Race depicted in Britain and British Media

Use of the term ‘Black’ - Shakespeare Othello

Mar 13, 1622

This is relevant to this text as the word ‘Black’ is described as the recent culturally friendly word used to represents the new generation of African and Caribbean descent. However the use of this term dates back to Shakespeare’s time and before, most vividly seen in his text ‘Othello’ describing the ‘Moor of Venice’.
This image represents the film remake from Shakespeare’s play. The positioning against a plain black background is also intriguing as the black background represents the evil/ re

First British Broadcast Television

Sep 1, 1929

The first British television broadcast was made by Baird Television's electromechanical system over the BBC radio transmitter in September 1929. Baird provided a limited amount of programming five days a week by 1930. This is relevant as the text presents race in relation to television.

World War II; 1939-1945

Nov 11, 1945

World war two is important to this topic because at this point in time the British played on the sense of patriotism toward the ‘Mother Country’ to encourage the colonies (such as Jamaica and India) to fight with them against the triple alliance in the war.
2009 BBC TV Drama called ‘Small Island’ based on the war and the relationship between the immigrants and the British. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Island_%28TV_film%29)

The British Nationality Act 1948

Mar 14, 1948

The British Nationality Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the status of "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies"
Although this act asserted the British role as leader of the commonwealth it also affirmed the right of Commonwealth citizens (including those of newly independent Commonwealth countries like India) to settle in the United Kingdom. The British needed more immigrants to build up their economy by working in factories and in healthcare.

Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)

Mar 4, 1955

Although the civil rights movement was prodominantly based in the US with the works of Malcom X and MLK, the idea of 'civil rights' was passed on to the UK. The 60's and 70s was a time period of change and mainly focused on the social movements outlawing racial discrimination against black people and restoring rights to them. Looking at other races as equal to white- which was the hegemonic norm and at this period of time; superior. This is relevant as the text oversees the same time period.

Margaret Thatcher elected Prime Minister

Mar 14, 1979

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, is a British politician, the longest-serving (1979–1990) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. She is relevant to representation of race, as she held the highest rank in politics for 3 terms, yet there was speculation she was encouraging racial prejudice. "if there is any fear that it (Britain) might be swamped
people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in.”

Murder of Stephen Lawrence

Apr 22, 1993

As mentioned in the text, the murder of Stephen Lawrence brought to light the racism in institutions such as the government office and the police. The lack of effort in the investigation and the police friendliness to the suspects families exposed the institutional racism and the small importance a black victim was.
Strong front page story from the Daily Mail newspaper, in the defence of Stephen Lawrence, publicly accusing the suspects.