1919 Race Riots
Is Wales a tolerant nation? Was it ever? Yasmin Begum, Laolu Alatise and Mymuna Soleman were part of a project in 2019, tweeting the history of the 1919 Race Riots as if being there.
Yasmin here tells the story of the 1919 Riots.
"On Wednesday 12th June 1919, Cardiff was plunged into three days of riots. Now known as the “Cardiff Race Riots”, these race riots irrevocably changed the history of Cardiff and Wales itself- but there’s never been a definitive account of what happened in 1919 in Cardiff.
In 1911, Cardiff had the second largest population of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people outside of London. Located in Tiger Bay (now Cardiff Bay), Cardiff had one of the largest Black communities of anywhere in the country and is home to the oldest continuous Black community in Britain.
Black men returning to Cardiff on a picnic on the hottest of the day of the year were subject to what we would now call a race hate attack that ignited the chaos. White men and women verbally abused the soldiers and their white women partners in Cardiff Central, before the altercation became violent. A fight broke out that escalated throughout the city centre featuring knives and revolvers and the death of one person. (An original report, right, copyright The Western Mail).
That night, the riot was quelled by a huge storm before tensions were raised again on Thursday and Friday. Horror ensued, with mobs of people going door-to-door in areas beating white women who had partners who were not white. Boarding houses were attacked, set on fire, and three people died overall during the 1919 riots. Onlookers even came from far and wide to gawp at the devastation.
As a result of the race riots, repatriation was seen as a viable option for the British Government who were terrified of more riots. Hundreds of men were shipped out of Cardiff Docks to places like Jamaica, where they demanded for their repatriation back to Cardiff. That year alone, there were riots in Barry and Newport before spreading to Cardiff, after racial tensions had been high for many years.
(Press photograph on the Riots, 1919, copyright The Western Mail)
What happened in 1919 is known as a “race riot”, but whether or not that term is the accurate term for what happened is widely debated. A race riot is a “public outbreak of violence due to racial antagonism”.
1919 saw repeated and orchestrated attacks on migrants, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities as mobs repeatedly tried to break through to Bute Street in South Cardiff, which was the heart of the docklands area in Tiger Bay.
There is no permanent exhibition or memorial to the 1919 race riots, but its effect in Cardiff and in Wales is acutely felt. Those same similar themes of racial violence, community tension, borders and multiculturalism are pertinent to this day, not just in Cardiff or Wales, but across the United Kingdom as questions about the Hostile Environment and Windrush loom in society.
For more information on the 1919 race riots, visit this open-access document with information about the race riots and multiculturalism in Cardiff."
(Press photograph, right, of damage during the 1919 Race Riots, copyright The Western Mail)
Many thanks to Yasmin Begum for the text. Please view the document via the hyperlink for more information and resources to investigate the 1919 Race Riots.
