Collective Identity- Pressure

What event occurred in the 1970s and 1980s that represent the presence of racial tensions?
The 1970s and 1980s were decades of conflict in British society. It was a period of widespread unemployment which seriously affected the economically less prosperous Black-British community. Discrimination and poverty were also issues that sparked a series of riots in Black-British communities such as Brixton, Tottenham and Notting Hill Gate.

Why do you think Pressure was made?
Pressure was made to show a social awakening of young, black British men and women. It focuses on the changing attitudes of White British people on Black British people. It also shows the changing economical and political climate of Britain in 1970s and 1980s. This is shown through Tony's brother Colin in the film Pressure. He tries to get young black people to join together to change the system, the way black people were treated everyday in their society. The film also highlights the difficulty of getting a respectable job as a young black person despite having many qualifications. The characeter Tony is shown to have difficulties getting a job as a secretary mainly because he is black, and his friends who are white got a job as soon as they left school.

What examples of racism are represented in Pressure?
Racism is shown very clearly in Pressure. The first example we see is when Tony explains that he has been going to numerous job interviews since he left school but as soon as he leaves the interview, he never hears back from them. Further example is shown when he goes to a interview and because his name looked English on paper the employer assumes he must be white, and because he is black he is not given an opportunity.
Another example is, when Tony goes with his friend Sheila to where she is presumably renting a room with a white woman, and she refuses to let Tony in her house when she sees him. However when she is questioned why, she doesn't give a clear reason except for 'I just don't want them kind of people here'. This suggests that young Black people in the 1970s-1980s were all thought of as criminals who do harm to the society.
Lastly, the scene where Colin and his group have a meeting with young black people in a community hall and a group of police arrest a lot of them for no reason particularly. They also portray black people badly in the newspapers by claiming that many white people were injured by black people when it was the reverse that happened. This shows that the police thought they could do whatever they wanted to black people and if they didn't like how they were treated they will be forced to leave the country. It was a way of making black people feeling uncomfortable without saying anything.

How does the theme of collective identity come across in Pressure?
The theme of collective identity is shown at the breakfast scene when Colin accuses Tony of trying to be white by eating Fish and Chips instead of the traditional Caribbean food. He says 'this is what we eat back home' he tries to encourage Tony to be part of the collective identity of Black British people by eating the same foods they all eat.
Similarly, Colin tries to encourage to join him in campaigning for Black rights because he is black. Colin tries to explain to explain to Tony that he can't be black and still be influenced by white culture, he has to represent his Black culture.

How do you think Pressure differs from mainstream representations of black Britons?
The film Pressure tries to show Black Britons as victims instead of the representation that most young black people are violent and dangerous. Black people in the film are showed in uncomfortable situations where they have to fight to get any solution. For example the young American woman that helps Colin with their campaign is beaten for no reason as she tries to do something important for the Black British community.

Research-Collective Identity

Investigate what was happening in Britain between 1948-1962

Since the end of World War II Great Britain has continuously faced a common political and international dilemma- Commonwealth immigration. This immigration has continued to bring former colonists to their previous imperial “parent” in order to search for something that will help their future growth. Britons perceived this influx from the West Indies and Africa as an invasion. 1948 was only three years after the war, during the war many people from foreign countries came here for work as they were called upon to help as many British men had to fight for their country after the war however they stayed which angered many British people and sparked much racism between British people and people from countries such as Jamaica, the west indies and countries in Africa.

How was the social landscape changing?

Many black migrants started to get jobs in a white populated environment and there was hostility amongst the white community because they didn't want to work with 'coloured' people. They wanted to keep whites apart from blacks. Many young black men also started to have relationships with young white women and also there was hostility from society towards them because it was seen by some as a taboo. This was evident in the film 'Flame in the Streets' where the young white lady Cathy wanted to marry her black boyfriend and her mother says they will not be allowed to live a normal life. They will face difficulties such as getting looks from the public when they go out, and finding it hard to get a house because one of them has 'a black skin'. In sapphire the girl sapphire pretended to be a white woman she knows she will have a better quality of life if she was white and will not be judged based on her skin.

