It’s 30 years since the Brixton riot. On April 11, 1981, weeks after 13 young black people had been killed in a fire at a house party in New Cross, London – an act of suspected arson for which no-one has been arrested – a riot erupted.
Days before the riot, police had embarked on Operation Swamp, which, as the Met’s own website says, “resulted in a significant number of black youths being stopped and searched”. In 1978 Margaret Thatcher made an infamous speech asserting that Britain “might be rather swamped by people of a different culture”.
The language was deliberate. White men were stopping and searching black men in the “swamp”. Black people made up just 6 percent of London’s population in the late 1970s. Alex Wheatle adds: “In just four days the police stopped 943 people and arrested 118 – over half of them black. That added to the anger.”
Tensions were running high.
Then on April 10:
PC Margottia (L 643) tried to assist a black youth who had been severely stabbed. The young man [Michael Bailey] thinking he was being arrested, broke away with the encouragement of three other youths. Two more officers caught up with him, gave him first aid and summoned an ambulance by radio. Before it could arrive, a crowd of black youths hustled him out of police protection and took him to St Thomas’s Hospital by car.
Six people were arrested and 6 police officers injured as bricks and baton blows are traded. The rumours of the police ‘arrest’ of a black victim gathered pace. One day later, Brixton erupted. Molotov cocktails were thrown for the first time on mainland Britain. Fires were lit. Police in clip-on ties, belt buckles and heavy DM boots ran and charged. No-one died.
These are the photos:
A young man standing in front of a fence with a graffiti message of racial unrest, 4th August 1980. (Photo by Mike Moore/Evening Standard/Getty Images)
Brixton Riots 1981
Police with riot shields form a cordon across Atlantic Road at its junction with Coldharbour Lane, 11 April 1981
A police car blazes at the corner of Atlantic Road and Brixton Road, Brixton, South London in a fresh and brief outbreak of violence.
Brixton Riots 1981
Police confront rioters from behind their shields in Mayall Road, Brixton
A Brixton man confronts a police officer during the street unrest in 1981.
Armed with riot shields, police huddle together for protection as violence again flared near Lambeth Town Hall in Acre Lane, Brixton, south London, where between 200 and 400 black youths were on the rampage. Rioters smashed shop windows in the Brixton Road and began looting. Police squads moved in on foot and by van.
A police van on fire during the riot in Brixton, South London, when there were renewed clashes between police and rioters. 23 police officers have been injured, 3 seriously, in attacks by brick throwing youths.
Would you like to support Flashbak?
Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.
