2001 England riots
| Duration | Spring and summer 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | Oldham, Leeds and Bradford |
In 2001 England received the first wave of rioting across several cities since 1981 (see 1981 England riots). The rioting in 2001 took place in Oldham, the Manningham district of Bradford and the Harehills district of Leeds.
Unlike the 1981 race riots which were mainly sparked by racial tensions in the Afro-Caribbean community, the 2001 sectarian violence was in all three cases sparked by tensions in the South Asian Muslim community.
It was the first series of riots in the United Kingdom since September 1991, when a series of riots (also with racial tension as a major factor) broke out in Oxford, Dudley, Cardiff, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Leeds.
Unlike either of the previous two waves of rioting, which occurred during times of recession and high unemployment, this wave of rioting occurred at a time when the British economy was strong and unemployment was low.
Oldham Riots
The first of the riots to take place were the Oldham Riots in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The background of the riots stems back from South Asian immigration to the area as well as numerous short term causes. In the 1950s, workers from the British Commonwealth were encouraged to migrate to Oldham to fill the shortfall of indigenous employees in the cotton industry. These migrants settled in concentrated neighborhoods, inhabiting the poorest of Oldham's then crumbling Victorian residential areas. The South Asian communities which settled, remained culturally very distinct from the local population.
In the year leading up to the riots, there were 572 reported race related crimes in the Oldham area, and in 62 % of these, white persons were recorded as being the victims.[1] These figures alarmed both Asian and white communities, and led to the far-right British National Party announcing it would stand in the forthcoming general election, with its leader Nick Griffin to stand as a candidate for election for the constituency of Oldham West and Royton. The similarly far-right National Front political party also announced its interest in the town and intent to provide its own candidates for election too.
On 21 May 2001, five days before the rioting a mugging and attack upon 76-year-old, white, Walter Chamberlain by three Asian youths was amongst the first major provocations which led to the riots. Mr. Chamberlain was approached as he walked to his home after watching a local amateur rugby league match. He was mugged and badly beaten, receiving fractured bones in the face amongst other injuries. His battered face appeared on the front of the Manchester Evening News, and the story spread to all the major national newspapers. In the Mail on Sunday, his story was told under the headline 'Whites beware'.
The riots took place on 26 May 2001, the unfolding events were as follows:
- At 8 p.m., a fight between one South Asian youth and one white youth near the Good Taste chip shop on the corner of Salford Street and Roundthorn Road in Glodwick.[2]The fight, which was witnessed, and included racist language from both sides is said to have ended abruptly, but led to the hasty gathering of a gang of white youths assembled via mobile phone.
- Following this earlier fight between the two youths, further violence erupted as a gang of white men attacked an Asian business and threw a projectile through a window of a house in the Glodwick area. Violence spiralled from this group as they rampaged through Glodwick attacking a number of persons and properties.
- The "white-owned" Live and Let Live pub was targeted and pelted with bricks, stones, bottles and then petrol bombs. Cars were driven to block the fire exits, in an attempt to stop the patrons from escaping the flames. Cars in the surrounding roads were ignited, and police were called. Police officers were pelted by groups of South Asian males.
From these triggers on the night of 26 May 2001, a night of rioting ensued.
Harehills riots
The second of the riots to take place was the Harehills riots in the Harehills district of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Unlike Oldham and Bradford, Leeds had also suffered from the 1981 race riots along with London, Birmingham and Liverpool, although this was in the city's Chapeltown district and involved the Afro-Caribbean community as opposed to the South Asian community of Harehills.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Leeds' textile industry in the north of the city and heavy engineering industry in the south of the city, suffered from a shortfall in the labour market. Many from the Commonwealth came to fill these positions. While these traditional industries declined in the late twentieth century, Leeds, unlike many northern industrial towns attracted new industry in the form of financial and legal business. While many in the city prospered from the economic boom of the time, many who worked in the older industries could not transfer their skills and were left behind, while this was not exclusive to immigrant communities it did widely effect them.