How did the changing social landscape lead to a 'racialisation' of British politics?

The social landscape changed to a racialisation of British politics, the laws were more racialised. Between 1962 and 1971, as a result of fears about increasing immigration by Commonwealth citizens from Asia and Africa, the United Kingdom gradually tightened controls on immigration by British subjects from other parts of the Commonwealth. The government introduced a law which involved the concept that only British subjects who had strong links with the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man had right of abode, the right to live and work in the United Kingdom and Islands. Also there were certain categories of migrant workers alowed to participate in the labour market.

Representation works through construction - how were black people represented in the film?

Black people were represented and lower and inferior to the white people. At the outset of the film Sapphire the friends she hung around with were all white and the society they lived were of a majority of white people. This shows that black people were not worthy or of a high class to be called friends by white people. There was also a club for foreigners called 'international club' this shows the segregation black and foreign people faced because they weren't allowed to mix with white people even at a club. When Sapphire was introduced to the police officer, tense music was played to show that there might be danger upcoming because the man was black. Black people were automatically attached to crime and anything bad. Also Sapphire's lingerie in the locked drawer seemed to shock the police officers because they linked the over sexualised clothes with her been black. The black men also referred to the white police men as 'boss' when answering their question this shows the superiority the white men had over the black men not only because they were police officers but as a white man they had power over them because of their race.

Considering your research and film analysis- How does the film put across a sense of collective identity of Black British people?

Black people were perceived as all the same by white people in the film and as the police officer says in the film Sapphire 'you can spot them a mile off' he already has a preconceived idea of how black people are. Many black men were seen as criminals because they had low paid jobs, low quality of life so they weren't given a chnace to develop.

Collective Identity

'Black Britain' on Prezi

The media texts are representative of the changing landscape of Black Britain in the past, present and future because the people in these texts are provoking change and trying to change the bad reputation and stigma people have of Black Britain.

The film Flame in the Streets was produced in 1961 must have provoked controversy because it was seen as promoting a 'melato Britain' but, the purpose of this film is to change the attitudes of people on racism in society.

There is also a change in the landscape of Black Britain from the past because now artists that are not black.are now producing music that people consider to be 'black music'. This may be because urban music has become widely known across the world and these artists have started to sing songs that they have been heavily influenced by. For example, RnB and grime artists like N-Dubz and Devlin have been influenced by urban music because of their background.

Bob Marley's music was widely known across the world. In the 60s his music helped West Indians to find solace from the way they were targeted in society.

Radio 1Xtra 'What is Black British culture?'

When people think of Black British culture the first thing that comes to mind is their parents and their heritage, where they come from, food (chicken, rice and peas), black fashion/style and music. There is also a question of whether a person has to be black to be part of Black British culture?

Black British style was a way people back then shaped their identity by using clothes. This practice started back home in the West Indies because they had to look their best on Sundays but they put in more effort when they got to Britain because they wanted to look their best. The second generation of black people in Britain began a new way of living. They mixed everything together from the style of the Jackson 5 to batik and African prints worn with jeans, giant John Lennon sunglasses and an afro. The way some black kids have dressed over the years has influenced British culture. The impact of America on British was massive particularly during the hip-hop period through the baseball caps and puffer jackets.

Black style has now appealed to a lot of races across the world. People now wear their jeans baggy, skinny jeans and hats. Asians and white people have now started to dress the way black people dress they have taken on black culture. Those who borrow from black culture are often accused of acting black because of the way they dress, the way they speak and the way they act. Being loud, abrasive and rude wearing big earrings and those kind of stereotypes could also be said as borrowing black culture. In the 70s and 80s Jamaican culture was popular even to those who weren’t Jamaican particularly the religious movements of Rastafarianism and Reggae. Parts of the Jamaican language Patois are now been used as slang by Black British youths with phrases such as ‘you get me’.

