Refugees, Capitalism and the British State by Vickers Tom

Author:Vickers, Tom.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2016-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

Case Studies from the History of Race Relations in Newcastle

The history of the early race relations industry in Newcastle points to some of the complexities and contradictions within the developments discussed above. Following a meeting at Leicester in September 1965, organised by the National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants, Newcastle City Council set up a joint committee with representation from Education, Health and Housing ‘to prepare and prescribe policies for, and also encourage the welfare activities among, the Commonwealth immigrant’ (Telang 1967: 1). The ‘Special Committee as to Commonwealth Immigrants’, later renamed the ‘Commonwealth Immigrants Working Group’, immediately sought representation from immigrant communities (Special Committee as to Commonwealth Immigrants 1966), and undertook activities such as production of a ‘Handbook for Immigrants’ to inform new arrivals about local services. In April 1968, the working group was criticised as ineffectual by non-council members, in response to which councillors argued that they saw no ‘racial problems’ in Newcastle, and that the existence of the working group was proof of the council’s commitment to deal with such problems should they arise (Commonwealth Immigrants Working Group 1968a). Some black residents clearly felt differently, organising a protest march against racial discrimination on 11 May. The working group made the decision to actively disassociate itself from the march because, although they admitted there was no indication there would be violence, the group felt that the possibility ‘could not be ruled out’ (Commonwealth Immigrants Working Group 1968b). This indicates the refusal of the local state in this period to grapple with the lived experiences of racism among black Newcastle residents, and in particular a fear of organisation by black people outside official structures. After this march the council working group never met again, and was superseded by Newcastle-upon-Tyne Community Relations Council (Renton 2007: 117).

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