Research

Investigate what was happening in Britain between 1948-1962.

-The arrival of the British windrush on the 22nd of June 1948 carried hundreds of passengers from Jamaica who wanted to begin a new life in the UK. This was the first larrge group of West Indian immigrants after the WW2. For a lot of the immigrants it was not their first time in the UK, they were servicemen and women returning from leave, however the UK was not the same as what it used to be when they lived there. They were no longer seen as a part of the war effort and were shown hostility by the British. There were complaint made agianst the immigrants by members of the parliment but the legalisation controlling immigration was not passed until 1962.

How was the social landscape changing?

- Any commonwealth citizen who wanted to work and settle in the UK had to obtain Ministry of Labour Vouchers, which were issued under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and 1969.
There were three catogories of which the vouchers were issued in:
-Category A: For applications in this country who had a specific job to offer to a particular Commonwealth citizen.
-Category B: For applications by Coominwealth citizens without a sepcific job to come but with certain special qualifications such as nurses, teachers, and medical doctors.
Category C: For all others.

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

- The British laws were more racialised which lead to a change in the social landscape. Between the years 1962 and 1971, the United Kingdom tightened controls on immigration by British subjects from other parts of the commonwealth because of fears about increasing immigration by citizens from Asia and Africa. A law which only allowed people who had strong links with the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man had the right to live and work in the UK and Islands.

How were black people represented in the film?

-In the film 'Sapphire' the fact that Sapphire was a half cast girl that passed for a white was a great shock. The realisation of her being coloured is made when her they see her brother is coloured. People are represented to be fearful of him and other black people. when investigating the murder of Sapphire all of the white people were represented to be on the right side of the law, pointing the finger and the black people straight away, showing no white person to be doing anything wrong at the beggining of the film.

How the film puts across collective identity of black British people.
At the beginning of the film it is made clear that no matter what you feel or believe inside, white people would always judge people on the what is exterior, labelling all coloured people as violent and dishonest.