When people think of Black British they also think of gangs and crime. Black British youths have not found a place for them to fulfil themselves so they turn to crime and gangs when other communities such as Asians have found a way to fulfil their instincts. In recent surveys it shows that black boys are underachieving than their other counterparts. The reasons for this is partly because a father figure is not there to help these kids so the mother is left on her own to cope. This is the view some people have of Black Britain because of the way Black Britain is constructed by the media and the only information in the media of Black Britain is mostly always negative. Some people argue that young black people feel alienated because there is a lack of positive stereotype and representation in the media. They are constantly hitting a barrier and slowly believe what the media has portrayed them to be. Music also influences them, images and words they are shown in music videos are also part of the problem.

The biggest achievement that black people have made in Britain is music. Black music such as hip hop, RnB, grime and garage are now listened to by every race around the world. The question raised is whether it is right to call it black music because it appeals to so many races not just black people. Young black people don’t have to decide whether they are black or British it’s no longer one or the other.

I think Black British culture consists of various things and when people think of Black British culture they think of the food, music style and lifestyle. I don’t think gang culture within black youths is part of Black British culture because every other culture has a negative side to it and the media has portrayed gang culture in black youths to be part of black British culture because it is something black youths do but it shouldn’t be part of Black British culture because it is not something that sets Black British culture from every other culture. I also do not think a person needs to be black to be part of Black British culture because, it provides an opportunity for different races to embrace each other but I think to an extent a person needs to be black to empathize with the collective identity of Black British people.

1958 Nottinghill Race Riots radio extract

The radio extract is from 1958is a representation of black people in Britain.

The first part of the radio extract is said by a white man. The tone of his voice suggest he is anti-immigrant and against West Indians settling in Britain. He describes the settling of the West Indians as an 'invasion' despite the fact that they were invited over and they are part of the British colony so they have a right to come over and stay. Black people are represented by this man as horrible invaders and he says the most 'important' problem is their arrival leading to a 'melato Britain' causing more interaction between black men and white women. This suggests that the man wants Britain to remain the same they are perhaps scared of the'invasion' of black people from the West Indies and fear that they will make a massive impact and change Britain for the worse.

The background music from the second part of the extract has a sense of fear as it sounds like music from a horror film and instigates fear to the listener. The target audience for this radio station would have been white people in the 50s so the music could serve as a warning against the 'invasion' coming to Britain and warning white people to be ready. The words 'new and ugly' presents black people as monsters, that will destroy everything white people have built and also destroy their unity and heritage of white people. Black people are also represented in this radio extract as trouble makers or criminals because the only way they could stop the riots is by using 'violence' this suggests that they think these black people are animals because violence is a way they think will be able to tame them.

THE WINDRUSH YEARS (1948-1998)

After the second world war came the windrush years where Britain was infiltrated with 500 immigrants from the West Indies.

Many West Indians decided to stay after they had helped Britain to fight in the second world war and, they hoped they would be welcomed the same way they were welcomed during the war however, hostility grew in society towards West Indians and they were soon told to leave and go back to where they came from.

Part 1: The 50 years historic voyage of 500 West Indians. June 21st 1948 everyone wanted a way of the life of Britain. West Indians were brought as Britains in the Caribbean, they had the same lifestyle as people had in Britain because they went to Catholic school, sang english songs and respected the Royal family. During the war West Indians and Britains lived and died together. In 1957 200 men went back to the West Indies on intention to comeback.

Part 2: When the West Indians decided to come back to settle in Britain hostility began to grow because those who had fought in the war brought their families back. The slogan K.B.W (keep Britain white) started appearing everyewhere which alienated the West Indians.

Part 3: British people realised that the West Indians were here to so, they began race riots and mob violence, black homes were targeted and damaged.

