The Necessity of Race Legislation in Britain in the Years 1962 - 1990

The two main reasons to the passing of the Immigration Restriction Act was because of racism and economic fears. The Immigration Restriction Act was also commonly known as the ‘White Australian Policy’. There is evidence of racism all throughout this time; most being towards the Chinese and Aboriginal cultures. One reason that the immigration act was passed was because many Australians were jealous or worried about the hard work that foreigner workforces were doing. The white Australians were threatened by the fact that they could lose their jobs. A second reason for the passing of the act was because they wanted to maintain ‘racial purity’. The third reason is because of the wellbeing of Australia, white Australians used this as an excuse.

Woman in the early days weren’t considered the luckiest people. Although they faced a lot of discrimination due to gender, they did have few rights. “During the 1920s, the amount of working woman had actually increased by 25 percent.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/usa/1920srev2.shtml . Women were also given rights to vote and they were known as flappers.

Which goes without saying if one was not white, they were not considered to be citizens or even immigrants. An interesting outline of white hierarchy presented by (Higham, 1977) explains how within the white race, Mediterranean, Alpines, and Nordics, where the with true Americans being cast as Nordics. Additionally, he also warned about the “mongrelization” that could be resulted from “true Americans” mixing with inferior types of whites. This point highlights that there were was a perceived difference between “white” as well. The (Naturalization Act of 1870) almost a 100 years later it was extended the possibility of naturalization to persons of “African nativity and African descent”, while also keeping in mind that other races were still not considered to be immigrants. To understand this relationship better, the coloniality of being and the debates of which “race” was/is superior and which was inferior led to these problems we face today.

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. The National Origins Act of 1924 completely excluded Japanese and other Asian immigrants and further reduced those admitted from southern and eastern Europe. -

In Britain, since the 1960’s, there was mass immigration from many countries around the globe, including the majority of people coming from South Asia, Africa and the West Indies. This mass immigration clearly had a direct impact on the transformation of London and turned it into the ‘multi-ethnic city’ that we have today. However, it is debatable whether this entire process of large scale immigration can be considered a ‘smooth process’ due to the fact that there were many challenges that immigrants had to face upon arrival in Britain, as well as well as the backlash of non-immigrants who were not particularly tolerant towards those who belonged to an ethnicity different to their own. Evidence shows that there were many examples of segregation, discrimination and bigotry in London as well as a division in political opinions too. On the other hand, although there were many issues and tensions arising during this period, it can also be seen that in some ways there were many positive outcomes as a result of the large scale of immigration. One of the many ways that this can be seen is through the gradual change in many people’s attitudes towards different ethnic backgrounds, a beginning of integration between people belonging to different ethnic backgrounds and an increasing sense of community between the people of London.

Britain has changed quite significantly over the past few decades in terms of cultural diversity. Whereas Britain was largely white not so long ago, the number of ethnic minorities has been steadily increasing and this growth does not look likely to stop anytime soon. Demographic experts have, infact, predicted that by 2050, 1 in every 5 British person will belong to an ethnic minority. The question issue I will be discussing in the following essay is: what effect does this influx of immigrants and their cultures have on the social integrity of Britain and its people?

Before 1962 people in commonwealth countries had British citizen status (NOT SURE IF TOTALLY TRUE CHECK LATER) which meant that many Indian and Pakistani people immigrated to Britain because of economic instability in their home countries. These immigrants were typically employed in textile factories in conditions almost befitting of a sweatshop. These communities have faced the same discrimination as afro-Caribbean immigrants, perceived inferiority based only on skin colour, but there are more complex tensions between this group of immigrants and white British

The BNP would like the whole ethnicity as native british in the whole of the uk. In actual fact the number of european migrants in the uk is the same amount of number if british living elsewhere in europe. Also 40 percent of the uk population of nhs nurses are abroad; the nhs will struggle if there wasn’t immigration. If the bnp did come in power and they sent all the migrants in the uk back to their background country; but what would happen if just alone the europe kicked out all the british people a staggering 4.3 million people would be sent back to the uk and most of the 4.3 million people are pensioners which means that the government has to start paying for the elderly people pensions which means loss in the government money.

