Brixton riot (1981)

The Brixton riot of April 11, 1981 was one of the most serious riots in London, UK, of the 20th century. The riot resulted in almost 279 police injuries and 45 members of the public were injured; [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqDLg6GEfGg&feature=related YouTube - Battle 4 Brixton pt6 of 6 ] ] over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; almost 150 buildings were damaged, with thirty burned. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved in the riot. [The Guardian — [http://century.guardian.co.uk/1980-1989/Story/0,,108184,00.html How smouldering tension erupted to set Brixton aflame] , 13 April 1981]

Background

Brixton in south London was, and still is, an area of deep social and economic problems — high unemployment, high crime, poor housing, no amenities — in a predominantly black community [Kettle, Martin & Hodges, Lucy (1982) Uprising!: Police, the People and the Riots in Britain's Cities] . The police were strongly disliked and seen as largely reactionary and distant. An attempt at proactive crime control did much to increase tensions. The Metropolitan Police began "Operation Swamp 81" at the beginning of April, aimed at reducing street crime, mainly through the heavy use of the so-called sus law, which allowed police to stop and search individuals on the basis of a mere 'suspicion' of wrong-doing. Plain clothes police officers were dispatched into Brixton, and in five days almost 1,000 people were stopped and searched. The local community was not consulted about the operation and tensions between the black community and the police on the streets of Brixton reached breaking point. Local residents complained about young, inexperienced police officers being sent on the streets, provoking confrontation. [Battle for Brixton, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCjZEZt3QKc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW6kY6HfAqk&NR=1]

Beginning

On the evening of the 10th, at around 17:15, a black youth who had been stabbed in an attack was being helped by a police patrol in Atlantic Road. As he was being helped, a large hostile crowd gathered. As they tried to take him to a waiting car on Railton Road, the crowd intervened. The police were attacked and the struggle only ended when more police officers arrived; the youth was taken to a hospital. The crowd is reported to have believed that the police stopped and questioned the stabbed youth, rather than help him. Rumours spread that the youth had been left to die by the police or that the police looked on as the stabbed youth was lying on the street. Over 200 youths, black and white, reportedly turned on the police. In response the police decided to increase the number of police foot patrols in Railton Road, despite the tensions, and carry on with the "Operation Swamp 81" throughout the night of Friday the 10th and into the following day, Saturday the 11th of April. [Battle for Brixton, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW6kY6HfAqk&NR=1]

The Riot

Through the night of the 10th and into Saturday 11th, the police brought a very strong force into the area. Reportedly, the word on the street was that the stabbed youth died as a result of police brutality, fuelling tensions throughout the day as crowds slowly gathered. Tensions first erupted around 4pm, as two police officers stopped and searched a mini cab in Railton Road. By this time Brixton Road (Brixton High Street) was reportedly filled with angry people and police cars were pelted with bricks. At around 5pm the tension escalated and spread, and the 9 o'clock BBC News that evening reported 46 police officers injured, five seriously. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CH5RLEZhXs&feature=related YouTube - Battle 4 Brixton pt3 of 6 ] ] Shops were looted on Railton Road, Mayall Road, Leeson Road, Acre Lane and Brixton Road. The looting in Brixton by black and white youths reportedly started at around 6pm. Organised looting by white outsiders was reported. At 6.15pm the fire brigade received their first call, as a police van was set on fire by rioters in Railton Road, with the fire brigade being warned "riot in progress". As the fire brigade approached the police cordon, they were waved through without warning, driving down Railton Road towards 300 youths armed with bottles and bricks. The fire brigade met the crowd at the junction between Railton Road and Shakespeare Road and were attacked with stones and bottles. It was also reported that ambulances were pelted with bricks.

