To what extent and why did the 1980s see a turning point in British race relations - Essay Example

?To What Extent And Why Did The 1980s See A Turning Point In British Race Relations History of Race Relations in Great Britain Race relations remained a sore social spot for Great Britain throughout the twentieth century. New ethnic groups were already immigrating to Great Britain in search of better lives. Most of these groups were being brought through for unskilled labour. Moreover a sense of racial discrimination was present in terms of employment, social status, education etc. that only became pervasive with time. Racial tension existed in Great Britain with flashpoints such as racial rioting pointing to racial discrimination repeatedly. 1.1. Early to Mid Twentieth Century The twentieth century saw the proliferation of race based phenomenon in Great Britain on a scale not witnessed before. Great Britain saw the emergence of race riots in 1919 that consumed a large portion of the country spanning cities and towns such as South Shields, London’s East End, Glasgow, Cardiff, Newport, Liverpool and Barry. These race riots were followed by further race riots by immigrants and minority populations in London’s East End in the 1930’s. Similarly Great Britain experience a new wave of race riots in the 1950’s at Notting Hill. These race riots had been in the making as non native populations were moving to Great Britain in search of better employment and an enhanced standard of living. 1.2. 1960’s and 1970’s Public expression of racism existed in Great Britain more notably so after the First World War. However over time these racial expressions were more or less limited to far right political thinkers and political parties. One such example is the British National Front who in the 1970’s garnered racial images and expressions pervasively. In contrast mainstream political parties were and have been quick to publicly condemn any forms of racial prejudice or expression. A number of actions were taken towards the end of the 1960’s in order to contain the problem of widening racial and ethnic gaps. The Race Relations Act was passed in 1965 in order to outlaw any kinds of racial discrimination in the public sphere. The Race Relations Board was also established in order to deal with racial discrimination issues. Similarly a number of acts were passed throughout the 1970’s in order to deal with racial discrimination spread over the domains of housing, social empowerment, social services and employment. In this regard, the passage of certain acts in 1976 saw the legislative end to racial discrimination in employment, social services, housing as well as social empowerment. Moreover the Race Relations Board was replaced with the Commission for Racial Equality. However these and other measures were unable to reap much success on ground as these issues had deeper roots in social thinking and attitudes than anything else. Legislative enforcement and feedback was present but it was scant. It was felt that these acts were “too little, too late” to deal with a situation that was fast spinning out of control. The events of the early to mid 1980’s proved that this was true and that racial discrimination was a major issue to be dealt with in many spheres of life in Great Britain. 1.3. 1980’s However race riots sparked in Great Britain in the 1980’s saw a different trend emerging altogether. While the race riots experienced in the previous decades had been confined incidents related to a few places alone, the race riots of the 1980’s were far more pervasive. The race riots experienced in Great Britain in the 1980’s saw the emergence of frustration that the marginalised sections of society had been cultivating for decades. Riots were common in small towns structured like ghettos where the non native populations, generally of African American and Caribbean descent, had been forced into seclusion without much chance for socio-economic participation. Moreover the riots were far more violent, intense and closely spaced in terms of time compared to previous race riots. By the early 1980’s a host of discriminatory factors such as societal racism, race based discrimination, poverty as well as oppressive policing and a sense of social deprivation had forced marginalised groups to the limits. The issue was exacerbated by a pervasive perception of social helplessness. Consequently, a series of riots broke through with considerable involvement of African – Caribbean sections of population (BBC, 2004 a). At the dawn of the 1980’s, the first wave of race riots broke out in St. Pauls in 1980. These riots were followed by more racially charged rioting in 1981 in Brixton, Toxteth and Moss Side. The next year race riots were triggered in 1982 in St. Paul again. These riots were followed by more racial rioting in Notting Hill Gate and Toxteth in 1982. Another wave of racial riots came through in 1985 in nearly the same places that were haunted by racial prejudices. 