Theme 3 - Race And Immigration Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Theme 3 - Race And Immigration Deck (34)
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1
Q

What happened to race relations straight after WW1?

A
  • 1919 demobilisation of British army caused explosion of racist violence across Britain
  • Angry mobs of unemployed white Britons attacked black and Asian people that they considered foreign and therefore not entitled to jobs in Britain
  • NUS (National Union of seamen) demanded that the jobs of ‘non-white’ seamen should be given to white seamen
  • Mass strikes in many industries led to the sacking of black workers. People refused to work with ethnic minority workers
2
Q

What was the 1920 Alien orders act? Impact?

A
  • Required migrant workers to register with police before seeking work
  • ‘Aliens’ who failed to comply would be punished with deportation
  • Many ‘Aliens’ were actually British citizens whose rights were ignored by the police as they were black.
  • Minorities lived in constant fear
3
Q

What was the 1925 Special restrictions act?

A
  • Coloured seamen had to prove British citizenship to immigration authorities or face deportation
  • Coloured people were presumed non British unless they could prove it
4
Q

Examples of discrimination during the interwar years?

A
  • White chefs paid £20 in 1919 but Asian chefs were only paid £5 a month
  • In 1930’s black people were more likely to be unemployed than white people (Between 1934-35 30% of whites had been unemployed for long but 80% of blacks had been unemployed for a long time)
5
Q

What parties were fighting for ethnic minority rights in Britain?

A
  • Communist party of Great Britain (CPGB)

- International African Service Bureau (IASB)

6
Q

What did each of the two parties fighting for ethnic minority rights do?

A
  • CPGB: founded in 1921 had a high proportion of ethnic members as party seemed unattractive to white workers
  • Defended Arab seamen when NUS tried to drive them out
  • White workers in South Shields supported movement (Unsuccessful campaign but showed white support)
  • Fought BUF to stop them launching racist campaigns in London’s east end (CPGB won and caused BUF to abandon campaign)
  • IASB: established in 1937. Launched International African Opinion Newspaper (IAON) which encouraged leaders to lobby MP’s for black rights. They lobbied for black and Asian people to have equal access to healthcare and shopping facilities
7
Q

How was racism prominent in education and health during the interwar period? (Not including LCP)

A
  • 50 West Africans, 150 caribbean’s and and 150 Indians were educated in Britain’s top unis however after education they were expected to return home to serve the empire as senior administrators
  • Students were not expected to stay no matter how good their education. Harold moody studied medicine in 1904 but despite his qualifications he was refused work and had to set up his own practice
  • Ethnic students faced discrimination in studies
8
Q

What was the LCP?

A
  • League of coloured people set up to support immigrant students to gain equal rights.
  • Worked to expose the colour bar and therefore end white ignorance of the extent of discrimination.
  • Started campaigns to ensure equal access to facilities for all black and Asian people in Britain and campaigned for equal healthcare
9
Q

What did the government realise after WW2 about migrant workers?

A
  • They had been crucial to war effort
  • 6k-10k Caribbean men joined RAF, 500k black African men served in the British forces and by 1945 the Indian army numbered 2 million men
10
Q

How did racist attitudes change during the war?

A
  • New opportunities opened up for ethnic minorities
  • Education and training was offered to all ex-servicemen after the war which they took advantage of
  • British state did not criminalise discrimination but they did public ally object it
11
Q

How did racist attitudes not change during the war?

A
  • During the early war years government still offered prejudice. encouraged New Zealand men but did not want Caribbean members joining army
  • Discrimination faded out during war however West Indian workers still felt they were marginalised and white factory workers discriminated against them. Promotions for ethnic minorities were very rare and many workers were refused work in white factories due to ‘cultural differences’
  • US Army tried to enforce their segregation when in Britain, preventing black British troops from mixing with their white troops. Used as an excuse by business to set a colour bar. Black men refused access to hotels were white American troops were staying
12
Q

What happened to immigration after WW2?

A
  • Serious Labour shortages meant that migrants could come over and find easy work
  • British Nationality Act (1948) gave legal rights for all people in British colonies to enter Britain. Mass migration started to occur. (SS Empire Windrush arriving with 492 Jamaicans is thought to be the beginning of mass migrations)
  • 1939 the population of Caribbean people living in the UK was 8k, this rose to 173k in 1959
  • Opportunities opened up for migrant workers in the 1950’s. Many opened nightclubs, performed shows and opened restaurants. NHS employed 3k Caribbean nurses between 1948 and 1954
13
Q

How did the government respond to mass migration?

A

-Attlee and Churchill actively discouraged it by pressuring ‘new commonwealth’ countries to restrict availability of passports

14
Q

What Did the white population think of mass migration?

A
  • Gov received complaints from whites fearing immigration. They did not want ethnic minorities to; buy houses, claim benefits, get jobs, commit crimes or behave in a way reflecting cultural differences
  • Only white people were truley British and only British people could do the above
15
Q

How did ethnic minorities respond to mass migration?

A
  • Complained to government about discrimination
  • Government did little to help as they feared it would attract more migrants which therefore angered many ethnic minorities
16
Q

What did mass migration eventually lead to in the white population?

A

Increased violence against immigrants:

  • Mixed relationships would see the black man being beaten by white men
  • There was anger at Britain’s loss of colonies which was then expressed through racial violence
  • Black and Asians were blamed for social and economic problems
  • Police discrimination against ethnic minorities
17
Q

What factors lead to immigration restrictions being introduced from 1962?

