Theme 3 c 1 - Immigration and attitudes towards ethnic minorities, 1918-39

Question 1

After WW1 Britain’s Black and Asian communities had grown.

Give examples of how British manpower during the war was made my of these minorities

Answer 1

1/3 of manpower

• 1 million Indian soldiers fighting in Europe and the Middle East
• Half a million locally recruited troops in Africa

Question 2

Why was there an increased amount of white racist violence after WW1?

Answer 2

They attempted to stop Black and Asian workers taking ‘British Jobs’.

Tending to see. then as inferior, un-British and not entitled to equal rights.

Question 3

Where did the British attitudes toward ethnic minorities come from origionally?

Answer 3

From the days of the British Empire. Britain was placed in the centre of a global network of colonies.

Saw themselves as superior to those in the colonies

Question 4

How did Edward Long describe Black Jamacians people?

Answer 4

‘A people certainly very stupid and very brutal. In many respects they are more like beasts than men’

Long became niknames ‘the orangutan philosphers’ sue to his view that ‘the orangutans and some races of black men are very nearly allied’

Question 5

How did imperialism help fuel racist attitudes?

Answer 5

the ‘national’ institutions such as the national insurance, national unions and even the national health service were conceived as serving British people, and therefore white people, rather than black or Asian people.

Question 6

Year - British Army Demobilised

Answer 6

1919

Question 7

Give examples of areas in Britain where there were angry mobs of unemployed white Britons whos attacked Minority workers

Answer 7

Cardiff

Newport

Glasgow

Salford

Hull

South Shields

London

Question 8

What happened to ethnic minority workers in Limehouse?

Answer 8

Black people were attacked in four days of white rioting

Question 9

What happened in Cardiff towards ethnic minorities?

Answer 9

White violence led to 3 deaths and over £3,000 of property damage

Question 10

What was the ‘colour bar’?

Answer 10

Black and Asian people were excluded from employment, or refused service in theatres, hotels or restaurants.

Question 11

What was the ‘colour bar’ based on?

Answer 11

• Widespread prejudice
• Unions and businesses working together to deny the rights of Black and Asian people
• Police indifference to racism
• The absence of government action to end racism

Question 12

What did the National Union of Seamen demand?

Answer 12

That the jobs of ‘non-white’ sailors should be given to a white seamen.

Question 13

What was the NUS?

Answer 13

National Union of Seamen

Question 14

Give an example of when the NUS forced Non-White sailors out of jobs

Answer 14

1919 - White workers in Liverpool went on strike inprotest at working alongside black workers.

• Led to the sacking of 120 black workers

Question 15

State the two laws that the NUS campaigns made

Answer 15

The Alien Orders Act - 1920

Special Restrictions Act - 1925 (Coloured Alien Seamen Act)

Question 16

Year - The Alien Orders Act

Answer 16

1920

Question 17

Year - Special Restrictions Act

Answer 17

1925

Question 18

What did the Alien Orders Act do?

Answer 18

1920

Required ‘aliens’ (migrant workers) to register with the police before seeking work.

If they failed to comply they would be deported

Question 19

What was the problem with the Alien Orders Act?

Answer 19

1920

Many branded ‘aliens’ were British Citizens of the British Empire however, their rights were ignored.

In this sense the actplaced all black and Asian people under suspicion and under threat of deportation.

Question 20

What did the Special Restrictions Act do?

Answer 20

1925

Forced ‘coloured’ seamen to prove their British citizenship to immigration authorities or face deportation.

This assumed that ‘coloured’ seamen were non-British unless they could prove thair status as citizens.

Question 21

What was the problem with the special restrictions act?

Answer 21

1925

This assumed that ‘coloured’ seamen were non-British unless they could prove thair status as citizens.

Question 22

How did wages differ between white and Asian chefs?

Answer 22

Asian chefs - £5 a month

White chefs - £20 a month

Question 23

What did the League of Coloured people report about minorities enployment?

Answer 23

80% of Black and Asian men had been unemployed for a prolonged period.

30% of white men

Question 24

Year - Cardiff race riot

Answer 24

1935

Question 25

What happened during the Cardiff race riot?

Answer 25

1935

Local police collaborated with white workers to prevent black British soilors from working on ships, declaring them non-British under the Aliens Orders Act.

Question 26

What are two groups fighting for the rights of ethnic minorityu groups?

Answer 26

CPGB - Communist Party of Great Britain

IASB - International African Service Bureau

Question 27

Who were the CPGB? When was it founded?

Answer 27

1921 - Communist Party of Great Britain

Question 28

Who were the IASB? When was it established?

Answer 28

1937 - International African Service Bureau

Question 29

Give an example of a key individual who was part of the CPGB

Answer 29

Shapurji Saklatvala

An indian-born radical who played a leading role in the movement.

Question 30

Explain how the CPGB helped defend the rights of Arab Seamen

Answer 30

1930

NUS tried to force Arab and Somali seamen out of jobs in South Shields in South Tyneside.

The CPGB organised regional strikes against union’s racist policies.

Some white workers struck against the NUS.

Eventhough unsuccessful it shows a willingness for white workers to support antiracist campaigns.

Also showed the extent to which immigrants were prepared to fight for their rights.

Question 31

How did the CPGB campaign against the British Union of Fascists (BUF)?

Answer 31

BUF attempted to incite anti-Semitism in Londons East End, leading to fire bombings and ‘Jew-bashing’.

The local Jewish People’s Council and the CPGB organised a demonstration of over 10,000 people to stop the BUF march.

The two marches led to the Battle of Cable Street.

Fights between the BUF and antifascist campaigners, which forced the BUF to abandon the march.

Question 32

Who set up the IASB?

Answer 32

Caribbean intellectuals C.L.R. James and George Padmore.

Question 33

What did the IASB do for minority rights?

Answer 33

Established a newspaper International African opinion which encouraged readers to lobby thgeir MPs for black rights.

Question 34

In the interwar years, how many West African people were educated in top British Universities?

Answer 34

50 people

Question 35

In the interwar years, how many Caribbean people were educated in top British Universities?

Answer 35

150 people

Question 36

What did British policymakers hope colony men would gain out of being educated in top universities?

Answer 36

Hoped they would be able to return to their colonial countries and become senior administrators

Question 37

Give an example of an educated Jamaican who struggled to get employment in Britain

Answer 37

Harold Moody

Studied Medicine in Britain in 1904. He was repeatedly refused work in England and ended up opening his own medical practice in London

Question 38

What campaign was made to help support the immigrant student to gain equal rights?

Answer 38

League of Coloured People

Question 39

When was the LCP established? Who did this? Why?

Answer 39

League of Coloured people was established in 1931 to support immigrant students to gain equal rights

Question 40

What did the LCP do?

Answer 40

• 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
• Campaigned to gain equal access to healthcare