Racism in Britain

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Racism in Britain Britain emerged from the Second World War with a labour shortage. In 1944 a Royal Commission was established to assess the population of Great Britain. The commission returned its findings in 1949 recommending that extra labour was needed. The "European Volunteer Workers Scheme" was introduced. Its aim was to entice workers from Europe to come to Britain. Between 1947 and 1948 17,000 workers came to Britain under the scheme. However the Irish were the largest ethnic group the time, followed by continental Europeans. Blacks only made up 5% of the 17,000 who came, although they were more conspicuous by the colour of their skin and also the language and cultural differences. Yet still there was tension amongst the population with race riots. In Notting Hill in 1958 race riots went on for five nights over an August bank holiday weekend. There were also severe riots in Nottingham in the same year. In the 1950s Britain had used informal immigration control methods as the government was desperate to maintain good relations with Commonwealth countries. These informal methods were not sufficient to quell the growing public disquiet and legislation was necessary. In October 1961 the Conservative government announced the Commonwealth Bill. It was designed to halt black immigration due to the inability of British Society to assimilate immigrants of different races. The Labour opposition accused the Government of being a crude response to racist pressure but the Bill was passed regardless in 1962. The most notable part of this Bill was that it was aimed specifically at blacks. It stated that only blacks with employment pa... ... middle of paper ... ... Publishing Ltd., 1996 * Jackson, Peter. Race and Racism; Unwin Hyman Ltd., 1987 * Owusu, Kwesi, Black British Culture and Society; Routledge, 2000 * Shamit Saggar, Race and Politics in Britain; Campus 400, 1992 * Smith, Susan J., The Politics of "Race" and Residency; Polity Press , 1989 * Solomos, John, Race and Racism in Britain; Macmillan Press Ltd., 1994 * Solomos, John, Race and Social Change; Routledge, 1995 * "The Rise of the European Right". Online 15th April 2003. Available http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/1944157.stm --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Shamit Saggar, Race and Politics in Britain, Campus 400; 1992, P111 [2] John Solomos & Les Blacks - Race, Politics and Social Change; Routledge; 1995, P61

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