Colin Douglas

The Race Relations Act was introduced on 8 November 1965, part of a wave of liberal social reforms of the 1960s. It was an important first step, though it didn’t provide protection against discrimination in areas such as employment or housing. It followed the 1963 Bristol bus boycott led by the Black civil rights activist Paul Stephenson. The Bristol Omnibus Company was refusing to hire Black and Asian bus crew. To its shame, the Transport and General Workers’ Union backed the company’s racist stance. The boycott received national and international attention. Prominent Labour MPs, including Tony Benn, spoke in support of the boycott campaign. Demonstrations were held and the protest grew in strength. Among its outspoken supporters was the former cricketer Sir Learie Constantine, now Trinidad and Tobago’s high commissioner to the UK.

Six weeks after the start of the Second World War, the British government lifted the colour bar on military recruitment. But the announcement, on 19 October 1939, made clear that the change in policy would last only for the duration of the war. The air force recruited six thousand West Indians. The army and navy, however, claimed that Black people could not meet their high standards for entry.

Connie Mark, who joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in Jamaica (the women’s branch of the army) remembered the attacks: ‘If a boat was torpedoed (as happened off St Lucia) when you were expecting oil, then the island would be short of oil … I had a friend who went to England to take her piano finals … and when she was coming back her ship was torpedoed.’