for violent actions, along with some Black men who armed themselves in self-defense.
• The Notting Hill Carnival was founded as a result of the Notting Hill Riots.
• 4,000 immigrants returned to the Caribbean due to anger and disillusionment with life in Britain

Organisations

• The Organization for the Protection of Coloured People (1958) organized rent strikes in Notting Hill to enforce housing repairs.
• The Institute of Race Relations in London was set up in 1958.

The Commonwealth

• In 1956, 47,000 people entered Britain from the New Commonwealth
• By 1961, 136,000 people had entered Britain from the New Commonwealth
• The Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962 allowed immigrants and their families to settle if they had a voucher proving they had a job lined up but had adverse effects
• Between 1968 and 1971, 318,521 people from the New Commonwealth, arrived with of these, only 58,875 were male workers.
• Opinion polls indicated that nearly three-quarters of the British public supported the new immigration controls.