A
  • Widespread public concern about racial tensions

- government reports that blamed black and Asian people for crime, the rising costs of welfare and overcrowding

18
Q

What was the commonwealth immigration act 1962?

A
  • Designed to end large scale immigration and attempted to prevent multi-cultural society from forming
  • Act only allowed people from former British colonies to enter Britain if they had a job waiting for them or had a specific set of skills the economy required (doctors)
  • Allowed families to reunite as spouse or children of people working in Britain still had entry rights
  • 69% of people backed it
19
Q

What’s was the 1968 commonwealth immigration act?

A
  • Entry required a connection to Britain. New immigrants had to prove relative lived in the UK
  • Children of immigrants living in Britain who were over 17 were denied entry
  • Children with only one parent living in Britain were denied entry
  • 72% public support
20
Q

What was the 1971 immigration act?

A
  • Two categories of migrants were introduced
  • ‘Partial’ were people born in the UK or whose parents/grandparents were born in the UK (Mainly included new commonwealth countries)
  • Non Partial were people who were born outside of the U.K. Or whose parents/grandparents were
  • Partials had no restrictions so could travel freely however non partials were subject to strict controls and had no rights of entry
  • Residents who had lived in UK for less than 10 years could be kicked out
  • 59% public support
21
Q

What does new commonwealth mean?

A

-Countries such as NZ, AUS and Canada

22
Q

What effects did the immigrations policies of the 1960’s-70’s have on mass migration?

A
  • 1962 act was designed to end mass migration but in fact it ended up increasing it
  • More people moved to Britain before the act came into force therefore the ethnic minority population doubled between 1960-61
  • Many who planned to leave stayed in fear they would not be allowed back
  • 30-50k work vouchers were issued between 1963-79
  • The act miserably failed
23
Q

How did the immigration acts of the 1960’s and 70’s impact the voting patterns of ethnic minorities?

A
  • Until early 1960’s ethnic minorities voted for Labour as they were opposed to the 1962 act and the conservatives were seen as a racist party
  • However Labour took a hard stance on immigration between 1965-68 therefore many young black radicals rejected mainstream politics in favour of black power
24
Q

What showed there was increasing black radicalisation during the 1960’s and 70’s? (Longer answer)

A
  • 1968 Nigerian born Obi E Egbuna formed British black panther party
  • 1974 Trinidad born radical Darcus Howe founded Race Today Collective (RTC)
25
Q

How effective were radicalisation groups during the 1960’s and 70’s?

A
  • Black panthers and RTC were extremely effective at organising a challenge to racism
  • 1971 Darcus and Althea Jones Leconite (black panther leader) forced the first official acknowledgement that there was evidence of racial hatred in the met’.
  • 1974 RTC organised imperial typewriters strike which got predominantly white unions to back Asian workers
  • Between 1974-76 RTC helped organise biggest squat in British History to ensure the Bengali population of Tower Hamlets had access to safe housing
26
Q

Why were race relations act introduced in the 1960’s and 70’s?

A

-They were introduced because of constant pressure from black and Asian people to deal with racism in Britain, government fears of race related riots and a political commitment to a multi cultural society

27
Q

What was the 1965 race relations act?

A
  • Outlawed colour bar: became illegal to deny people access to services and public places on basis of race
  • Established race relations board (RRB) to enforce this law
  • Nothing done to end racial discrimination in housing
28
Q

Why was the 1968 Race relations act?

A
  • Outlawed racial discrimination in housing and employment

- Established the community relations commission (CRC) to promote multi-culturing through education

29
Q

What was the 1976 race relations act?

A
  • Further protection from racial discrimination
  • Indirect discrimination was outlawed
  • CRC and RRB combined to create commission for racial equality
30
Q

Effect of the race relations acts?

A

-Lead to number of prosecutions however law was often used against black radicals such as Micheal X who was convicted of inciting racial hatred for a speech he gave in reading 1967

31
Q

What was the significance of Enoch Powell?

A
  • Gave ‘Rivers of blood’ speech on 20th April 1968 that addressed Labour’s 1968 proposal to impose tougher race relations laws. He argued that:
  • Mass migration and antiracism laws meant that black and Asian people had more rights living in Britain than white people
  • White Britons were now strangers in there own country
  • Multiculturalism would lead to segregated communities and violence
32
Q

What was the impact of Enoch Powell?

A
  • Speech reflected new kind of post-colonial racism. It acknowledged that the empire was gone but still advocated keeping Britain white
  • He was sacked from conservative shadow cabinet but over 74% of Britons agreed with him. 3 days later 1k protestors marched in support of Enoch
  • Powell expressed widespread views among white Britons that black people had no right to express there own culture in the UK
33
Q

What was dispersion?

A
  • Policy of dispersal was rife in schools. It stated that students from a Caribbean or Indian background could only make up 30% of a school population meaning students were bussed to school to ensure dispersion
  • Eventually abandoned in the 1970’s but it reflected the ongoing views of people to get immigrants to assimilate (adopt British culture in every way) and popular white unease about emergence of black schools
34
Q

What was race relations like by 1979?

A
  • A multi-cultural society did not emerge in the 60’s and 70’s and policies to stop immigration continued
  • However the 3 race relations laws did create the beginnings of an official commitment to cultural diversity