1985 saw widespread racial rioting in Handsworth, Brixton and Tottenham (Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, 2011). One of the most notable features of these riots was the participation of minority and ethnic groups in large numbers especially young people who felt marginalised by the system. The rioting often took the shape of looting and mob violence directed especially against police personnel. 1.4. 1990’s The 1990s saw the curtailment of immigration rights that had been started in the early seventies with the Immigration Act of 1971. The rights and benefits provided to refugees given “asylum seeker” status were decreased successively in 1993, 1996 and 1999 through legislation. These steps were taken in an effort to stem the tide of immigrants that were prepared to move to Great Britain as asylum seekers in order to improve their lifestyles. The Human Rights Act of 1999 mandated that organisations in Great Britain including any public authorities were subject to the constraints placed by the European Commission on Human Rights. These constraints ensured that racial discrimination issues were taken more seriously. However all of the legislation and subsequent affirmative action was still unable to serve as the panacea to racial discrimination issues in Great Britain. 1.5. Early Twenty First Century The turn of the century saw the passing of the Race Relations Act of 2000 that is aimed at extending existing legislation over racial discrimination issues. The promotion of equal rights of employment in the public sector has been extended to the police as well as public authorities in order to promote greater racial harmony. However this fresh wave of changes was seriously sabotaged by the onset of the September 11 attacks in New York. Great Britain being a key ally to the United States felt at threat after the attacks in New York. In order to deal with terrorism based issues the government and civil society was forced to agree to the Terrorism Acts that were enshrined in law in 2000 and 2006. These pieces of legislation have allowed racial profiling in order to distinguish terrorists from common people. Moreover this legislation has been used as basis for justification to discriminate against people of Muslim origin or descent as well as any other ethnicities that seem similar such as the Sikhs. The British police has been provided with a large amount of powers to deal with the law and order situation to prevent any terrorist attacks. The boat of racial relations was further jolted by the July 7 bomb attacks. Crime statistics show an appalling increase in the number of racial hate crimes as well as religious hate crimes. Race hate crimes have increased in London by some 600 percent in the month following the July 7 bombings. A total of 269 more offences than normal were reported that were allegedly “motivated by religious hatred” (Freeman, 2005). In a similar stint, racist comments were aired against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty when she appeared in Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 though she had no connections to any terrorist outfit nor did she belong to the Muslim faith. This event triggered widespread condemnation from national as well as international media outlets. 1.6. The Scarman Report 1.6.1. Background An inquiry had been instituted after the second wave of protests that broke out in Brixton under Lord Scarman. His investigation revealed that the incidents were spontaneous reactions to a long and dreary social prejudice that minorities had to bear. The conditions in Brixton need to be kept in purview before the rioting begun. Brixton was already facing a social and economic decline as the 1980’s began. Brixton was already headed for urban decay by the late 1970’s. The area witnessed housing shortages even though the population levels were already falling. The social composition reflected a lot of low income households with a large number of single parent families. To make matters worse, the incident rates of disability and mental illnesses were high too. Great Britain was already expressing a national recession at this point in time and unemployment within Brixton stood around some 13% for whites while it was around 25.4% for ethnic minorities. In this scenario an estimate put the amount of unemployed black youth at around 55% in Brixton. The socio-economic circumstances were aggravated by the high unemployment, high crime rates, poor housing conditions and a general lack of amenities. These problems were felt far more strongly in the African-Caribbean quarters of Brixton than elsewhere (Kettle & Hodges, 1982). The sprawling crime rates encouraged the Metropolitan Police to institute Operation Swamp 81 in the start of April 1981 in order to deal with rising street crime. The police’s main tactic was the use of sus law that allowed police personnel to stop and search anyone merely on the charges of suspicion. Police were also allowed to jail people if they were felt suspicious enough of any wrong doing. Sus law was deployed by the police without restraints or much thought. The police installed plain cloth policemen in Brixton who were able to stop and search around 1,000 people in around five days In these circumstances scores of unemployed black and other ethnic youth took to the streets on the weekend of 10 to 12 April, 1981 to protest racial discrimination. The rioters attacked police with stones, iron bars, bricks as well as petrol bombs. Through the course of rioting, some 28 buildings were damaged through arson while a number of police cars and other vehicles were torched too. Certain reports estimated that around 5,000 people were involved in the rioting around Brixton (The Guardian, 1981). 