In 1963, Britain was still coming to terms with the decline of its empire and the changing face of its society. After the Second World War, labour shortages had encouraged the recruitment of workers from the Caribbean and South Asia to help rebuild the country. Yet despite their contribution to Britain's economy and public services, black and Asian people continued to face widespread racial discrimination.
In Bristol, that discrimination was particularly visible in the transport industry. The Bristol Omnibus Company operated a colour bar that prevented black and Asian workers from being employed as bus drivers and conductors. Supported by sections of the Transport and General Workers' Union, the policy exposed the contradiction at the heart of post-war Britain: a country that needed immigrant labour but was unwilling to offer everyone equal opportunities.
In this episode of The Bristol Bus Boycott, we explore the historical circumstances that made such discrimination possible. From Britain's imperial past and the arrival of the Windrush generation to the racial tensions of the 1950s and early 1960s, we examine how prejudice became embedded in everyday working life.
The episode also considers the influence of the American civil rights movement, particularly the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the example set by campaigners including Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks. Their struggle against segregation provided inspiration.
Determined to expose the colour bar, Paul Stephenson arranged a job interview for a young Jamaican man named Guy Reid-Bailey. When Reid-Bailey arrived, the company discovered he was black and cancelled the interview. The incident provided powerful evidence of the discrimination that the campaigners had been challenging.
What followed was the beginning of a confrontation that would attract public attention, divide opinion and force Bristol to confront its attitudes towards race and equality.
But why did a company operating in a country desperately short of workers refuse to employ people because of their skin colour? What role did trade unions, imperial attitudes and fears about immigration play in maintaining the colour bar? And how could a small group of determined campaigners challenge a policy that powerful institutions had been prepared to defend?
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