When the first people arrived in the UK, the main concern was finding somewhere to live. British cities like London had been badly affected by the German bombings in WW2 and housing was scarce. When more people arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, there were increased tensions about jobs and housing which led to the immigrants being blamed for ‘stealing’ jobs and housing. This of course was absolute nonsense, but the media were able to whip up hatred and some politicians at the time said incredibly racist things which helped to fuel division and hatred in the UK.
When Britain’s economic situation improved, the hatred tended to drift away (although racism still existed and does still exist). However, the contribution of BPOC people to Britian in the second half of the 20th century is very often forgotten about.
People from the Windrush generation have made astonishing contributions in every part of British life. Black History month seeks to remember the Windrush story and the other forgotten or rewritten aspects of British history.
Currently, there is a big push to re-write what you learn in school, especially in subjects like History or English. There is a strong feeling that what you learn is too ‘white’ and one sided, that the voices of BPOC people are not represented.
