1. 1948 – British Nationality Act gave citizens of the British Commonwealth countries the right to gain British citizenship. Empire Windrush arrived with just less than 500 immigrants, it was of huge symbolic significance.
In 1959 an immigrant named Kelso Cochrane was stabbed to death in Nottin Hill by six white youths. No arrests were ever made and the police were accused of not doing enough people turned up at the funeral to show their anger and sorrow at what had happened.
1967 – National Front set up – Anti-Immigration political party associated with racism and violence against ethnic minorities. Following a murder in 1976 the leader of National Front said ‘one down, a million to go.’
1968 – Race Relations Act made discrimination illegal in terms of housing or employment. But employers could still discriminate and say it was for other reasons ‘e.g. not right for the job due to qualification, when really it was for racist reasons. Very difficult to prove.
1952 USA put severe restrictions on immigrants so people from Caribbean turned more to Britain London Transport offered a scheme to Caribbean immigrants where it would pay the cost of travel to Britain and then an immigrant would work off the cost upon arrival.
By % of the population of Bradford was Pakistani. The cheap Asian labour saved the textile industry of West Yorkshire. Immigrants often regenerated run-down areas of inner-cities. A vast number of immigrants worked in the NHS and in public transport, both crucial sectors of the economy depended on immigrant workers.
1962 – Commonwealth Immigration Act – voucher system put severe limits on numbers allowed into Britain. Only immigrants with a valuable skill or who could do a job where there was a shortage of workers could get a voucher.
1968 – Commonwealth Immigration Act – Labour government U-Turn. It reduced the number of work vouchers available and introduced a ‘close connection’ qualification whereby you had to be born in Britain or have parents of grandparents who were born in Britain to be able to legally migrate to Britain. This favoured immigrants from countries like New Zealand, Canada and Austrila and was designed as a reaction to Kenyan Asian immigration.
In 1955 transport workers in the Midlands went on strike to protest about the ‘increasing numbers of coloured workers’. In 1958 the Trades Union Congress called for an end to all immigrant workers entering the country.
1965 – Race Relations Act. Racist discrimination made illegal in public places.
1972 Ugandan Asians – who had moved to work in Uganda, like Kenya, because it was part of British Empire - were told to leave Ugandan leader Idi Amin. In the end almost 27,000 Ugandan Asians migrated to Britain.
1966 – Race Relations Board set up to handle complaints about discrimination but without any power to enforce its decisions.
People took advantage of newly arrived immigrants who had little concept how how much things should be. Peter Rachman owned over 100 properties in London, subdivided them into very small flats and charged very high rent for them.
Even in 1975 there was a youth sub-culture known as skinheads which became famous for what they called ‘Paki-bashing’.
1968 – ‘Rivers of Blood’ Speech. Enoch Powell made controversial speech in which he predicted rivers of blood if immigration were to continue at the rate it was going. Powell was sacked from the shadow cabinet and The Times called it an ‘evil speech’. But over 1000 dock workers in London stopped work to protest against Powell’s sacking, 300 out of 412 Conservative constituency associations hailed him as a ‘brave prophet’. Opinion was divided across Britain.
1967 – Kenyan Asians forced to leave Kenya or be seen as foreigners. Many Asians had moved to Kenya to work as it was part of the British Empire. After Kenya got independence in 1963 there was prejudice against the Kenyan Asians who were often fairly prosperous. They were given a choice to be seen as foreigners or leave and many left to move to Britain. From 1967 to 1968 about 1000 Kenyan Asians arrived in Britain every week and the TV camera documented their arrival. In 1968 the government put restrictions on how many could come.
1958 – Summer of Violence. Violence first broke out in Nottingham in mid-August between whites and blacks. Then in late August a bigger outbreak occurred in Notting Hill, London. The violence lasted 3 nights with around 400 Teddy Boys attacking black people and their property. On the 3rd night some immigrants fought back and it was on this night that police stepped in an made arrests, many of those arrested being black.
1976 (REMEMBER OUR COURSE IS BUT IT USEFUL TO KNOW THAT THIS HADN’T HAPPENED BY 1975) – Race Relations Act made it illegal to make racially offensive music or publications. Significantly, it also set up tribunals so that any job applicant who felt he or she was suffering from discrimination could report the employer. Also set up Commission for Racial Equality to investigate and combat racism.