3C - Race and Immigration, 1918-1945 Flashcards
Why had the black and Asian communities grown at the end of WW1?
Due to seamen, labourers and soldiers being stationed in GB Isles during the war. ⅓ of GB manpower in WW1 made up of black and Asian colonial troops and labourers
How did immigrants help in WW1?
- 1 million Indian soldiers fighting in Europe and Middle East
- 500,000 locally recruited troops in Africa
- West Indian volunteers in labour battalions on the western front
Why was there an increase in white racist violence after WW1?
White workers attempted to stop black and Asian workers taking GB jobs. Discrimination as whites tended to view black and Asian people as inferior and not entitled to equal rights.
What did lawmakers, police and TUs think of ethnic groups?
That they were non british
What was the explosion of racist violence in 1919?
- Limehouse - East End district of London, black people attacked in four days of white rioting
- Cardiff - white violence led to three deaths and over £3000 of property damage
Who did TUs fight for the rights of?
White workers - National Union of Seamen demanded that the jobs of non white sailors should be given to white seamen.
How did local branches TUs take action to force blacks out of jobs in 1919?
white workers in Liverpool went on strike in protest at working alongside black workers = 120 black workers sacked
What was the Alien Orders Act 1920?
Required migrant workers to register with the police before seeking work. Aliens who failed to comply would be punished by deportation. Police only applied the law to black and Asian people. Many branded as aliens were GB citizens.
What was the Special Restrictions Act, 1925?
Forced coloured seamen to prove their GB citizenship to immigration authorities or face deportation. Assumed coloured seamen were non GB.
How were wage rates in favour of white workers?
1919 - MP Neil Maclean presented a report that stated that Asian chefs were paid £5 a month while white chefs paid £20 a month
What did the League of Coloured Peoples find in 1934-35?
Reported 80% of black and Asian men had been unemployed for prolonged period, compared to 30% of white men.
How did racist action increase during the depression?
Cardiff - race riot in 1935. Local police collaborated with white workers to prevent black GB sailors from working on ships, declaring them as non GB.
What groups fought for the rights of minorities in the 1920s and 30s?
Communist Party of GB and International African Service Bureau - linked fight against white domination of empire with fight against white domination in GB
What did the Communist Party of GB consist of (founded 1921)?
High proportion of members from ethnic minority groups including people from the Caribbean, India, Ireland as well as Jews. Unattractive party to white workers.
What did the CPGB organise?
1930s - NUS tried to force arab and somali seamen out of their jobs in South Tyneside. Regional strikes against TU racist policy. White workers in Tyneside, Liverpool and Stepney struck against NUS.
