A summary of the St Pauls disturbance (1980)

This entry is a summary of the events that transpired in St Pauls on April 2nd 1980. It is an important starting point for our understanding of the occurrence, as well as upcoming blog posts.

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Wednesday 2nd April, 1980

On April 2nd 1980, the police raided the Black and White café on Grosvenor Road in the heart of the St Pauls district. Allegedly, it was a site of illegal drinking and cannabis smoking. The incident escalated and the incursion triggered an evening of violent reprisals between Black and White youths and the police. Police cars were attacked, overturned and set alight. Various shops were vandalised and looted. The Lower Ashley Road post office and a Lloyds bank were burnt down. The conflict resulted in the arrest of 134 individuals. 16 of these were trialed in court for riotous assembly, but they were all acquitted. [See reference no.1/2 for detailed descriptions on the event.]

For many years, the discourse surrounding the event was dominated by the notion of ‘riot’. Riot implies that it was an unprovoked outburst, as oppose to its reality, a prolonged racial struggle between Bristol’s Black community and the police. In recent years, however, there has been a shift in the language adopted to describe the event. A growing number of people prefer to consider it 'not as a shocking outburst of lawless violence, but as a legitimate act of resistance.' They would prefer to call it an uprising or a rebellion, hence my blog refers to it as a 'disturbance'. [ref no.3]

Bristol Archives: Simba Tongogara collection: 43567/Ph/1/1-4

In the late 1970s, St Pauls had a thriving Black youth culture and the Black and White Café was a notorious spot for these youths to congregate. The British Nationality Act of 1948 granted British citizenship to all members of the Commonwealth, enabling them to work and reside in the United Kingdom. It sought to increase the labour force in an attempt to reconstruct the British economy, which had been annihilated as a result of the Second World War (1939-1945). In June 1948, HMT Empire Windrush brought the first wave of Caribbean immigrants to Britain from Jamaica. A huge influx of New Commonwealth migrants travelled from the Caribbean to Britain, and in Bristol, this was concentrated in St Pauls. St Pauls was therefore renowned for being multi-racial and ethnically diverse, still accommodating a large Afro-Caribbean community to this day. [ref no.4 for more on immigration to Britain in the mid-twentieth century]

Following the events in Bristol in 1980, there were a series of other violent disturbances across Britain the 1980s. Race-related riots occurred in Toxteth (Liverpool, 1981), Brixton (London, 1981) and at Broadwater Farm (North London, 1985). In 1987, there was a second conflict in St Pauls between the districts Black community and the police. This was a period of extremely high racial tensions. Many believe the St Pauls disturbance (1980) laid the foundation for the other disturbances in the decade. [ref no.5]

Some questions to think about:

• Do you think the term ‘riot’ reduces the story of St Pauls to the immediate events, as opposed to long-term racism faced by Black Britons? See post 'Racism in Britain and the Bus Boycott in Bristol' for more on this!

• Does ‘riot’ inadvertently suggest one party is to blame?

• Do you agree that using terms such as ‘uprising’, ‘disturbance’ and ‘rebellion’ are more appropriate?

Feedback always welcome! Comment what you think below, or head over to the padlet to share your ideas!

For all relevant literature included in this post, please look here under the title, ‘A summary of the St Pauls disturbance (1980)’