The police put out emergency calls to police officers across London, asking for assistance. The police had no strategy or equipment apart from inadequate helmets and non fire proof plastic shields, and were ordered to clear the streets of rioters. The police reportedly also had difficulties in radio communication. The police proceeded in clearing the Atlantic-Railton-Mayall area by pushing the rioters down the road, forming deep shield walls. The rioters responded with bricks, bottles, and petrol bombs — the first British use of these incendiary devices outside of Northern Ireland.

At 5.30pm the violence further escalated. Ordinary black and white members of the public attempted to mediate between the police and the rioters, calling for a de-escalation by withdrawing police out of the area. The destructive efforts of the rioters peaked at around 8pm, as all attempts of mediation failed. Two pubs, 26 businesses, schools and other structures were set alight as rioters went on a rampage. Hundreds of local resident were trapped in their houses, locked in by either police or rioters. A white family was reportedly robbed in their house at knife point, while a young woman was raped in her house by an intruder.

By 9.30pm, over 1,000 police were dispatched into Brixton, squeezing out the rioters. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa9r25f1yWY&feature=related YouTube - Battle 4 Brixton pt5 of 6 ] ] By 1.00am on April 12, 1981, the area was largely subdued, with no large groups — except the police — on the streets. The fire brigade refused to return until the following morning. Police numbers grew to over 2,500, and by the early hours of Sunday morning the rioting had fizzled out.

Aftermath

Between 3 and 11 July of that year, there was more unrest fuelled by racial and social discord, in Handsworth, Southall, Toxteth, and Moss Side. There were also smaller pockets of unrest in Leeds, Leicester, Southampton, Halifax, Bedford, Gloucester, Coventry, Bristol, and Edinburgh.

The Scarman Report

There was a public inquiry into the riot headed by Lord Scarman. The Scarman report was published by Susana De Freitas November 25, 1981.

The 1999 Macpherson Report, an investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the failure of the police to establish sufficient evidence for the prosecution of the charged suspects, found that recommendations of the 1981 Scarman Report had been ignored. The report famously concluded that the police force was "institutionally racist". [cite news |date=2004-05-05| title = Q&A: Stephen Lawrence murder| publisher = BBC News| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3685733.stm| accessdate = 2008-01-04]

Cultural Reference

It has been suggested in some quarters that one of The Clash's most famous songs, "White Riot", was written about Joe Strummer and his friends being caught amongst the riot and interrogated by the police. However, as "White Riot" first appeared in 1977, this is not correct. The song actually refers to Joe (and Paul Simonon) getting caught up in some rioting at the Notting Hill Carnival. "The Guns of Brixton", another Clash song with a similar theme, also predates the 1981 riot.

See also

* Handsworth riots
* Brixton riot (1985)
* Brixton riot (1995)
* Urban riots
* Timeline of children's rights in the United Kingdom

References

Bibliography

*Kettle, Martin & Hodges, Lucy (1982) Uprising!: Police, the People and the Riots in Britain's Cities, London: Pan Books ISBN 0-330-26845-7
*Scarman, Leslie (1982) The Scarman Report: The Brixton Disorders, 10-12 April, 1981, London, Penguin Books ISBN 0-140-22455-6
*Collectif, We Want to Riot not to Work (On Brixton 81),April 1982, [http://infokiosques.net/article.php3?id_article=476]

External links

* Urban75 — [http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/riot.html An eye witness account] by the 'We Want to Riot, Not To Work Collective', 1982
* [http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/dispatcher.aspx?action=search&database=ChoiceArchive&search=IN=MS897 Copy of the Scarman Inquiry into the riots]
* Metropolitan Police Service — [http://www.met.police.uk/history/brixton_riots.htm Brixton Riots, 1981]
* BBC News Online — [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/11/newsid_2523000/2523907.stm on this day]
* BBC News Online — [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/uk_brixton_riots/html/1.stm In Pictures]
* The Guardian — [http://century.guardian.co.uk/1980-1989/Story/0,,108184,00.html How smouldering tension erupted to set Brixton aflame] , 13 April 1981