Windrush generation’s civil rights battles Grassroots campaigns paved the way for race equality laws and Black representation in politics Windrush75 by Vic Motune
WHEN YOU mention the civil rights movement, what comes to mind for most people is the struggle for equal rights under the law that took place in America and saw its leaders such as Dr Martin Luther King Jnr and Medgar Evers rise to world prominence.The new arrivals frequently faced housing discrimination, being forced to pay landlords high rents for overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions. And signs like “No blacks, no Irish, no dogs” were not uncommon in 1960s Britain.
In her youth, she migrated to the United States, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist, and Black nationalist. But facing persecution by the US authorities she was deported in 1955 later finding refuge in Britain. Four months after the newspaper’s launch riots erupted in Notting Hill, west London. The area’s large Caribbean community HAD became a target for the open hostility of white working-class youth, commonly referred to as ‘Teddy Boys’.
Determined to find solutions Jones began launching events that emphasised the richness of Caribbean culture and history in direct response to the hostility displayed by white racists. In 1963, Stephenson, then a 26-year-old teacher, led a boycott against the Bristol Omnibus Company. The Bristol Bus Boycott is widely credited with influencing the introduction of the Race Relations Act in 1965, which prohibited racial discrimination in public spaces.
CARD also arose from the frustration over the major political parties’ seeming lack of action against racial discrimination. CARD’s 1966 ‘Summer Project’ exposed the weaknesses of the 1965 Race Relations Act. The initiative involved sending students to test housing and job opportunities, revealing widespread racial bias. Over 150 complaints were filed, highlighting the need for additional legislation.
Pitt went on to become the first Black chair of the Greater London Council. He later became a life peer in the House of Lords where he played a leading role in campaigning for the introduction of the 1976 Race Relations Act. Although not a member of the government Powell’s agenda was reflected in the legislation that was passed by such as the 1971 Immigration Act which restricted the ability of people from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa to emigrate to Britain whilst favouring White migrants.
Inspired by the American Black Panthers and his Trinidadian roots, he urged Crichlow to take more direct action to challenge the police’s actions. Along with their fellow newly-elected Labour MPs Keith Vaz and Paul Boateng they blazed a path for other Black and minority ethnic MPs to follow. Black activists advocated for greater representation within the Labour Party leading to the launch of the Labour Party Black Sections in 1983.This included people like journalist and activist Marc Wadsworth and Bill Morris who went on to become Britain’s first Black trade union general secretary when he was elected to lead the Transport and General Workers Union in 1992.
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