1.6.2. Findings of the Scarman Report In his report Lord Scarman reported that he found unquestionable evidence of disproportionate and indiscriminate use of “stop and search” powers held by the police against black and other coloured people (Channel 4, 2006). Furthermore it was declared that the rioting was not planned in any form or manner but instead the riots were spontaneous outbursts as a reaction to certain incidents preceding the rioting. Lord Scarman also stated that “complex political, social and economic factors” had combined to create a “disposition towards violent protest”. The report also laid emphasis on racial disadvantage as well as the decline of the inner city pointing to urban decay. It also warned that “urgent action” was required in order to prevent the racial disadvantage from turning into an “endemic, ineradicable disease threatening the very survival of our society” (BBC, 2004 a). The report by Lord Scarman detailed the abuse of power by the police. The police used arbitrary roadblocks in order to stop and search pedestrians and to mass detain people. The report stated that 943 stops had been conducted with 118 arrests and 75 charges being laid on the people being stopped and searched. Another major problem brought forth by the report was the lack of consultation with local community before Operation Swamp 81 was called into action (Brake & Hale, 1992). It must also be kept in mind that the liaison arrangements between the police and the community and local authorities had broken down just before the rioting began as per the Scarman report. In addition the local community did not trust the police as well as the methods of policing being used. 1.6.3. Recommendations Lord Scarman suggested that widespread changes were required in the training of law enforcement personnel. He also stressed the need for more and more coloured officers to join the law enforcement agencies. The report declared that “institutional racism” was nonexistent and positive discrimination was a “price worth paying” in order to deal with racial disadvantage head on (BBC, 2004 a). 1.6.4. Aftermath of the Scarman Report The Scarman report was widely acclaimed and received with respect in most circles. Most politicians, police commissioners, the media and community relations personnel widely accepted and endorsed the Scarman report. A number of the report’s recommendations were implemented although it would have been better if the report’s entire set of recommendations would have been implemented. The previous attitude of hard policing was kept intact while new measures were enacted in order to garner public trust and to raise the amount of confidence that people had in public institutions. In a number of cases multiple agency policing as well as soft policing measures were implemented as well. This was all made possible through active community involvement. One strong component of such community involvement was taking the youth on board. The Brixton riots as well as the riots that immediately preceded it and in its immediate aftermath were spearheaded by the youth. Therefore it was essential to have these disgruntled groups onboard before any real success could be achieved on ground. Another noteworthy action was the creation of certain race relations services that kept the racial discrimination pressure in check and allowed racial and ethnic groups to vent their frustration through active engagement and dialogue (Shukra, 1998). The Scarman report brought the issue of law enforcement especially policing into the mainstream political agenda. When the report was debated in Parliament in November 1981, its theme was defined as related to law and order. The leader of the Liberal Party, David Steel declared that “urgent action” was required in order to arrest the state of lawlessness engulfing the nation. However another debate in the Parliament in 1982 (with focus on the events of 1981) put emphasis on the issues of street violence, urban decay, danger of greater violence, crime and the stagnated attitudes of police and society when it came to racism. The Conservative and Labour factions in Parliament provided support to the idea of bolstering the police but disagreed on the role of social deprivation and unemployment that contributed to massive rioting by the urban youth (Cashmore & McLaughlin, 1991). In the longer run, the Scarman report was effective in forcing a new police code for behaviour in the form of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The act demarcated specific codes of practice for handling police procedures. Furthermore the act also established rights of the people who are detained by the police for suspected crimes or offences. This act also helped to establish the independent Police Complaints Authority