Throughout the 1990s the large Harehills district had become increasingly deprived, the housing became unfit for inhabitation and the rising unemployment led to an exodus of business. Many of the larger chain shops situated on Roundhay Road moved vacated, leaving the area short of many high street amenities. The area began spiralling into decline. Harehills is flanked to the west by Chapeltown which is an enclave of the West Indian community which was also suffering the same effects and Gipton to the east, a mainly white community with a high number of Irish immigrants. Tension existed between the communities of these areas. All three areas saw a rise in drug use and crime. This led to an increased police presence which to a degree served to increase the tensions.
On the night of 5 June 2001, the riots started behind a background of mistrust and racial tension. The trigger for the ensuing events was the arrest of Hossein Miah, by the West Yorkshire Police over a suspicious tax disc. Mr. Miah alleged that the arresting officer pulled him from his vehicle causing him injury. The officer concerned was cleared of any misconduct.[3] This led to sporadic unrest in the area around the early evening, but not until nightfall were there any definable riots. At 20:25 a hoax 999 call was made claiming a police officer had been hit by a petrol bomb.[4]
The police failed to locate the supposed attack but in attempting were lured into Bandstead Park where they were faced with a barricade of burning washing machines and furniture looted from a nearby second hand shop. By the time darkness had fallen the rioting had spread onto surrounding streets.
The rioting ended the following day.
Bradford riots
The final unrest was the Bradford riots (known locally as the Manningham riots). At the time of the riot, Bradford had the second largest population of Asians of any UK city, with approximately 68,000 Pakistanis, 12,500 Indians, 5,000 Bangladeshis and 3,000 other Asians. However, the majority of people in the city are white (Ethnicity: 78.3% White, and 18.9% S.Asian). Of the 17,512 people of Manningham 13,049 were South Asian.
Tensions rose after the National Front attempted to organise a march in the city which was banned by Home Secretary David Blunkett under the Public Order Act 1986. The Anti Nazi League organised a rally in Centenary Square in the centre of the city, which was allowed to proceed. During the course of the rally, a rumour was spread by some of the marchers that National Front sympathisers were gathering at a pub in the centre of Bradford. A confrontation then occurred outside the pub in the city centre during which a white man was stabbed.
The riot was estimated to have involved 1,000 youths.[5] On the nights of 8 and 9 July groups of between thirty and a hundred white youths attacked police and Asian-owned businesses, in the Ravenscliffe and Holmewood areas.[6] Initially there were 500 police being involved, but later reinforcements increased this to almost 1,000.[7] What began as a riot turned into a race-related disturbance, with targeting of businesses and cars, along with numerous attacks on shops and property. A notable point of the rioting was the firebombing of Manningham Labour Club, at the time a recreational centre. A 48-year-old Asian businessman was jailed for twelve years for the arson attack.[8]
The club reopened in the spring of 2006 on a different site, approximately one and a half miles away, on Bullroyd Lane, Four Lane Ends (The original site has now been redeveloped into a health and community centre and chemist). Between 60 and 100 youths of Asian ethnicity smashed windows and threw Molotov cocktails into the club until they were dispersed by riot police. Also the car garage on the top of White Abbey Road was affected, as cars were stolen and then driven towards the police. The most expensive act of the riot was the arson attack of a BMW dealership, which had previously been attacked in a 1995 disturbance.[9]
Since the riots there has been an exodus of car dealers in the area, with most now relocated to Canal Road and Sticker Lane.
See also
References
- ^ "This has been building up for years", Guardian Unlimited, 28 May 2001, URL accessed 13 June 2006
- ^ "This has been building up for years", Guardian Unlimited, 28 May 2001, URL accessed 13 June 2006
- ^ "Officer cleared over riot arrest". BBC News. 2003-03-26. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010607/ai_n14390492[dead link]
- ^ "Bradford counts cost of riot". BBC News Online. 8 July 2001. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ Bagguley, P. and Hussain, Y. (2008) Riotous Citizens: ethnic conflict in multicultural Britain, Aldershot, Ashgate.
- ^ Bagguley, P. and Hussain, Y. (2008) Riotous Citizens: ethnic conflict in multicultural Britain, Aldershot, Ashgate, page 58.
- ^ BBC: "Businessman jailed over Bradford riots"
- ^ Bagguley, P. and Hussain, Y. (2008) Riotous Citizens: ethnic conflict in multicultural Britain, Aldershot, Ashgate.