The Windrush and Me
Where do transracial adoptees fit in the Windrush narrative?
National Windrush Day was on Monday 22nd June, 2020 celebrating people from the Caribbean migrating to the UK. The horror of forced repatriation of the Windrush generation and their children 70 years later by the UK government has exposed a shocking injustice. But it saddens me that as a Jamaican descendant adopted by a white family I feel a disconnection.
In my show DAWTA - a one woman musical Sarah cries "I want to march on Parliament and shout justice for the Windrush generation, but I'm cut from its legacy. My mother's shameful secret'.
Of course Sarah was voicing how I feel, wanting to fit in the Windrush narrative, So I asked fellow transracial adoptee Donna Taylor and transracial fostered Sarah Buckingham to share their stories in a hope to find some answers. Join us as we explore ‘The Windrush and Me’.
The following content was provided by Sarah Buckingham, from her exhibition on Windrush Day 2018.
Black History Month 2018
The Windrush Generation
Follow the journey of the Windrush Generation: their arrival on the Empire Windrush on 22 June 1948, the contribution they have made to Britain and how their children and grandchildren have become some of Britain’s movers and shakers in 2018.
Empire Windrush Arrives
On 22nd June 1948 MV Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks from the West Indies.
Though the boat was intially being sent to Jamaica to bring RAF men back, an entrepreneurial decison was taken to try to fill otherwise empty berths, advertised in the Jamaican Gleaner newspaper as a half-price bargain at £28
The Passengers
A total of 1027 civilian and military passengers were recorded aboard the MV Empire Windrush, one third of them were RAF servicemen, who were coming back to Britain. The rest were young adventurers grasping the opportunity to sail into what they hoped would be an economically bright future for them and their families.
The countries at which passengers had embarked were Trinidad, Jamaica, Bermuda and Mexico.
There were also 60 Polish refugees on the Windrush.
86 children travelled as part of family groups ranging from infants to those aged 12 years old.
Above: Windrush Passenger List
The British Nationality Act 1948
One major significance of mass migration to Britain from the West Indies in 1948 was the creation of The British Nationality Act 1948.
At the beginning of the century, if you could prove you were born within the British Empire you could claim full nationality rights in Britain.
The British Nationality Act of 1948 conferred the status of British citizen on all Commonwealth subjects and recognised their right to work and settle in the UK and to bring their families with them.
This was introduced in part as a response to tackle the shortage of unskilled labour in Great Britain.
The Windrush Generation
During the 20 years after the arrival of the first wave of Windrush pioneers in June 1948, several more people of Caribbean background responded to this call. The records show that almost 200,000 migrants from the Caribbean region responded and they proceeded to take up work in the brand new National Health Services (which also was formed in 1948) as nurses, doctors and ancillary staff.
Some took up employment in the transport system in London and other urban centres. Others worked in factories helping to rebuild the manufacturing base; and others worked in the construction sector rebuilding homes and offices destroyed by Nazi bombs during World War II.
These are the people who came to the UK from the Caribbean region, to strengthen the local workforce; these are the people we are remembering when we speak of the Windrush generation.
Caribbean Women and the NHS
The NHS was established in post-war England to tackle the major social and economic problems of the day, including ill-health and disease. Following the destruction caused by the Second World War and labour shortages in England, it was critically important for hospitals to recruit staff from the Caribbean to work in the new NHS. In response to recruitment drives in the Caribbean, many people responded and arrived in this country to help the NHS establish itself.
POEM
YOU CALLED... AND WE CAME.
You called…and we came. In ships bigger than anything we had seen, dwarfing our islands and covering them in the shadows of smoke and noise. Crowded, excited voices filled the air, traveling to the ‘motherland’ - over weeks, over oceans that threatened to engulf us. Driven by a wish, a call to save, to rebuild and support efforts to establish ‘health for all’ in the aftermath of war.
You called….and we came. Women and men of position in our homelands; nurses with a pride in the excellence of our care. With experience of management, organisation and a sense of duty. We appeared. Smiling and eager to work on the wards, communities and clinics of this England.
