The Brixton Riots were a key turning point for race relations in Britain. The riots, which began on the 10th April 1981, lasted a total of three full days before over 1,000 police officers from across London overcame the force of the rioters and brought an end to the chaos. The rioting was the result of tensions between the district’s large African-Caribbean community and police. The community were angry at the disproportionate and indiscriminate targeting of ethnic minorities by police in the area. This was particularly in relation to ‘stop and search’ efforts, which primarily targeted black people because of police bias and institutional racism. This was despite the fact that only 2% of searches of black individuals resulted in arrest and/or prosecution.
The researchers Robin Bunce and Peter Field argue that these measures were a consequence of police efforts to ‘assert their power’ after the Black People’s Day of Action march and demonstrations on the 3rd of March 1981, which were orchestrated by Black Power movement leader Darcus Howe. They state that ‘Operation Swamp ’81’, which was a campaign to introduce plain-clothed officers to the Brixton area and resulted in over 800 stops over the first five days, was a direct response to the Day of Action and the police’s inability to ‘diminish the newfound confidence… in the black community’.[1] Peaceful protests by the black community in Brixton were regarded as a threat by local police. As a response, they brought in new measures which ultimately further ostracised the community and ‘ignited a mass youth insurrection against the police’.[2]
In the weeks and months following the Brixton Riots, ethnic minority communities across the country’s inner-cities reacted with varying levels of intensity. Civil unrest peaked in Birmingham, Liverpool and several other cities during this period, with rioting being led not only by the black community but also by members of the white teenage subculture known as ‘skinheads’. This turmoil highlighted the high levels of discontent among Britain’s ethnic minorities and youth, which would continue in the following decades.[3]
The Brixton Riots brought the issues of discrimination and racism to the forefront of public and political discussion. On 19th April 1981, The New York Times published an article entitled ‘Britain Discovers A Race Problem, To Its Surprise’ which argued that the riots had ‘shattered well-established public attitudes about race relations’.[4] Before the riots took place, Britain’s white population was largely ignorant about the discrimination and oppression faced by the nation’s African-Caribbean communities, as well as that of other ethnic minorities. As a result of the riots, the Home Secretary William Whitelaw commissioned the Scarman Report, which recommended reforms to policing in order to prevent the disproportionate use of ‘stop and search’ against black people.
In response to the rioting, the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher condemned the violence and argued that it was unrelated to police actions, stating that those involved were, simply put, ‘criminals’.[5] Despite this, the Scarman Report went ahead and ultimately resulted in the passing of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 which saw reforms to general police methods regarding interactions with ethnic minorities.
By Chloe Milburn, a current history undergraduate student at Royal Holloway.
[1] R. Bunce & P. Field, Darcus Howe: A Political Biography, (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014), p.203.
[2] Ibid.
[3] C. Unsworth, ‘The Riots of 1981: Popular Violence and the Politics of Law and Order’, Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 9, No. 1, (1982), http://www.jstor.org/stable/1410346 [accessed: 30/05/2018], p.76.
[4] W. Borders, ‘Britain Discovers A Race Problem, To Its Surprise’, The New York Times, (April 19th 1981), https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy01.rhul.ac.uk/docview/121468658/abstract/E50EBDCEED2144F8PQ/1?accountid=11455 [accessed: 29/05/2018].
[5] Unknown, ‘The ‘riots’’, Race and Class, Vol. 23, No. 2-3, (Oct. 1st 1981), http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/030639688102300207 [accessed: 30/05/2018], p.230.
