Theme 3C- Race and Immigration

Question 1

How did racist violence escalate due to unemployment in the 1920s?

Answer 1

Minorities faced with violent attacks by mobs of unemployed white men, threat is never resolved and continues into 30s

Question 2

Examples of violence surrounding working rights

Answer 2

4 days of violent rioting in Limehouse and white violence in Cardiff led to 3 deaths and £3000 worth of damage

Question 3

What was the stance of trade unions in the 1920s?

Answer 3

Adamant about restricting rights of minority workers, concerned about impact on white workers

Question 4

Example of Trade Union racism in 1920s

Answer 4

National Union of Seamen demanded non-white seamen lose their jobs to white seamen, NUS managed to push legal restriction on the rights of migrant workers

Question 5

What was the 1920 Alien Orders Act?

Answer 5

Migrant workers had to register with police before seeking work, or could face deportation- only really applied to black and Asian people

Question 6

What was the 1925 Special Restrictions Act?

Answer 6

Coloured seamen had to prove British citizenship or face deportation, proof hard to come by

Question 7

What is an example of the police being racist 1918-39?

Answer 7

1935 Cardiff riot, police helped white workers instead of keeping the peace

Question 8

How did migrants face economic discrimination 1918-39?

Answer 8

Discrimination between white and non-white workers clear- in 1919 Asian chefs payed £5 compared to £20 for white chefs and (34-35) 80% of black and Asian men unemployed compared to 30% white men

Question 9

How was there discrimination within education and health?

Answer 9

People who migrated to get uni education expected to leave once they got degree, Medical graduates from the empire were refused work in British hospitals and had to set up their own instead

Question 10

What were the main groups who fought for the rights of migrant workers?

Answer 10

Communist Party of Great Britain and International African Service Bureau

Question 11

How did the CPGB help migrant workers?

Answer 11

Defended Arab seamen’s rights against NUS and gained support from white workers (unsuccessful but important) and organised 10,000 strong demonstration against Moseley which led to Battle of Cable Street

Question 12

Which demographic was most racist 1918-39?

Answer 12

Unemployed men, especially those who just came back from WWI. Middle class liberals tried to fight racial discrimination and raise funds for struggling minority families

Question 13

Where was there evidence of racism during WWII?

Answer 13

Gov rejected offer from Caribbean shipping company to pay for 2000 Jamaican workers to travel to Britain to aid war effort, black and Asian soldiers rarely promoted, American soldiers in Britain popularise idea of colour bars

Question 14

How did immigration grow in the postwar period?

Answer 14

Asian and Caribbean communities in Britain grew from 190,000 in 1949 to 630,000 in 1959

Question 15

What was the 1948 British Nationality Act?

Answer 15

Gave all people in British colonies the right to enter UK (response to war effort)

Question 16

How did opportunities for immigrants grow in the postwar period?

Answer 16

More opportunities in entertainment, post offices, railways etc, 3000 Caribbean nurses recruited for NHS 1948-54

Question 17

In what way did opportunities for immigrants remain consistent in the postwar period?

Answer 17

White workers still pushing for restrictions, Ford Dagenham enforce 95% quota of white workers, with strike in case of breach

Question 18

How did Attlee and Churchill respond to changing attitudes?

Answer 18

Actively tries to discourage migration from the Commonwealth by restricting availability, considered limiting migration or repatriation

Question 19

What was the reaction to immigration in the postwar period?

Answer 19

Claims that they would commit crimes, were too culturally different, interracial relationships led to violence, police harassed and targeted black and Asian people

Question 20

What were the 1958 Notting Hill Riots?

Answer 20

Armed white men beating up and attacking the homes of black residents- ‘Keep Britain White’- police did little to nothing

Question 21

What was the 1962 Commonwealth Immigration Act?

Answer 21

Required those from the colonies to have a job waiting for them, designed to end large-scale immigration

Question 22

What was the 1968 Commonwealth Immigration Act?

Answer 22

Made it harder for children of migrants to come to Britain

Question 23

What was the 1971 Immigration Act?

Answer 23

Introduces racial categories into British law (partial and non-partial), subjected non-white people to harsher immigration controls

Question 24

What was the 1965 Race Relations Act?

Answer 24

Outlaws the colour bar

Question 25

What was the 1968 Race Relations Act?

Answer 25

Outlaws racial discrimination in housing and employment, establishes Community Relations Commission

Question 26

What was the 1976 Race Relations Act?

Answer 26

Outlaws indirect discrimination and created the Commission for Racial Equality

Question 27

Did the acts passed post-1945 calm the fears of white Britons?

Answer 27

No- became more concerned at increase in immigration seen after 1962 Commonwealth Immigration Act

Question 28

How did the acts passed postwar effect the politics of black and Asian people?

Answer 28

Radicalised them- all Race Relations Acts passed under Labour govs, enraged at 1968 act restricting immigration of asylum seekers (Kenyan Asians), black power ideology increasingly common among young black people who adopted forms of direct action and protest

Question 29

Examples of black radicals challenging racism

Answer 29

Darkus Howe in 1971 forced met police to acknowledge evidence of racial hatred, helped organise squat in tower hamlets to force council to ensure safe housing for Bengali population

Question 30

How did the acts passed post war incur white backlash?

Answer 30

‘Rivers of blood’ speech, claimed black and Asian people had more rights than white people and that they would become strangers in Britain. Widespread support for these ideas- petitions, marches etc following sacking of Powell

Question 31

How were the Race Relations Acts successful?

Answer 31

Created foundation of racial diversity seen in later years, reduced discrimination, colour bar made much more rare, 1976 RRA used in legal argument in 1982 Mandla vs Dowell-Lee case surrounding Sikh boys being allowed to wear turbans