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Britain in the 20th century

Racist violence in the Notting Hill riots of 1958 was driven by gangs of white youths, known as ‘Teddy boys’, who particularly targeted black men who were in relationships with white women. The murder in 1959 of Kelso Cochrane, a West Indian carpenter, also in the Notting Hill area, was the first clear example of a racially motivated killing in London. The man who had led the British fascist movement in the 1930s, Sir Oswald Mosley, was campaigning to become the local Member of Parliament (MP) and stirred up racial tension. Kelso’s murder provoked an outcry from thousands of local people, black and white, and Mosley was soundly beaten in the election.

1. The Smethwick election in 1964. This was a constituency (an area of voters) in the Midlands where there had been opposition to the arrival of black and Asian families at the time. A Conservative politician, Peter Griffiths, used a racist slogan as part of his election campaign against Labour politician, Patrick Gordon-Walker. When he defeated Gordon-Walker, it was caused shock throughout Britain. The following year, Malcolm X, an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist, paid a special visit to Smethwick to encourage the black people of the town to stand up for their rights.
2. Enoch Powell was a politician in the Conservative Party who spoke out against non-white immigration in the late 1960s. He claimed that Britain would suffer racial violence, like America had, if the government did not stop non-white immigrants ‘flooding’ into the country, taking jobs and causing over-crowding. He made a major public statement about the issue in 1968 when there was an increase in the arrival of Asian migrants from Kenya in east Africa.

At the same time there were examples of political and community activism to support the newly arrived Caribbean immigrants.

• 1915: Claudia was born in Trinidad, a Caribbean island in the British Empire.
• 1924: Claudia’s family migrated to New York.
• 1932: Claudia developed tuberculosis because of the poor living conditions her family were in, which were caused by her father’s loss of his job in the Depression. She suffered from health problems for the rest of her life.
• 1936: She became politically active and began writing as a journalist on political issues. Claudia joined the Young Communist League of America.
• 1951: Claudia was sent to prison for her activism and suffered a heart attack.
• 1955: Claudia was sentenced to a year in prison for ‘un-American activities’. When she was released, the authorities deported her to the UK.
• 1958: She started the West Indian Gazette as a newspaper that could support the West Indian communities in the UK and give them news of their home islands.
• 1959: Claudia helped organise the first Carnival celebration in London. It was indoors, in St. Pancras Town Hall, because it was held in February, the same time as Caribbean carnivals. After Claudia’s death the Carnival changed to a street event in Notting Hill, in August.
• 1964: Claudia suffered a massive heart attack and died on 24th December. She was buried in Highgate Cemetery next to Karl Marx.

Religion

Britain continued to develop a more tolerant approach to religion during the 20th century, and became a country where people could practise their religion openly. Contemporary migrants to Britain have brought a diversity of religious practice to Britain’s multicultural society.

• The first purpose-built mosque in England was finished in Woking in 1889, and many more were built in the later 20th century.
• The first purpose-built Hindu temple in Britain opened in 1981.