4

• Stephen Lawrence case


  • 1993 murdered of young black men
  • A memorial in Eltham
  • A great sensible subject: security on the memorial night and day
  • 1990s: many terrible case
  • 5 suspects-> not arrest for 2 weeks
  • A famous case in United Kingdom-> deep cultural changes towards racism notably in police forces and major modifications of the legislation and police practices
  • 2 of murderers were condemned in 2012, 20 years later
  • People accused police officers of racism
  • Stephen's parents met Mandela the 6 May 1993
  • Long struggle with justice because the Crown Prosecution Service release the suspects
• Empire - Independence - Commonwealth

  • Rise and fall of Empire (Horrible Histories-style)
  • Decolonization
• Decolonization


  1. 1947: Indian and Pakistan independence

  2. 1948: British Nationality Act gave right to all Commonwealth citizens to live in UK

  3. 1948: Windrush 492 passengers from the Caribbean

  4. Newcomers obtained right of entry easily (need for workforce, role in war)... so long as they were a 'discreet' minority
• End of Empire


  • India: 1947; Ghandi, Nehru
  • Pakistan: 1947; Jinnah
  • Gold Cost/ Ghana: 1957; Kwame Nkrumah
  • Southern Rhodesia/ Zimbabwe: 1980; Ian Smith, Robert Mugabe
  • Hong Kong: 1997: retroceded to China
• Commonwealth of Nations


  • 'Family', 'club'...
  • Grew out of Empire - evolved by accident, rather than by design (like the British unwritten constitution)
  • Has little political power - relies on persuasion, peer pressure
  • Significant economic partner
  • Encourages ethical standards
• Commonwealth - Phase 1: Dominions


  1. White settler colonies sought self-determination - were granted Dominion status

  2. Canada became a Dominion in 1867

  3. Australia federated and became a Dominion in 1901

  4. NZ 1907, South Africa 1910

  5. Irish Free State 1921

  6. Culminated in 1931 Statue of Westminster
• Commonwealth - Phase 2: Decolonization

  1. Indigenous demands for independence

  2. 1947: Indian membership sparked constitutional crisis because it became a Republic

  3. 1949: London Declaration - newly independent states could decide on their own Head of State
• Commonwealth - "Wind of change"

  • "Wind of change sweeping through Africa" (PM Harold Macmillan)
  • 1957 Ghana: wave of newly independent members, also from Asia (Malaya, 1957) and Caribbean (Jamaica, 1962)
  • most former colonies joined...but not all: Burma/Myanmar, Ireland withdrew in 1947, several Middle Eastern former protectorates decline to join
• • Currently (2024) 56 members
  • 2.4bn people in 2019
  • claims 20% of global trade (2018)
• Regional Trade Agreements


  • Caricom - Caribbean Community and Common Market
  • Nafta - North American Free Trade Agreement (because USMCA 2020)
  • Asean - Association of Southeast Asian Nations
  • SADC - Southern African Development Community
  • Ecowas - Economic Community of West African States
• Which trade agreement DO NOT have Commonwealth members - primarily Mercosur!
• UK using Commonwealth associations to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) - 2021
• Push-Pull factors


  • Inward pull (and push)
  • Outward Push (and pull)
• Inward pull (and push)

  • Commonwealth citizens from India/ Pakistan after partition
  • West Indians drawn to jobs in transport, health
  • Irish exodus from the Republic (50k/year) in construction
  • PRC in 1949: Chineses transited through Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s
  • East African Asians - expelled from Kenya (1963), Uganda (1972)
  • Vietnamese 'boat people' from 1975
  • 1990s/2000: economic boom and EU enlargement
• Outward Push (and pull)

  • Former Dominions encouraged white emigration
  • British companies in newly independent countries recruited expat engineers
  • Economic slowdown in 1970s in UK-> brain drain
  • Fed fear of racial imbalance - 'being swamped' (term used by Margaret Thatcher)
• Migration figures


  • 1950s average 30,000 immigrants/year
  • 1960 rate doubled with peak in 1961-2
  • By 1971, non-white population resident in UK= 2 million (approx. 4%)
  • Net migration was consistently negative - more leaving than coming
  • Minorities become more 'visible'
• • Some tensions - riots in Notting Hill (1958)
  • Also discrimination: 'no dogs, no Irish, no coloreds', 'if you want a nigger for a neighbor, vote Labour'
• Ugandan Asians