You called….and we came. Our big hearts, skilful hands and quick minds encased in our skins - of a darker hue. Which had shimmered and glowed in our sunnier climes. But now signified our difference
- our un-belonging. Matrons became assistants Nurses became like chambermaids. All the while striving to fulfil our promise - to succour, to serve, to care.
You called….and we came. The blue of the sister’s uniform - seemed as far away from us as the moon. Unreachable by our dark hands in this cold land. But we were made of sterner stuff. The hot sun, which once beat down on our ancestors, when they too left their lands, Shone within us. Forging our hearts and minds with the resistance of Ebony.
You called….and we came. Rising like the Phoenix , from the heat of rejection. We cared, we worked and we organised. Until the quickness of our brains and the excellence of our care made it hard for you to contain us. And slowly, so slowly, the blue uniforms had dark and lighter bodies
beneath them. The professional care in our touch was valued despite the strangeness of our speech and the kinks in our hair.
You called… and we came. A new millennium - new hopes spread across this land. New populations, engaging and reflecting the varied, diverse and vibrant nature of these shores. Challenging and reflecting on leadership for health. Moves to melt the ‘snow’ at the peaks of our profession. Recognising the richness of our kaleidoscope nation. Where compassion, courage and diversity are reflected In our presence and our contribution: Not only the hopes and dreams of our ancestors. - Human values needed to truly lead change… and add value.
Remember… you called. Remember… you called YOU. Called. Remember, it was us, who came.
- Professor Laura Serrant 2017
“The 70th anniversary is a chance to reach across our many different ethnic, faith and family heritages, to reject prejudice and intolerance, and to shape a fair and inclusive future that we all want to share.”
“Following the end of World War II, as the rebuilding of Britain gathered pace, the need for skilled workers and personnel prompted the British Government to reach out to places like the West Indies to invite citizens from its British colonies to come and help.
They duly and loyally responded to the “mother country”, many having served in the allied forces during the war. Thus they came, they saw, they served. They overcame most obstacles, they stayed and along with their descendants and dependants over the next seven decades, contributed to the change that is now modern Britain.”
Lord Ouseley was born in Guyana in 1945, and came to England when he was 11. He was educated at William Penn School and Catford College, where he gained a diploma in municipal administration.
He was appointed as the first principal race relations advisor in local government, and served as Head of the GLC's Ethnic Minority Unit. He later became Chief Executive of the London Borough of Lambeth and the former Inner London Education Authority (the first black person to hold such an office), responsible for over 1000 schools and colleges across the capital.
In 1993, he became the executive chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, a position he held until 2000. He is widely credited with having restored the CRE's flagging credibility.
In 2001, he was raised to the peerage of Baron Ouseley of Peckham Rye in Southwark. He is often called upon to chair independent inquiries into racism, be it in the educational system, or the Bradford riots.
He is actively involved in the work of many independent and voluntary organisations including the Institute of Race Relations and the Ethnic Minority Foundation. Herman Ouseley is also the Chair of PRESET Education and Training trust, Kick-It-Out plc (Let's kick racism out of football campaign), Policy Research Institute on Ageing & Ethnicity (University of Central England). He is the recipient of eight honorary degrees.
Sam King
WWII RAF Veteran
Born in 1926, Sam King MBE first came to Britain after volunteering for the Royal Air Force as an engineer in 1944, after spotting an advert in the local paper.
Mr King returned to the UK on the Empire Windrush in 1948. He said he had “left Portland, Jamaica, in temperatures of 75oF (23oC).” When he arrived in Britain the temperature was 39oF (4oC): “I thought I was going to die.
After returning to Britain and settling in Southwark, he found work as a postman and became an active campaigner in the community.
In the mid-1950s he became circulation manager of the Brixton-based Gazette.
He later helped organise the first Caribbean-style carnival in London which later became the first Notting Hill Carnival in 1964.
Sam King was elected as Mayor of Southwark in 1983.