in 1985 that aimed to restore the public’s confidence in police (Hardwick, 2008). In contrast to the positive action taken on the Scarman report, there were certain limitations on Lord Scarman’s recommendations. The Commission for Racial Equality declared that Lord Scarman’s wider social and economic proposals were “seriously out of key” with various political tempos of the day. On his part, Lord Scarman later declared that he could have been “more outspoken about the necessity of affirmative action to overcome racial disadvantage”. Certain neglected proposals of the Scarman report held the key to solve Great Britain’s social dilemmas as per racial discrimination but these issues were pushed under the rug for the time being. The Scarman report was taken as more of an investigation into law enforcement reform than actual social change and reform. Consequently the years following the Scarman report saw more violence from racially charged groups that felt discriminated. The Macpherson report released in 1999 concerning the racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence and the police’s inability to establish sufficient evidence to prosecute the charged suspects, also found that the recommendations of the Scarman report had not been implemented fully. Moreover the Macpherson report declared that the police force was “institutionally racist” (BBC, 2004 b) while the Scarman report had declared otherwise. The Macpherson report disagreed with recommendation from the Scarman report in that it posed a grimmer picture overall for race relations (BBC, 2004 a). 2. Conclusion The issue of race relations in Great Britain has been a troubled one especially when put in context of the twenty first century. The immigration of large populations from the Caribbean, South East Asia, Middle East and other regions has provided ground for racial divide and segregation. Although a number of steps have been taken by the British government as well as civil society over the years but these have failed to live up to their full potential. Most ethnic and racial minorities live in Great Britain in isolation in ghetto like towns and sections of cities. There has not been a strong move to assimilate these ethnicities into mainstream British culture. Even though generations of these ethnicities and races have grown up in Great Britain but their isolation from mainstream society has kept them aloof from British culture. Consequently, these ethnicities and races find it more convenient to associate with their ancestral lands than Great Britain although they live there. The aloofness of these races and ethnicities to mainstream British culture has projected them as unique in a negative manner. The mainstream British citizen feels that the cultures and traditions of these communities are not as good as theirs breeding a xenophobic attitude. The racial discrimination in employment, education, social services and social empowerment thus delivered to these ethnicities and races has remained constant over the decades. The violent outburst of racial discrimination in the 1980s led to widespread rioting that culminated in the Scarman report. However the Scarman report was misconstrued as a law and order investigation so its socio-economic proposals were not implemented. The onset of the global war on terror has only added fuel to an already raging fire and racial relations in Great Britain face some very grim days. Although the situation has improved after the 1980s but it is felt that more could have been done to alleviate racial discrimination. 3. Bibliography BBC, 2004 a. Q & A: The Scarman Report. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3631579.stm" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3631579.stm [Accessed 24 January 2012]. BBC, 2004 b. Q & A: Stephen Lawrence murder. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3685733.stm" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3685733.stm [Accessed 25 January 2012]. Brake, M. & Hale, C., 1992. Public order and private lives: the politics of law and order. London: Routledge. Cashmore, E. & McLaughlin, E., 1991. Out of order?: policing black people. London: Routledge. Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, 2011. A Different Reality: minority struggle in British cities. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.warwick.ac.uk/CRER/differentreality/timeline.html" http://www.warwick.ac.uk/CRER/differentreality/timeline.html [Accessed 24 January 2012]. Channel 4, 2006. 1981 riots timeline. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://web.archive.org/web/20080105054255/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/U/untold/programs/riot/timeline.html" http://web.archive.org/web/20080105054255/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/U/untold/programs/riot/timeline.html [Accessed 24 January 2012]. Freeman, S., 2005. Britain urged to wake up to race crisis. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1792559,00.html" http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,2-1792559,00.html [Accessed 26 January 2012]. Hardwick, N., 2008. 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