In the early 1900‘s, America was in the middle of an industrial revolution. This revolution caused a wide gap in the economic market, resulting in a few rich people and mostly working class people. Because of this inequality, people began to develop social science and social Darwinism. The new ideas of social science and social Darwinism made many Anglo Saxons believe their superiority was biological. This led to the creation of organizations against immigration from ‘unassimilable’ races. White Europeans looked similar enough to the Anglo Saxons of America and Black people were already accepted in America. However, Asians were considered unassimilable and were not accepted due to the new social ideas. The American Industrial Revolution led

Immigration became a significant part of society in the post-war period, it redefined the public’s perception regarding culture and attitudes in society. Despite this, it is worth noting that immigration was not a new phenomenon in 1945. Britain had welcomed refugees in the past, notably the Irish who became one of the largest groups throughout the 20th century. Many Europeans also sought refuge in Britain, for example German refugees who fled to Britain in 1930 ; Peter Fryer notes on the existing black community in Britain since the 16th century. However, the level of immigration after 1945 was enough to redefine British culture and created an exclusive national identity by where ‘Britishness’ is now recognised through the colour of your skin. Race as a concept has also transformed, with culture being a major element in British society. Politics has also had a major influence, with the introduction of immigration laws bringing equality among Britain’s citizens, although this could highlight the opinions of the public with the need for legislation to be introduced. The economy thrived with immigration, noting on the Windrush which allowed the empty gaps in employment to be filled. However, despite the progress that has been made due to immigration, the reaction of the people wasn’t always as positive, subsequently leading to racial tensions and a lack of respect among the people for immigration. These aspects are very significant when discussing the development of

It was stated in the film that on behalf of britain the push factors are very brutal and outway the pull of the country. I found out that it's not immigrants that are treated badly but the refugees seeking asylum. Asylum seekers are treated as prisoners in Britain.The conditions are poor, people awaiting asylum stayed in

In order to protect their nation from the supposed threat of Immigrants, a need arose to define and classify the British cultural identity as rooted in the history of the nation. With the loss of the British Empire throughout the century, in aligning a British identity to the age of Empire reveals nostalgia for pure, British identity untainted by foreign influences. With an influx of diverse cultures, came “a racism typified by notions of a common culture and ethnic difference” (Gillborn 347). As emphasized by sociologist Robert Miles, “the political discourse employed by the British government since 1945 has been overtly and covertly racist”, however rather than the overt “reference to the inherent biological inferiority” of certain racial and ethnic groups to exclude them from national belonging, the concept of a national identity based on a shared culture is used as a covert tool of exclusion (Miles 36-37). Moving away from the scientific racism of the 19th century, cultural racism in the 60’s and beyond makes way for Conservatives “new racism” based on fear of Immigrants (Gillborn

The Past and Present Treatment of Ethnic Minorities in Britain For this assigment I will be looking at the past and present

I know for sure that the treatment of different races isn't equal. my grandma sometimes tells me stories about how different life was growing up as an African American person than it is now. she would often tell me how you couldn't go to the same school as whites. you had to go to a all colored school that was k-8 and you only had one teacher and one classroom. she also told me how when you got on an bus you were supposed to sit in the back. she told me that everything was separated. from resturants to streets, everything had a " colored" or whites only sign. the biggest problem with this segregation thing was that whites could do what they wanted anytime they wanted to, but when blacks tried to do this they were lynched. this is why so many

The 21st century have seen a large surge in the number of people coming to Britain as a result of the sustained economic growth which is a major factor that has drawn people into the United Kingdom. The enlargement of the European Union (EU) enlargement has also allowed free movement and labour rights within the EU, this has resulted in citizens from Western and Eastern European countries arriving into UK. The increase in net migration has created public anxiety resulting in changes in immigration policies which is the government’s attempt to control immigration (Somerville et al 2009). A survey published by Guardian in 2013 identified race and immigration as one of the three most important issues facing the country. This is reflected in the