This Source is not reliable, it is true that many people were racist, prejudice and discriminating towards black people, however, it was not everyone. Not all employers were like this and not everyone felt the same feelings as the two interviewees shown here. It is also unreliable because, even though now we know there was a colour bar, of the fact that Chris Chataway obviously wants to make a certain impression on the public and make them believe there is a colour bar but he does this in a certain way by asking questions that are sure to give a certain answer.
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Source A is from a book called Windrush that was published in 1998 and is the experience of a man called Lloyd Miller who was a black immigrant and had arrived in Britain in 1949; he explains the difficulties that he had in finding accommodation. This source could be very useful to historians as it is a first hand experience and Lloyd Miller is telling the reader how he felt and what it was like to be there and be in his position. Lloyd Miller came in on the boat ‘Windrush’ with many other people and therefore only saw the place where the boat came in to, he did not experience other places and did not know whether or not there was discrimination in other parts of Britain towards black people trying to find accommodation. We now know that there were many other places around Britain who did this but Lloyd Miller had no way of knowing this then and is simply presuming that this is what was happening everywhere. This shows that it might not be useful as he is twisting the truth and so he may have been twisting the truth on other facts of what he said as well. In the source there are dotted lines between sentences, this shows that parts have been taken out, this could be because the author did not want it in the book as it does not coincide with the authors’ opinion. This shows it may not be very useful as not all the information given is used in the book and Lloyd Miller may have had other opinions and views on his experience but they are not shown. Also, the book was published in 1998, this is quite a long time after black immigrants first came to Britain and so it may not be useful. Overall the source is not useful to historians who are investigating the difficulties facing black immigrants.
Source C is a photograph of black immigrants trying to find somewhere to live in London in the 1950’s. I do not believe that this photo is useful to historians investigating the difficulties facing black immigrants looking for accommodation in Britain because there is no way of knowing from the photo that the people in it are actually looking for rooms. It is not even possible to know from the photo that the people in it are actually in London or even in Britain. Even though we know that many black immigrants did have to look for rooms on boards and often found that there were very few that accepted black people this photo is not useful to historians because of his vagueness.
Source S is from a British school textbook written by Robert Pearce and published in 1996. It refers to the experiences of black immigrants in the 1950’s. The source talks about how landlords could lawfully say whether or not they allowed certain people to let their rooms and how they could charge ‘exorbitant rents for overcrowded accommodation’. From my own knowledge I know that Robert Pearce is right, this did happen in many occasions and black immigrants were forced to live in dirty, overcrowded places and made to pay extortionate prices for such poor living conditions. The source is from a British school textbook and so is unlikely to lie about what really happened, even if it does not portray British people in a good way. Therefore this source is very useful to a historian investigating the difficulties that black immigrants were faced with as it is reliable and we know that it is correct.
- ‘In the period of 1949-1959 Black immigrants faced only discrimination and prejudice from whites.’ Using all the sources and your own knowledge, explain whether you agree with this statement.
It is unfair to say that all white people in Britain discriminated against Black immigrants in the period of 1949-1959. It is true, however, that many white people did and that Black people faced a lot of discrimination and prejudice, particularly when seeking accommodation and employment. However a minority of white people did not discriminate and were not prejudice towards Black people.
Between 1949 and 1959 Black immigrants were seen as ‘bad’ for Britain and many people were against them, many feeling that immigrants should not have been allowed into the country in the first place. Most of the sources do support the statement; they indicate that all white people held the same views and disrespect for Black people. However, even though they support the statement it does not show that it is true.
These sources being source A, source B, source C and source D. They show how many black immigrants were discriminated against and how there was so much prejudice towards them. Some of these are nevertheless quite unreliable sources, source A, B and C for example are not trust worthy and are quite unreliable.
The remaining sources, E, F and G however, are all against the statement. Source E shows how one white person was shown as being non-racist by saying “Oh mate, take no notice of them, were not all the same”, this tells us that not all white people were ‘only’ discriminating against Black immigrants and some did help Black immigrants to try to fit in and feel welcome in Britain.
Source F is of a modern British textbook and so is unlikely to be biased; it shows how people set up self-help groups for immigrants ‘to offer advice on accommodation and employment rights.’ It tells of how ‘acts of kindness by individual white people kept many black people going when life in Britain seemed particularly bleak.’
Source G is a cartoon that appeared in the Evening Standard, a London newspaper. The cartoon is of three men who are shown to be in Notting Hill after dark with knives and its aim is to ‘take the Mickey’ out of these types of people, the types of people who would discriminate against black people. This shows how this newspaper is not racist as they are presenting how people, like the people in the cartoon, are dim and narrow-minded. The cartoon has a quote at the bottom of it, reading ‘They just ain't civilised - like we are..!’ The quote suggests that white people that discriminate have a ridiculous mind-set and are therefore unintelligent because of this. This implies that the illustrator of the cartoon had no prejudices against Black immigrants and so this source shows how wrong the statement is.
Many people in 1949-1959 were racist, discriminating against Black people and making them face prejudice but it certainly was not everyone. There were always people in Britain who helped Black immigrants and tried to make them welcome to the country they had once so longed to see, however this was a minority. Even so, not all of Britain was racist and so not everyone was as small-minded as those who were.