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ABSTRACT
In 1964, a small industrial town on the outskirts of Birmingham gained a reputation worldwide as Britain’s most racist town. The Conservative Party’s candidate, Peter Griffiths, bucked national trends in the General Election by winning a seat in Smethwick with a large majority, following a fiercely anti-immigrant campaign. Smethwick’s immigrant population was no larger than that of neighbouring towns, posing the question why such intense anti-immigrant feeling emerged at a local level? This article addresses the impact of local and regional media on public perceptions of immigrants in Smethwick during and immediately after the 1964 General Election, arguing that the local newspaper, the Smethwick Telephone, and ATV Today, ITV’s regional news programme for the Midlands, fuelled hostility and helped legitimise Griffiths’ campaign. By investigating the media’s influence at a local level, we can gain a greater understanding of the development of racial prejudice in British communities and the complex history of twentieth century media. This article further develops the work of Wendy Webster, Sarita Malik and Gavin Schaffer, who examine the framing of immigration by a range of national media forms but overlook the vital role of local and regional reporting in this process.
KEYWORDS:
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Christine Grandy and Ian Packer providing valuable feedback on earlier versions of this piece. I would also like to thank the staff at the Media Archive for Central England (MACE).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Prem, The Parliamentary Leper, 1.
2. Back and Solomos, Race, Politics and Social Change, 54.
3. Bleich, Race Politics in Britain and France, 48.
4. “How the Votes Swung,” 1.
5. See note 1 above.
6. Butler and King, The British General Election, 320.
7. Fryer, Staying Power, 381.
8. Mandler, “What is ‘National Identity’?” 80.
9. Waters, “‘Dark Strangers’ in Our Midst,” 208; Webster, Englishness and Empire; Paul, “‘British Subjects’ and ‘British Stock’,” 233–6; Schwartz, The White Man’s World; Gilroy, There Aint no Black in the Union Jack ;and Burkett, Constructing Post-Imperial Britain.
10. Ibid., 68.
11. Malik, Representing Black Britain; Bourne, Black in the British Frame; Newton, Paving the Empire Road; Schaffer, The Vision of a Nation; Webster, Englishness and Empire; and Pines. Black and White in Colour.
12. Chessum, From Immigrants to Ethnic Minorities, 127–39.
13. Ibid., 32.
14. Critcher, Parker and Sondhi, “Race in the Provincial Press,” 52.
15. Hartley- Brewer, “Smethwick,” 90.
16. Jackson, The Provincial Press, 1.
17. Temple, The British Press, 106.
18. Ibid., 152.
19. Buettner, “‘This is Staffordshire Not Alabama’,” 710.
20. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 41; Ritscherle, Opting Out of Utopia, 201; Singham, “Appendix III,” 362; and Buettner, “‘This is Staffordshire Not Alabama’,” 715.
21. From Headlines to ‘Tight Lines’: Part 1.
22. Ibid.
23. Television Act 1954.
24. Hartley Brewer, “Smethwick,” 77.
25. Steel, No Entry, 81.
26. Money, Fences and Neighbors, 87.
27. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 17.
28. Page, The Victoria History of County of Stafford, 88.
29. Prem, The Parliamentary Leper, 129.
30. Hartley Brewer, “Smethwick,” 78.
31. Hannington, The Problem of the Distressed Areas.
32. Ritscherle, Opting Out of Utopia, 201.
33. Steel, No Entry, 83.
34. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 30.
35. Holmes, A Tolerant Country? 56.
36. Back and Solomos, Race, Politics and Social Change, 53.
37. Hansen, Citizenship and Immigration, 96.
38. Husbands, Racial Exclusionism and the City, 67.
39. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 34.
40. Bryne, “Smethwick by Another Name,” 2.
41. Finney, “Committee to Control Immigration,” 7.
42. Finney, “Now’s the Time to Control Immigration,” 7.
43. Kassimeris and Jackson, “Negotiating Race and Religion,” 345–6.
44. “Tuberculosis Above Average in W’hampton,” 14.
45. “Tuberculosis- Enemy in Retreat,” 5.
46. Ibid.
47. “Immigrants Who May Bring Disease,” 7; “X-Ray Check Urged For Immigrants,” 6; “Greater Risk of Tropical Disease,” 9; “Four Ways to Adjust to Immigration,” 13; and “Check All Migrants for TB Demands Doctors,” 13.
48. BBC, “Aberdeen Typhoid Outbreak.”; BBC, “Birmingham.”; and ITN, “Typhoid in Aberdeen.”
49. BBC, “Calls for Stricter Medical.”
50. Midlands News, “Typhoid at Smethwick.”
51. Ibid.
52. Ibid.
53. Ibid.
54. Davis, “Rents and Race in 1960s London,” 78.
55. Pilkington, Beyond the Mother Country, 90; and Thompson, “Race, Culture and Mind in Britain,” 246.
56. Davis, “Rents and Race in 1960s London,” 72.
57. Herbert, Negotiating Boundaries in the City, 33.
58. Ibid., 32.
59. Schwartz, The White Man’s World, 11.
60. Webster, Englishness and Empire, 8.
61. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 11.
62. “The Telephone and the Colour Problem,” 7.
