The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...

, England, between 29 August and 5 September 1958.

Background

Following the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, as a result of the losses during the war, the British government began to encourage mass immigration from the former countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth to fill shortages in the labour market. The British Nationality Act 1948 gave Citizenship of the UK and Colonies to all people living in the United Kingdom and its colonies, 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. By the 1950s, white working-class "

Teddy Boys The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly British youth subculture of the mid 1950s to mid 1960s who were interested in rock and roll and R&B music, wearing clothes partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, which ...

" were beginning to display hostility towards black families in the area, a situation exploited and inflamed by groups such as

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

Union Movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the Uni ...

and other far-right groups such as the

White Defence League The White Defence League (WDL) was a British neo-Nazi political party. Using the provocative marching techniques popularised by Oswald Mosley, its members included John Tyndall. Formation The WDL had its roots in Colin Jordan's decision to sp ...

, who urged disaffected white residents to keep Britain white. 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 separate incidents. At 5.40 a.m., the youths' car was spotted by two police officers who pursued them into the White City estate. Just prior to the Notting Hill riots, there was racial unrest in the St Ann's neighbourhood in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

which began on 23 August, and continued intermittently for two weeks.

Majbritt Morrison

The riot is often believed to have been triggered by an assault against

Majbritt Morrison Majbritt Morrison (born 1933) is known for being the victim of an assault that sparked off the 1958 Notting Hill race riots which escalated from there, and as the author of the best-seller ''Jungle West 11''. Background She was born in Sweden. In ...

, a white

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

woman, on 29 August 1958. Morrison had been arguing with her Jamaican husband Raymond Morrison at the Latimer 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. The following day Majbritt Morrison was verbally and physically assaulted by a gang of white youths that had recalled seeing her the night before. According to one report, the youths threw

milk bottles Glass milk bottles are glass bottles used for milk and they are generally reusable and returnable. Milk bottles are used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkmen as retail store sale is available in some regions (with bottle de ...

at Morrison and called her racial slurs such as "Black man's trollop", while a later report stated that she had also been struck in the back with an iron bar.

The riot

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 5 September. The Metropolitan 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 the

Metropolitan Police Commissioner The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed to the post on 8 July 2022 after Dame Cressida Dick announced her resignation in February. The rank of Commission ...

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.

Aftermath

The sentencing of the nine white youths by Mr Justice Salmon has been passed into judicial lore as an example of "exemplary sentencing" – a harsh punishment intended to act as a deterrent to others. Each of the youths received five years in prison and was ordered to pay £500. A "Caribbean Carnival", precursor of the Notting Hill Carnival, was held on 30 January 1959 in St Pancras Town Hall. Activist Claudia Jones organized this carnival in response to the riots and to the state of race relations in Britain at the time. The riots caused tension between the Metropolitan Police and the British African-Caribbean community which claimed that the police had not taken their reports of racial attacks seriously. In 2002, files were released that revealed that senior police officers at the time had assured the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

, that there was little or no racial motivation behind the disturbance, despite testimony from individual police officers to the contrary.

Cultural depictions

Majbritt Morrison wrote about the riots in her autobiography, ''

Jungle West 11 ''Jungle West 11'' is a 1964 book by Majbritt Morrison. The book was published through Tandem Books and focused on Morrison's life and her account of the Notting Hill race riots, specifically the attack on her on Blechynden Street. The book has ...

'' (1964). The Notting Hill race riots feature heavily in the film '' Absolute Beginners'' (1986) which was based on the book of the same name by

Colin MacInnes Colin MacInnes (20 August 1914 – 22 April 1976) was an English novelist and journalist. Early life MacInnes was born in London, the son of singer James Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Mackail, who was the granddaughter of the Pre-Rap ...

. 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 film ''

Flame in the Streets ''Flame in the Streets'' is a 1961 film directed by Roy Ward Baker and based on the 1958 play '' Hot Summer Night'' by Ted Willis. It opened at the Odeon Leicester Square in London's West End on 22 June 1961. The film depicts an interracial rom ...

'', with ''

Earl Cameron Earlston Jewitt Cameron, CBE (8 August 19173 July 2020), known as Earl Cameron, was a Bermudian actor who lived and worked in the United Kingdom. After appearing on London's West End stage, he became one of the first black stars in the Briti ...

'' and ''

Johnny Sekka Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

'', the climax revolves around a new riot sequence undoubtedly inspired by events in Notting Hill.

References