The main point Paul Rich makes in this article is that Britain’s response to post-war immigration was very slow to develop which resulted in tension and ‘white backlash’ allowing it to become a national political issue. Rich explains that since the very start of the immigration period Government circles had a sense of panic and fear because of the ‘impending’ racial conflict that was about to unravel. One Home Office civil servant stated that ‘sooner or later action must be taken’ as the immigrants presence would cause ‘a formidable problem’. The main point to take from this article is that racism and discrimination was still very prevalent post-war towards black people, as Rich states throughout that many thought the influx of immigrants was a major problem and that the pre-war race related riots would occur again because of these immigrants. Prime Minister Clement Atlee refused to take the ‘Jamaican Party’ too seriously as the worry among government circles increased as the number of immigrants increased.
Furthermore, the arguments and other points throughout the article are very clear. Rich goes on to discuss how the government tried to ‘control’ this immigration influx. Government departments such as the Ministry of Labour and the Home Office formed a policy based off of Nazism that encouraged educational and industrial training programmes for the immigrants to fit them into employment. In other words ‘dispersing’ the immigrants to different towns and cities to try and control the ‘issue’. Also discussed in the article is the response regarding immigration after the 1958 riots. Labour activist John Hatch was keen to formulate a strong political response to the events, however, feared that race and immigration issues would lose the party support of the white working-class voters. It is prevalent throughout the article that there was popular stereotypes regarding the black immigrants that could not be prevented. For example Rich explains that some people found them ‘seedy’ and thought that they had links to gangsterism.
Lastly in his article he talks about the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, this act put restrictions on the entry of Commonwealth citizens into Britain. It allowed only those with work permits that were typically for high skilled workers to enter. This government interference was another way to try and ‘control’ the immigration and was ‘the emergence of race as a national political issue’.
Overall the article is very well written, it is clear to understand and very informative about the issue and response to immigration in Britain, which ties nicely with the weekly session. The evidence used throughout the article to support his argument and points is reliable as he has used research from sociologists and statements and acts from official government documents/people.
Rachel Young.
Dear Rachel, you show a good understanding of Rich’s article. You rightly note that governments feared the local white response to black colonial people’s settlement and acted on that fear, you give the example of the dispersal policy to show this view. You could mention that in the period covered there were both) main parties in government (Labour 45-51 and Tory 51-64. This is a policy still used today to relocate refugees from the south east of England to other parts of Britain. You mention that Rich has used government documents to illustrate his analysis of this topic. Your post is well written and nicely structured. You show how this article fits in with this week’s topic well.