The Bristol Bus Boycott by Sharlene Oola
In 1963, the Bristol Bus Boycott of the Bristol Omnibus Company sparked one of many conversations across the UK that led to the Race Relations Act being passed. The company was exposed for their use of the Colour Bar in 1961 by the West Indian Development Council (WIDC). The Colour Bar was a societal norm in the UK meaning that black people and people of colour were allowed to be discriminated against by any establishment including employers and housing businesses.
The activist group was formed by Roy Hackett, Paul Stephenson, Audley Evans and Prince Brown; young West Indian men who were living in the UK at the time.
Stephenson sent his mentee, Guy Bailey, for a job interview at the Omnibus which was cancelled once they knew he was black, confirming the men’s suspicions of racism.
Their public denouncement of the bus company on 29th April 1963 triggered a city-wide boycott of buses that lasted four months. The WIDC and their supporters, ranging from Bristol University students to other black citizens, marched through the streets and refused to use the buses; actions harshly and violently opposed by the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) who didn’t want more competition for wages or to work with black people.
Due to the pressures of the boycott, the city’s Labour Establishment and the Bishop of Bristol, Oliver Stratford Tomkins, met with the TGWU to review the Omnibus’ hiring policies. This resulted in the company getting rid of their Colour Bar although Stephenson, the spokesperson for the WIDC was excluded from the discussions.
The scrapping of the Colour Bar was announced on 28th August 1963 and Raghbir Singh, a Sikh man, was the first person of colour hired by them on 17th September.
In 1965, cited to be influenced by this boycott, the Race Relations Act was passed which made racial discrimination in public unlawful, hence the end of legal segregation across the country. In 1968 this was amended to include housing and employment. The British government felt heavily inclined to do so following the impact of the Civil Rights Movement in America (1954-68).
The Bristol Bus Boycott was a turning point in Black-British history due to its’ effect on laws and the way black employees were to be treated. Of course, there is still much change to be made regarding the institutional racism still impacting black people in the UK whether it’s in education or work, but the efforts of the WIDC changed the country forever.
Word and art by Sharlene Oola.
Instagram @sharloolart
Twitter @sharloola
Sources:
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/bhm-heroes/the-bristol-bus-boycott-of-1963/
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1293158/bristol-bus-boycott-paul-Stephenson-black-lives-matter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bus_Boycott
https://bristol.fandom.com/wiki/Roy_Hackett
