Immigration

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Possible Questions

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Did Britain become a less racist Society 1945-1970?

To what extent did Britain become a racially tolerant nation in the sixites?

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What is it?

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During the long sixties Britain saw an influx of migrants from the Commonwealth, causing a lot of popular discontent in Britain. It can be argued that the sixties saw Britain becoming multi-cultural, seen through new religions, foods, fashion and music. However, whether or not Britain was a racially tolerant nation is debatable.By 1971 there were about 2 million non-whites living in Britain.

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Historians

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Martin Schain

Mark Donnelly

Robert Miles

Elizabeth Buettner

Bill Osgerby

Arthur Marwick

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Who Migrated?

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Immediate Post-war Years: Ireland, in order to rebuild economy and reconstruction. By 1971 over a million Irish people lived in Britain.

Italy

Citizens of Soviet Controlled nations: Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia.

145,000 Poles.

West Indies

India and Pakistan

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Why did people emigrate?

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Push and Pull factors

Chain Migration (relatives from back home)

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Context

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Britain was a huge empirical power, owning many nations across the globe. However from 1945 Britain’s empire began to decline. Harold Macmillans ‘winds of change’. Many nations became independent. Britain’s imperial status had fostered a multiracial society across the world, and the 1948 Commonwealth Act had entrenched this by granting all Commonwealth citizens British citizenship.

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Politics Bad

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1948 British Nationality Act: Citizens of Commonwealth countries have British nationality.

1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act: introduced restrictions into migration deliberately designed to undermine colored migration. People could only migrate if they could show they had a job to come to, and to people who already had close relatives in Britain. Only applied to commonwealth nations (black). By 1975, the quota for Africa was 5000 a year.

1971 Immigration Act reduced British nationality to native or residential, disenfranchising thousands of colonial citizens. This strongly indicates British politicians were linking Britishness with being ethnically white, contributing to the perception of black and Asian immigrants as alien.

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Political Figures Bad

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Enoch Powell: a leader conservative MP. 'Rivers of Blood' Speech. 'we must be mad, literally mad as a nation, to be permitting the annual inflow of 50,000 dependents. It's like watching a nation busily heaping up its own funeral pyre'.

The National Front and the British National Party campaigned for a 'white' Britain.

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Politics Bad Historians

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Martin Schain argues, “by 1965, both major political parties were edging towards a consensus on immigration restrictions, the objective of which was to convert Commonwealth citizens into full-fledged foreigners’

Mark Donnelly agrees “Powell’s speech was a turning point for Britain’s immigrant population. The message went out clearly that they were not wanted, and many felt enormously threatened as a consequence”

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Politics Good

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Race Relations Act 1965: set up the Race Relations Board to work towards fair treatment for non-whites. People could be taken to court for inciting racial disorder and for refusing to serve people in pubs and restaurants.

1968 Race Relations Act: this set up the Community Relations Commission. It's job was to keep an eye on what was happening in areas of mixed race, and to encourage the formation of community reltions councils in local areas. People could now be prosecuted for discrimination against non-whites in housing and jobs.

1976 Race Relations Act: Set up the Commission for Racial Equality. Designed to encourage better relations and understanding between people of different races. People could be prosecuted for trying to incite racial hatred by using language which was 'threatening, abusive or insulting'.

HOWEVER anti-racist legislation failed to develop racial tolerance. The Acts failed to prevent discrimination in private housing or employment, and the Race Relations Board proved ineffective; by 1972, only 10% of complaints had been upheld

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Economic Good

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Marwick argues the affluent society of the 50s/60s resulted in less desirable job roles to be filled, which was filled my immigrants.

The aforementioned 1968 Race Relations Act meant employers could be prosecuted for discrimination in jobs.

British employers actively welcomed migrants into employment. The post-war manpower shortage had catalysed both a need for non-white workers and a perception that groups such as Jamaicans were hardworking and able to assimilate into society: from 1955-16, 4500 Barbadians were directly recruited from Barbados by British Railways and London Transport. This, to a large extent, fostered anti-racist attitudes; as workplaces became increasingly diversified social spheres, multiracial interaction increased.

Setting up businesses: The expansion of curry houses from 300 in 1960 to 1,200 in 1970 shows that white British were receptive to multiculturalism. Restaurants offered an opportunity to engage with different cultures and an exotic break with the monotonous British diet, and united communities in a shared appreciation of food

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Economic Good Historians

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Davidson argues that individuals mainly emigrated due to economic reasons.

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Economic Bad

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Discrimination in workplace. Lower wages.

Example: 1963 a Bristol Omnibus company refused employment to a West Indian applicant on the basis of 'no coloureds'.

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Social Bad

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Racially-motivated violence was a common occurrence; from 1958-63, race riots occurred in Notting Hill, Middlesbrough and St. Helens, as white communities reacted with anger at what was widely perceived as invasion of their communities by inferiors who were creating stresses upon housing and the welfare state.

Marwick calls the Notting Hill riots a turning point, as it acts as evidence that Britain does have a race problem.

Many black people struggled to find accommodation due to racist views. It was found in a poll that many british white Londoners would move if coloured people moved into their areas in great numbers.

Furthermore, many people actively favoured racial separation: in 1965, 9/10 people disagreed with the idea of mixed-race marriages. This showed that there remained clear limits to what kind of interactions white people were prepared to tolerate.

Curry houses still offered traditional British foods.

For many British people, the continued production of native foodstuffs confirmed the migrants were refusing to assimilate into society, and fuelled the calls for repatriation

Mods/Rockers would actively 'hunt' minorities and attack them.

Racist Language

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Social Bad Historians

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Elizabeth Buettner: ‘“curry houses and their menus did not fully escape the contempt and racism that people of South Asian origin continued to experience in Britain”

Bill Osgerby “Sixties subcultures such as the Mods and the Skinheads drew inspiration from the perceived ‘coolness’ of their black peers, but they retained a measure of racism that became more overt and brutal by the beginning of the seventies’

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Social Good

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Marwick argues that those against racial discrimination were heavily influenced by the civil rights campaign in the US, and saw themselves as part of a wider global movement. For example, the Bristol bus boycott thing after West Indian denied employment for that company.

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Cultural Good

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Notting Hill Carnival

Food

TV/Cinema - a taste of honey

Fashion/Music

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Cultural Bad

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TV - minstrel show

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Harvey you are the best and you will pass your exam with flying colours. Also i love you.

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And i love you