The Windrush Years Part One..
-The first thing i learnt was that black people really have not been in Britain long, as to the present day it has only been 63 years.
-Also i learnt that the reason it is referred to as "The Windrush Years" is because the boat they came from the Caribbean to England was called the "Empire Windrush".
-The sheer amount of people only 500 came to England via the boat, compare that to the population of England it is a terribly small percentage.
- I learnt that the riots happened due to horrific matters such as the murder of black people.
- I found out that in Jamaica in particular being a colony of England they had Church of England schools, they had the same royal family and respected them.
-The British flag was the Jamaican flag as well too many, even seeing England as their "mother" country.
-That they willingly joined up to help England fight the war, jobs included being in the Army, Navy, Air force, Air Sea Rescue, Marines, The Rens, ATS, WAFF, Nursing Services.
What i got from it really was a sense of hypocrisy from England at the time, white British soldiers went to Jamaica and asked for help. During the war when Jamaican men and women volunteered and signed up to help in WW2 they were getting "common citizenship" and "common cause" from England. Yet after the war it has not yet been explained but it has seemed to have disappeared and been replaced by people not letting out rooms to people from the West Indies. Made the divide even clearer as if people in England didn't realise that they had people in the West Indies that were apart of their country and they lived identical lives to them. Quotes made me get even more information on the matter such as one person saying "Britain was everything", another claiming "People were happy that we were here", "We were welcome". "Existed together as a family", "Died together". Yet after the war emotions had seemed to turn to polar opposites.
The Windrush Years Part Two..
- I found out that their were 250 soldiers from Trinidad of which 52 were killed at war.
-People who were at school together died together from Jamaica in the war.
-West Indians were popular was singers and musicians during the war, yet i found out that were never used as entertainers for the white British troops.
-The White British attitudes towards people from the West Indies changed abruptly after the war.
- That White British service men and women had turned their backs on them and wanted them to go home, many in some ways saw them as a burden and something to just put up with.
- After the war many returned to the Caribbean, some enlisted further in to the military service.
-1947 250 RAF men went home on leave to the Caribbean, after a few weeks they planned on returning to England.
-Ships were not going out to England "Empire Windrush" was in fact the only one. "Empire Windrush" was to take everyone back who was on leave, back to England.
-Ships owners wanted to fill up it up as it could fit up to 1,000 people on board, they charged people £28.10 (shillings) fayre to England on a one way trip. They advertised tickets in newspapers in Jamaica.
-Men found no work in the West Indies, sugar field main source of work but bad hurricanes meant no work. Whereas beforehand when hurricanes ruined the fields they could find work in America. New immigration laws meant that they could no longer do that. 30,000 est. men just sent back to Jamaica without any prospects after the war.
-"Empire Windrush" departed from Kingston, Jamaica on 24th May 1948.
What i got from this part was what i had expected that Britain had turned their backs on people from the West Indies as soon as the war ended. That they were grateful for their help during the war but that was it, whereas the men from Jamaica seemed oblivious to this as on the ship to England they were boisterous, full of "hope and excitement". That they found it a "nice trip" and their to be a "wonderful mood" on board. This made me realise that they did feel like they belonged to England just like any other English person. Yet in England the MP's called special meetings, warnings were out they claimed it "irresponsible" for them to be returning. At first it seemed like they some what cared as they said their would be no jobs for them, but really they only let them stay because they could not turn away one of their colonies. Which overall proves from this part that the men from the West Indies were made to feel apart of a society all their lives that never really wanted them only in a time of dire crisis.
The Windrush Years Part Three..
-They docked at Tillbury Harbour, Essex, June 21st 1948.
-Lord Kitchener, they're ambassador, he sang the song "London is The Place For Me".
-No one knew exactly what they were going to do.
-People thought the chimneys on houses, meant they were workhouses, they didn't realise they were for warmth.
-Nowhere to live and no jobs.
-Government housed them in an old air aid shelter under Clapham common in London, as soon as you got work you had to leave, most people didn't stay long.
-They found work first in Brixton at the nearest labour exchange.
-None of them found it hard to find work due to war.
-Came out of Wolverhampton station.
-People would rub their skin seeing if they could rub the black off of their face, highly insulting.
-Conservative government needed to recruit people for the transport sector, they even recruited in the Caribbean, they searched for nurses their also.
-1950's nearly quarter of a million West Indians came to England.
-They read Shakespeare and the Brontes before arriving, they also expected parties in England.
I got from it the account of them coming to England from the British and how it was necessary to mention they were one of our colonies. I got the sense they were being warned and that they were having to be convinced it was the countries duty to take them in. People wandering how they got on it assumed they had nothing really to do with them. Also how they all felt rather uncertain and tinged with excitement. I really got the sense of how both sides felt in this episode as one man describes how he was surprised to see white engine drivers, meaning both races were intrigued by each other and had never really seen each other. Made me realise how you can judge people you have never met or possible seen.
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