1958 Notting Hill Race Riots

Context By 1961 there were over 100,000 Caribbean people living in London. One of these areas was Notting Hill in North Kensington. During the 1950s, a strong Caribbean community had grown up in Notting Hill, many from Trinidad and Barbados.

Context At the time poverty, violence and crime were a part of life in North Kensington. Poor white families competed with poor Caribbean’s for housing. Why do you think this might have raised tensions in North Kensington? Why was violence and crime a part of life in Kensington?

Context 1948 British Nationality Act had permitted large numbers of people from the Commonwealth to migrate to Britain easily. By the 1950’s White working class Teddy boys began to display hostility towards the black families in the area. Tension was risen by far right groups such as the White Defence League who urged disaffected white residents to “Keep Britain White”.

The Riots After two weeks of civil unrest in North Kensington, rioting erupted in Notting Hill. The riot is thought to have started on the 29 th of 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.

The Riots They youths had shouted racial insults at her husband. She began to stick up for him which angered the youths. The next day, the youths pelted bottles, stones, wood and struck her in the back with an iron bar.

The Riots Later that night a mob of white people, many of them “Teddy Boys” began attacking the houses of West Indian residents. Trouble spread to other parts of London such as Paddington, Notting Dale, Shepherd’s Bush and Marylebone. The disturbances, rioting and attacks continued every night until they faded out by the 5 th of September.

ITN Interview Notting Hill Residents ure=related ure=related Take notes on people’s experiences and opinions on race relations at the time.

The Aftermath The Notting Hill Carnival was started by Claudia Jones in 1959 as a response to the riots.

The Aftermath The riots caused tension between the Metropolitan Police and the British African-Caribbean community in Notting Hill. They claimed that the police had not taken their reports of racial attacks seriously.

race-riots/7681.html race-riots/7681.html TAKE NOTES.

TASK Create a timeline of events and key dates involving: Enoch Powell's, River of Blood speech. Key policy dates (Such as the British Nationality Act of 1948, The Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1962 and 1968, Labours Race Relation Act of 1965 and 1968 etc.) Notting Hill Riots Amount of people coming to the UK in certain years. Add other key events that could be placed with a year. Include a summary of the events in a few sentences. All the information is in your books!.

Notting Hill BBC Documentary =gv =gv Take notes! Important and in-depth video.