On this day 72 years ago, Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in Essex – marking the beginning of the Windrush migration which saw around 500,000 Caribbean immigrants settle in the UK to re-build post-war Britain between 1948 and 1970.
From culture and healthcare to infrastructure and transport, the Windrush generation helped Britain rebuild its economy in the post-war years – influencing and impacting all aspects of British life. However, the arrival of the Caribbean migrants was not welcomed by everyone, with many experiencing the legacy of British colonialism in the form of systematic and institutional racism, social exclusion and verbal and physical abuse.
In addition to decades of racism and mistreatment, they were faced with more injustice in the form of the 2018 Windrush scandal when many of those who migrated from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1970 were wrongly denied legal rights, detained, threatened with deportation – and actually deported in many cases – as a result of the government’s hostile environment’ policy.
In the past few weeks, we have seen Black Lives Matter protestors calling for justice for the Windrush generation – alongside calls for an end to racism, injustice and inequality – and among those demanding urgent action from the government is the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Earlier today (June 22), we caught up with the Mayor via Zoom for a quick but important chat to discuss the Windrush Day, the Windrush scandal and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Today marks the 72nd Windrush anniversary. What’s the importance of this occasion to Britain?
Sadiq: I think it’s really important that we educate Londoners and people around the country about the massive contribution made by the Windrush generation. 70 years ago, these men and women were invited from various countries in the West Indies to come here and rebuild our city after it had literally been destroyed to smithereens during the second world war. They were invited to come here and fill the vacancies in the public services that couldn’t be filled and they made a massive contribution to our city and our country and the heartbreaking thing is, they’ve been treated outrageously by our government.
They’ve endured a hostile environment. Some were deported back to countries they haven’t been to in decades. Their children and grandchildren, because they hadn’t regularised their citizenship have had huge injustices done to them. So we celebrate the contribution made but I think we re-double our efforts to make sure the Windrush generation – their children and grandchildren – get the justice they deserve.
You mentioned education there. Do you think the school curriculum does enough to highlight the importance of the Windrush generation and British black history in general?
Sadiq: I’m born and raised in [London], I went to schools in this city. Nobody in my school taught me about Empire Windrush and the massive contribution made by great black people around the world. Nobody told me that the legacies of transatlantic slavery. Nobody taught me about the sacrifices made by those on Empire Windrush and their successes. I think it’s really important that we teach children about the legacy of Empire Windrush, transatlantic slavery and the contribution made by black people to our country.
One of the opportunities provided by the Black Lives Matter movement is a chance for us to educate ourselves about the importance of black history – not just during October, not just once a month, but all around the year.
What do you think the government needs to do to provide justice for the thousands of people affected by the Windrush scandal?
Sadiq: They’ve gotta start walking the walk and not talking the talk, I’ll give you some examples. The government announced a few years ago there would be this compensation package which [those affected] could apply for – only 5% have managed to get compensation, what about the other 95%? The government talked about acting on the recommendations by the Wendy Williams report – how have they acted on those recommendations? It’s the case now in London that there are more than 130,000 young Londoners who haven’t got proper immigration status because it’s so expensive to apply for immigration or citizenship. The fees are extortionate. It’s so difficult to get proper legal advice.
So the government’s got to do much, much more to address the injustices highlighted by the Windrush generation. They’ve gotta end the hostile environment. There was a great program on the BBC recently called Sitting In Limbo – it wasn’t fiction, it was based upon a real life case – and years on, [Anthony Bryan] and others are still facing hardship because the government has failed to walk the walk. I think the combination of Black Lives Matter and this Windrush Day should be a catalyst for some urgency from the government.
On Black Lives Matter, having seen the protests in recent weeks, what do you and your office plan on doing to provoke permanent and positive change for the black community in the Capital?
Sadiq: Firstly, people like me who are in positions of power and influence have got to recognise that there still exists in 2020 racism, discrimination and inequality against black people. I’ve got to have the humility to say ‘yes I’ve faced racism’ but it’s different to the sort of racism faced by black people and take steps to address that.
In relation to tangible things we can do to address structural racism, which begins from a young age in our schools – which leads to a disproportionate number of black children being excluded, not having their potential fulfilled in relation to GCSEs, given bad careers advice, not getting places in top universities they deserve – all the way to how our criminal justice system works. To stop and searches and disproportionate nature in relation to reasonable use of force. What happens in relation to the sentences passed by judges and magistrates? What happens in relation to the jobs they can’t get because they’ve got a criminal record? What happens in boardrooms, in courts in relation to the few black judges. The few black politicians – how many people are in the cabinet? The answer’s zero.
So there are lots of things we’ve gotta be doing and so as the Mayor, we’re taking steps from City Hall to address some of this in relation to pay audits, supporting financially black institutions, supporting black men to get into good careers from tech to construction viable jobs. Making sure we’ve got positive role models and having proper mentorship, to making sure the police have got good policies to address not just unconscious bias but conscious bias and so there’s a whole range of things we’ve gotta do. One of the most powerful things I can do is to make sure I lobby the government who’ve got real power to take tangible steps to address this.
What I’m saying to the government is we don’t need another commission, we don’t need another working group – we need action to action the recommendations made by the various reviews. From City Hall, I’ll do my bit to get the government to start walking the walk.
Boris Johnson recently said he doesn’t think Britain is a racist country. Do you agree with that statement?
Sadiq: No, I think the experiences of black people I speak to on a regular basis demonstrate that racism still exists in not just the major institutions but also sometimes overt racism. Sometimes it’s hidden but anybody who spends any time going on social media, just look at some of the trolling black leaders receive. Whether you’re a sports person, a politician, or do anything to put your head above the parapet, speak to a black journalist and listen and anybody who thinks our country doesn’t have racism is not actually speaking or listening to the right people.
I say this as someone who’s really proud [of London], we’re the most progressive city in the world and there is racism in our city so just imagine what it must be like in other parts of the country and other parts of the world which are less progressive. I think there’s a moment now with Black Lives Matter for us to make sure that we have people who aren’t black listening to the challenges faced by black people. The fact our Prime Minister is saying [the UK is not racist] demonstrates how out of touch he is with the real life experiences of our citizens in this country.