  • 1972 Idi Amin expelled the asian community
  • 30,000 came to GB with asylum status
  • Many settled in Leicester
• Government response


  1. 1962: Commonwealth Immigration Act (Macmillan, C) - entry depended on employability (voucher system)

  2. 1964-70: Labour set low voucher quotas (because of electoral losses)

  3. 1968: Commonwealth Immigration Act (Wilson, Labour) entry limited to British citizens with (grand)parents born in UK (because of influx of Kenyan Asians)

  4. 1971: (Heath, C) Immigration Act, vouchers replaced by work permits with temporary residence

  5. 1981: British National Act (Thatcher, C)
• Changing society changing attitude

  • In parallel
  • 1965: Race Relations Board (became Commission for Racial Equality in 1976)
  • 1968: new Race Relations Bill introduced= illegal to refuse housing, employment or public services to people because of ethnic origin
• Two-track government response


  • Tackle discrimination and inequality for minorities already present
  • Restrict further immigration to avoid backlash, and show the situation was under control
• Enoch Powell


  • 1968: Conservative MP and Defense Minister gave 'Rivers of blood' speech in Birmingham
  • Condemned by political class and even the Times for 'inciting racial hatred'
  • BUT some popular, working class support started to crystallize around him
• 1970s polarisation


  • 1970s economic situation more difficult in UK
  • 1972: Ugandan Asians made minorities more visible
  • National Front (set up late 60s) attracted increasing support
• Continued dichotomy between...


  • Commitment to multiculturalism
  • And to equality measures
• And yet...


  • 'Sus laws' - arrest 'any suspected person found loitering with intent to commit an arrestable offense' (only abolished in 1981)
  • Racism in the police - Scarman Report findings (after race riots in Brixton November 1981)
  • English Defense League, Britain First
• Stephen Lawrence case


  • Black student murdered at a bus stop in 1993
  • Police bunged case against perpetrators
  • 1998: McPherson Enquiry identifies 'institutional racism' in the Metropolitan police-> reform and rethinking about policing
  • 2012: two white men found guilty of his murder
  • Doreen Lawrence campaigned for justice
• The British Bus Boycott


  The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 arose from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ Black or Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol, England. In line with many other British cities at the time,
• 'Sus laws' - arrest 'any suspected person found loitering with intent to commit an arrestable offense' (only abolished in 1981)
• White riot - Punk and sus laws
• Racism in the police - Scarman Report findings (after race riots in Brixton November 1981) -> community policing -> ethnic minority recruitment -> racial disadvantage (unemployment)
• And English Defense League, Britain First
• Stephen Lawrence case - Black student murdered at a bus stop in 1993 - Police bunged case against perpetrators - 1998 : McPherson Enquiry identifies 'institutional racism' in the Metropolitan police-> reform and rethinking about policing - 2012 : two white men found guilty of his murder - Doreen Lawrence campaigned for justice
• The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 arose from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ Black or Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol, England. In line with many other British cities at the time, there was widespread racial discrimination in housing and employment against so-called "Coloureds"
• From Wedding to Football (See Bend it like Beckham)
• There is more and more migration in the UK and less migration out the UK
• The reasons why people have left or entered the UK to start new lives over the last century are complicated and varied. Increased living standards, developments in transport and work opportunities in the UK combined with global displacement due to war have all influenced UK international migration.
• There has also been a shift away from the British Empire and Commonwealth – who used to have the same citizen status as British nationals – to an inclusive European community where members have freedom of movement across the EU.
• Historically there have always been more British citizens leaving the UK than entering, therefore net migration of British citizens has been negative.
• 1583 Gilbert lands in Newfoundland-> the Empire begins-> then Canada Caribbean and East America-> America declare independence-> Australia, Asia (East India Company)-> more and more-> WWII : Britain wins but no money-> independence lot of country
• Upon independence in 1947, the former British India was divided into India and Pakistan along religious lines, which lead to inter-communal violence, mass displacement and an exodus towards the UK. This talks about the arrival in the north of England.