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TheNotting Hill race riots were a series ofracially motivated riots that took place inNotting Hill, a district of London, between 29 August and 5 September 1958.
Following the end of theSecond World War, and as a result of the losses of lives during the war, the British government began to encourage mass immigration from the various territories of theBritish Empire, and later theCommonwealth, to fill shortages in the labour market. TheBritish Nationality Act 1948 gave Citizenship of the UK and its colonies to all people living in the British Empire, and the right of entry and settlement in the UK. Many West Indians were attracted by better prospects in what was often referred to as the mother country. As a result, Afro-Caribbean immigration to Britain increased.[1] By 1961, London's Caribbean population exceeded 100,000, with many residing in the Notting Hill area.[2] By the 1950s, a certain gang of white working-class teens known as "Teddy boys" was beginning to display hostility towards black families in the area. The situation was exploited and inflamed by groups such asOswald Mosley'sUnion Movement and other far-right groups such as theWhite Defence League, which urged "Keep Britain White" (aka "KBW") using leaflets and wall graffiti.[1]
There was an increase in violent attacks on black people throughout the summer. On 24 August 1958 a group of ten English youths committed serious assaults on six West Indian men in four incidents. At 5.40 a.m., the youths' car was spotted by two police officers who pursued them into theWhite City estate.[3]
Just prior to the Notting Hill riots, there wasracial unrest in St Ann's inNottingham which began on 23 August, and continued intermittently for two weeks.[4]
The riot is often believed to have been triggered by an assault againstMajbritt Morrison, a whiteSwedish woman,[5] on 29 August 1958.[6] Morrison had been arguing with herJamaican husband Raymond Morrison at theLatimer Road Underground station. A group of various white people attempted to intervene in the argument, and a small fight broke out between the intervening people and some of Raymond Morrison's friends.[7] The following day Majbritt Morrison was verbally and physically assaulted by a gang of white youths that had recalled seeing her the night before.[8] According to one report, the youths threwmilk bottles at Morrison and called her racial slurs such as "Black man's trollop",[8] while a later report stated that she had also been struck in the back with an iron bar.[9]
Later that night a mob of 300 to 400 white people were seen on Bramley Road attacking the houses of West Indian residents. The disturbances, rioting and attacks continued every night until 6 September.
TheMetropolitan Police arrested more than 140 people during the two weeks of the disturbances, mostly white youths but also many black people found carrying weapons. A report to theMetropolitan Police Commissioner stated that of the 108 people charged with crimes such as grievous bodily harm, affray and riot and possessing offensive weapons, 72 were white and 36 were black.[5]
The sentencing of the nine white youths byMr Justice Salmon has been passed into judicial lore as an example of "exemplary sentencing" – a harsh punishment intended to act as adeterrent to others. Each of the youths were sentenced to five years in prison and was ordered to pay £500.[10]
A "Caribbean Carnival", precursor of theNotting Hill Carnival, was held on 30 January 1959 inSt Pancras Town Hall. ActivistClaudia Jones organised this carnival in response to the riots and to the state of race relations in Britain at the time.
The riots caused tension between theMetropolitan Police and theBritish African-Caribbean community which claimed that the police had not taken seriously the community's reports of racial attacks. In 2002, files that revealed that senior police officers at the time had assured theHome Secretary,Rab Butler, that there was little or no racial motivation behind the disturbance, despite testimony from individual police officers to the contrary, were released.[5]
Majbritt Morrison wrote about the riots in her autobiography,Jungle West 11 (1964).[11]
The Notting Hill race riots feature prominently in theColin MacInnes novelAbsolute Beginners (1959) and the 1986film of the same name.
On 29 September 1958,Hot Summer Night premiered in the UK centring on a white family struggling to accept their daughter's love for a black Jamaican man. When the play was later turned into the 1961 filmFlame in the Streets, withEarl Cameron andJohnny Sekka, the climax revolves around a new riot sequence undoubtedly inspired by events in Notting Hill.
The Notting Hill race riots are described in the Eastenders episode of 24 February 2009;[12] the episode focuses on fictional characterPatrick Trueman's experiences during the riots.
Television playwrightNigel Kneale was partly inspired by the riots to include a similar event in the climax of his serialQuatermass and The Pit.[13]
