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

Download file to see previous pages... 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.
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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 ...Download file to see next pagesRead More