TEE 1919 RACE RIOTS IN BRITAIN: TI-LIR BACKGROUND AND CONSEOLENCES JACOLEUNE .ENKINSON FOR TI-E DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH 1987 ABSTRACT OF THESIS This thesis contains an empirically-based study of the race riots in Britain, which looks systematically at each of the nine major outbreaks around the country. It also looks at the background to the unrest in terms of the growing competition in the merchant shipping industry in the wake of the First World War, a trade in which most Black residents in this country were involved. One result of the social and economic dislocation following the Armistice was a general increase in the number of riots and disturbances in this country. This factor serves to put into perspective the anti-Black riots as an example of increased post-war tension, something which was occurring not only in this country, but worldwide, often involving recently demobilised men, both Black and white. In this context the links between the riots in Britain and racial unrest in the West Indies and the United States are discussed; as is the growth of 'popular racism' in this country and the position of the Black community in Britain pre- and post- riot. The methodological approach used is that of Marxist historians of the theory of riot, although this study in part, offers a revision of the established theory. ACKNOWLEDcEJvNTS I would like to thank Dr. Ian Duffield, my tutor and supervisor at Edinburgh University, whose guidance and enthusiasm helped me along the way to the completion of this thesis. I am also grateful for the assistance and information I received from George Shepperson, Christopher Fyfe, Kenneth Lynn, Jeffrey Green, and Neil Evans. I am indebted to the staffs of Edinburgh University Library, the National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh), the Mitchell Library (Glasgow), Glasgow University Library, the Scottish Records Office (Edinburgh), The Public Record Office at Kew, The South Glamorgan Record Office, (Cardiff), Cardiff Central Library, Newport Central Library, Barry Central Library, Liverpool Record Office, Liverpool Central Library, Salford Local History Library, Manchester Central Library, and Tower Hamlets Library (London), for all their courtesy and assistance. I would like to thank my family, in particular my mother, for their tremendous love and support over the last three years. (iii) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1AKNJcJV/LEEDGtVE1\iTS ........................................................... 111 IN.JTFcJD1JcrION1 .................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I WIDER PERSPECTIVES ON THE 1919 RIOTS......................................................... 2 II THE 1919 RIOTS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE THEORY OF RIOT IN BRITISH AND AtvlE RICAN HISTORY........................... 27 III THE GLASGOW RACE DISTURBANCES 0F1919 ...................................................... 52 IV "COME ON YOU BLACK EBASTARDSJ": THE FEBRUARY 1919 RACE RIOTS IN SOUTHSHIELDS.......................................... 82 V RIOTS IN LONDON : APRIL TO AUGUST 1919............................................................ 103 VI SALFORD AND HULL : 1919-1921................. 129 VII "... NEARER THE ANIMAL THAN ... THE AVERAGE WHITE MAN" : LIVERPOOL'S ANTI-BLACK RIOTS..................................... 155 VIII REPATRIATION TO THE WEST INDIES: A REPERCUSSION OF THE 1919 RACE RIOTS.......................................................... 184 ix THE CARDIFF RACE RIOTS......................... 209 NEWPORTAND BARRY............................... 240 CONCLUSION......................................................................... 270 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................... .................. 273 (1) INTRODUCTION This thesis seeks to describe the 1919 race rioting in Britain's port towns in detail by reconstructing the events through the means of primary source material (predominantly local and national newspaper reports, public and police records). From this body of information a basic pattern of events will emerge, which, when considered in the context of wider issues, including the great economic and social dislocation which followed the cessation of the First World War; the weakness of seamen's representation in this period; and, the exposed nature of the Black community in this country; allow for a more complete picture to emerge. With the establishment of a contextual background to the violence, the theoretical considerations behind riots will also be discussed, in the sense that the accumulated pressures mentioned above upon society's norms, bring tensions to a point where rioting is the only release. It is with the introduction of an empirical base that the specific racial violence around Britain's ports in 1919 may be considered upon two levels; as a symptom of the massive worldwide disruption which followed the Armistice; and, more importantly, as a working role model in the theory of riot. CHAPTER ONE - WIDER PERSPECTIVES ON THE 1919 RIOTS (3) The race riots of 1919 occurred in nine British cities, all port towns, between January and August of that year, and involved crowds of whites (often in their thousands) and dozens of Black men. As a result of the clashes, five men (three white and two Black) lost their lives, dozens were injured, and over two hundred arrests were made. Behind these stark figures lies a background of economic competition in the merchant shipping industry as it began to contract to suit peacetime conditions. That job competition should lead to riot, and racial riot in particular, owed much to the effects of the post-war situation in Britain, as hundreds of thousands of men were unleashed upon the job market. In fact, between November 1918 and March 1919 2,105,404 'other ranks' had been demobilised.(1) That the merchant marine became the focus of rioting was due to a combination of factors, not the least of which was the weak level, and disorganised nature, of union representation in the industry, which meant that seamen were denied the traditional method of expressing their grievances through strike action. Similarly, it is clear that the fact that the vast majority of Black people employed in Britain were in the 'seafaring line' played an important part in the rioting, which was largely confined to the dock areas of the cities involved. This fact, however, should not lead to the conclusion that race was the major factor in the rioting. To argue this would be to fall into the 'race relations' (2) view of eyents as being determined by racial considerations above all else, including economic and social factors. Certainly, antagonism between Black and white was an issue, but not an over-riding one. White racialist thinking was too well-established a social phenomenon in twentieth century Britain for this to be anything more than a well-internalised mode of thought, called out into the open by a combination of economic and social pressures. Black people in Britain were being made the scapegoats for the deep frustrations felt among the white community due to their long war service, which seemed to many to have been a futile exercise, bearing in mind the unemployment situation to which they returned. The introduction of some figures at this stage can serve to illustrate the sacrifices of the British merchant service in the First World War. One near contemporary account puts the figure of seamen in the (4) merchant navy at the declaration of war at 193,5OO. Of this number a significant proportion lost their lives. "Apart from the losses among merchant seamen serving under the white ensign, no fewer than 14,661 officers and men lost their lives, as the result of enemy action. .". By clear inference, there was a high mortality rate. This is the more significant in that some of these men were not in the organised armed forces. Hence the sailors' anger at peacetime high unemployment levels and wage cuts. It is worth stressing here that while there are no overall figures available for the number of Black British casualties it is likely that proportionally, a similar percentage of Black seamen lost their lives. Indeed, Black mortality may have been particularly high, given the fact that the majority of Black sailors were firemen working below decks, and were thus more vulnerable to enemy torpedo attacks, than those men working on deck. Added to this heavy casualty rate was the low level of unionisation in the merchant service. Although this was an established feature of seaman's affairs, it took on an increased significance in the wake of the unprecedented sacrifices demanded of the service during the war. A general result of the post war winding down process was the increased level of aggression displayed by those who had seen war service. Trained to react violently in wartime situations, many men acted likewise in times of stress after their demobilisation. This phenomenon was no less evident among men who had served in the merchant navy, particularly when they had no recourse to traditional modes of industrial action when faced with the prospect of high levels of unemployment, exacerbated by the weakness of the unions in the industry. Seamen always faced peculiarly difficult obstacles to trade unionism in the isolated work situation and mobility and instability of the workforce. To these were added in the second half of the nineteenth century the disturbing effects of rapid technological change and expansion, at the same time as the seaman's bargaining situation was being undermined by foreign, cheaper labour.