Notting Hill Riots, 1958

Summer 1958 saw mass racial violence perpetrated by whites against black people in two areas of Britain, the city of Nottingham and, more seriously, in the area of “Notting Hill” in west London. The underlying causes were many and complex, but critical in working‐class areas of London was a housing crisis due to “Rachmanism,” unaccountable racketeering slum landlords. Besides overcrowded, poor quality housing, black immigrants to Britain faced a “color bar”– racist discrimination in employment and public places. When the threat of unemployment raised its head in 1958, newly arrived migrant workers trying to make homes for themselves provided an easy scapegoat for racists.