63. Ibid.
64. ‘10 Rooms- 34 People: This Is Overcrowding Says White Lodger in Indian House,’ 1.
65. Ibid.
66. Cohen, The War Come Home.
67. “But They Are Not Immigrants,” 7; and “Why Not Offer Them Shelter?” 7.
68. Buettner, “‘Going for an Indian’,” 875.
69. “Immigration from 25 Countries,” 4.
70. Ibid.
71. “Immigrants Put out New Roots,” 7.
72. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 38.
73. Midlands News, “Rent Strike Threatened at Smethwick.”
74. Waters, “‘Dark Strangers’ in ‘Our Midst’,” 224.
75. Schaffer, The Vision of a Nation, 7.
76. ibid., 6.
77. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 16.
78. Ibid.
79. Rieper, “Coloured Influx,” 3.
80. Steel, No Entry, 83.
81. Byrne, “Institute of Race Relations Newsletter,” 3.
82. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 44.
83. Bland, “White Women and Men of Colour,” 33.
84. Webster, Englishness and Empire, 157.
85. “That Was the Vice That Was,” 1.
86. Ibid.
87. Ibid.
88. Midlands News, “Smethwick Vice Vigilante.”
89. Ibid.
90. Hammond Perry, “‘Little Rock’ in Britain,” 158.
91. Ibid.
92. Ibid.
93. “Tories Face Uproar,” 16.
94. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 44.
95. Rich, “Patriotism and the Idea of Citizenship,” 95.
96. Prem, The Parliamentary Leper, 93.
97. “Ten Points on Colour,” 2.
98. Ibid.
99. Talbot, “Immigration Issue Likely,” 7.
100. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 67.
101. Midlands Correspondent, “Immigrants Main Election Issue,” 6.
102. Midlands Correspondent, “Vile- It’s All in Black and White,” 18.
103. This Week, “Coloured Voting- Hidden Issue.”
104. Ibid.
105. Ibid.
106. Ibid.
107. Steel, No Entry, 66.
108. Ibid., 67.
109. Butler and King, The British General Election of 1964, 320.
110. Ibid., 307.
111. Prem, The Parliamentary Leper, 107.
112. Butler and King, The British General Election of 1964, 320.
113. “Griffiths Win Is Roundly Condemned,” 13.
114. Hansen, Citizenship and Immigration, 134.
115. “MP’s Maiden Speech,” 24.
116. Round, “That ‘Leper’ Remark,” 23.
117. ATV Today, ‘Peter Griffiths Vox Pops.’
118. Ibid.
119. Ibid.
120. Ibid.
121. Ibid.
122. Ibid.
123. Ibid.
124. Ibid.
125. Ibid.
126. Ibid.
127. Midlands News, ‘Mayor of Smethwick Re Immigration.’
128. ibid.
129. ibid.
130. Prem, The Parliamentary Leper, 124.
131. Ibid.
132. Mould, “White attitudes to Coloured Immigrants in Spon Lane,” 24.
133. Smyth, “The People,” 16.
134. Lee, “Derogatory Terms,” 339.
135. Ibid.
136. Street, “Malcolm X, Smethwick,” 932–50.
137. Ibid.
138. “Smethwick Wives Invite Crossman,” 11; and “A Woman’s View on Marshall Street,” 6.
139. “Smethwick Survey,” 14.
140. Ibid.
141. “Plea to Council,” 13.
142. Webster, Imagining Home, 184.
143. Webster, Englishness and Empire, 8.
144. Midlands News, “Smethwick Race Question.”
145. Ibid.
146. Ibid.
147. Ibid.
148. Ibid.
149. Ibid.
150. Ibid.
151. Ibid.
152. Ibid.
153. ITN, “Smethwick.”
154. Ibid.
155. ITN, “Smethwick.”
156. Ibid.
157. ITN, “Smethwick.”
158. Ibid.
159. World in Action, “Smethwick.”
160. Ibid.
161. Ibid.
162. Ibid.
163. Ibid.
164. Ibid.
165. This Week, “The Negro Next Door.”
166. Ibid.
167. Schaffer, The Vision of a Nation, 77.
168. Ibid.
169. Steel, No Entry, 109.
170. “Labour Are out for Revenge,” 6.
171. Ibid.
172. Steel, No Entry, 109.
173. Butler and King, The British General Election of 1966, 252.
174. Ibid.
175. Ibid., 253.
176. Ibid., 250.
177. Ibid., 253.
178. “Mr Gordon Walker Gets Revenge at Leyton,” 12.
179. Bourne, “Smethwick,” 568.
180. Anwar, Race and Politics, 20.
181. See note 7 above.
182. Ibid.
183. Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, 77.
184. Bourne, “Smethwick,’ 568.
185. “Rent Strike Was Only a Token,” 1.
186. “Tuberculosis- Enemy in Retreat,” 5; and Midlands News, “Typhoid at Smethwick.”
187. Schaffer, The Vision of a Nation, 6.
188. Stephenson, How to Succeed in Newspaper, 34.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rachel Yemm
Rachel Yemm has recently completed her PhD at the school of History and Heritage at the University of Lincoln. Her research examines the impact of local and regional media on public perceptions of black and Asian immigrants in the Midlands, from 1960 to 1985.