Dolly Peters interviews Joyce Watson, who was born in 1935 and emigrated from Jamaica to Bradford in 1962 when she was 26 years old, and Sher Azam, born in 1941, who left his home in rural Pakistan to come to Britain in 1961 at the age of 20.

Immigration

The British Empire was made up of countries all over the world which Britain took control of during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These countries were ruled by Britain, paid taxes to Britain and supplied workers and raw materials to British industry. After the Second World War, many countries, including India and many in Africa, asked to become independent. However, as Joyce explains, many felt a strong sense of loyalty to the ‘mother country’.

After the Second World War there was a labour shortage in Britain, and advertisements were placed in newspapers across the British Empire calling for people to come to the ‘mother country’ to help.

Large-scale immigration to Britain began with the arrival from the Caribbean of the ship Empire Windrush. From the 1950s, people continued to arrive in Britain from the colonies, to work in factories and hospitals.

Joyce arrived in Bradford, following her husband, having sold their house and land in Jamaica. She expected the streets of Britain to be ‘paved with gold’ — but instead she saw snow for the first time. Her husband bought her a coat when she arrived. She had had no need for one in Jamaica.

When she arrived, Joyce was shocked at the hostility of many people. ‘They were not happy to receive us ... because of the colour of our skins.’

Sher came to Britain from rural Pakistan because he believed that there would be better employment opportunities. He had received letters from a friend who had already come to Britain, and he also saw advertisements in his local newspaper. His father was reluctant to allow him to go, but Sher persuaded him. When he arrived he was enthusiastic and energetic. But he too was confronted with racism.

Housing

Both Joyce and Sher experienced racial discrimination when they were looking for houses. Sher describes how he saw a sign offering a room, but was told it had been taken; two weeks later the sign was still there. Later, he saw a sign saying ‘Rooms to let — no coloureds’, and he began to understand that it was the colour of his skin which prevented him from finding a room. At that time it was legal to discriminate against someone because of their colour. Sher is quick to point out that things are better now. (In 1968 the Race Relations Act made it illegal for people to discriminate against people over housing and employment because of their race, colour, or ethnic or national origins. Later, in 1976, the Commission for Racial Equality (http://www.cre.gov.uk/) was formed, which could help people who felt they had been discriminated against.)

Work

Library picture of Enoch Powell from the 1960s

Black bus conductor — British Movietone News]

Many white people objected to people coming from Jamaica, Pakistan and other ‘colonies’ because they thought that they were taking the jobs and houses of white people. Sher points out that the jobs which he and other immigrants took were low-paid menial jobs which otherwise would not have been done. Sher refers to a famous speech by Enoch Powell which suggested that increased immigration would eventually lead to violence on the streets. Sher points out that these predictions have not come true.

(On 20 April 1968, in what came to be called his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, Enoch Powell spoke about the race question in Britain. The nationality acts, he argued, were flooding London and the Midlands with ghettoes Indian, Pakistani, African and West Indian immigrants. In time, he argued, the influx would cause a bloody race war. He called for voluntary repatriation of these immigrants. As a result of this speech, he was thrown out of the shadow cabinet.)