Part 6: Mosley's leader of Britain's fascist anti-immigrant movement started targeting black men and beating them up. The police took sides with British people and were unable to defend the West Indians. This would have made the West Indians feel very unwanted and would have felt used as they were only used to fight the war and maybe British people only put up with them for the duration of the war. If a white woman was seen with a black man they will both be beaten up because it wasn't proper for them to be together.

Part 7: 1 September 1958 petrol bombs were made to target the West Indians and were thrown through the window into the homes of the West Indians. Many white people disagreed with Mosley's fascist ideas and rebelled but they had to be careful because if they were caught they would be beaten up by Mosley's teddy boys. West Indians had to protect themselves becauese the streets were dangerous and they decide to be not be passive anymore. They set up a headquarters to protect families street by street.

In May 1959, 8 months after the riots a West Indian man named Kelso Cochraine was murdered, which made it the first race murder in Nottinghill. However, because no one was arrested for his murder the black community felt they could expect little protection from the law.

Part 8: It wasn't only the black people that was dismayed by the death of Kelsp Cochraine many white people, felt that the violence on their streets had to be stopped. Kelso Cochraine's funeral, brought together people from all the different comunities. After Cocharine's funeral people's attitudes began to change in Britain towards the West Indians, they became more tolerant towards them. After Mosley's resignation from politics people attitudes changed further and West Indians were no longer guests in Britain.

The Blues party was introduced in the 1960s which was were black people went and was a place where they felt safe.

Part 9: New contact was established between young black men and whites girls through caribbean music. The scandal of Christine Keeler who crossed the line of high society and black street life. She had a string of West Indian lovers. Problems began when she started dating two West Indians Lucky Gordon and Johnny Edgecombe.

The new movement of Pentecostal church began to flourish when West Indians formed their own congregation.

Part 10: By the mid 1960s the visitors to Britain began to stay permanently. Black political action in Britain found its focus in 1963 in Bristol where the colour bar was still a fact of everyday life. A boycott was arranged by Paul Stephenson to allow black people to sit on buses in Bristol. It took four months before the boycott achieve what it wanted. Harold Wilson's Labour government came into power in 1964 and it took them a year and a half to introduce the first Race Relations Act.

Part 11: The RAS organisation formed Micheal X created a black house; a black power commune in London. Since the end of the 50s right wing immgration groups had been growing in strength and completed the formation of the national front in 1966. They were scared because they thoguht the West Indians were a threat and wanted a to change Britain from being northern European to become something else.

Part 12: Enoch Powell in 1968 began an anti-immigration message split the nation. Some people supported it and some didn't.

Part 13: In January 1981 a fire killed 13 children in a home in South London. At the beginning of the 1970s there was a shortage of jobs and it was three times as harder for a black child to get a job than it was for a white child. Black children started their own clubs because it was difficult for them to get into white clubs. Young blacks behaved differently from their parents, in the sense that they didn't put up with the insults and constraints their parents had to put up with. By the early seventies it was becoming an expected wisdom that black pupils would fail at school. Conflict between black youths and the police developed further by an incident in Nottinghill.

Part 14: The police began to follow black youths around everywhere searching them unnecessarily. People assumed that black youths were involved in most of the crimes in society because of the high number of crimes committed in that year. The Nottinghill carnival in August 1976, which showcased the culture of the West Indians became the unlikely setting for a bloody confrontation between black youths and the police.

Part 15: Bob Marley's music offered a different identity for black youths in Britain. His music, achieved huge popularity in mainstream British pop music. Many black youths began to live the Rastafarian lifestyle. In 1977 the National front staged a demonstration against black crime which would march through one of Britain's most significant black communities: Lewisham in south London. Black youths went to the demonstration prepared and planned to ambush them. That event did little to repair the relationship between the black community and the police.

Black Britain

Black Britain on Prezi