Films

Sapphire

Plot

The film is about a murdered pregnant girl who initially passed for white. She by appearances is a white woman who is found stabbed on Hampstead Heath. Her brother played by Earl Cameron arrives at the police station to give evidence and he is black. It then becomes evident to the police officers that this girl has been passing for white. This film reveals the underlying insecurities and fears of ordinary people that exist towards another race.

Reviews

When a young woman's body is discovered on London's Hampstead Heath, the ensuing investigation quickly focuses on racial bigotry and hatred in 1950s Britain, exposing the prejudice amongst those under investigation AND those investigating.

Like so many other films from the 1940s and 1950s, Sapphire is yet another piece of groundbreaking British cinema now long forgotten. A little clunky and overly reliant on stereotyping by today's standards, but still a fascinating exploration of the fears and struggles inherent in a newly mixed-race society. Dearden has brought together an interesting cast here, cleverly giving matinée idol Craig a fairly unsympathetic role as a racist police officer, and being superbly served by Mitchell - her final scene is at once both compelling and distressing. Too many British cinema actors of the 40's and 50's have now been forgotten, and Mitchell is a prime example of why individual and collective reappraisals and retrospectives are long overdue.

Director

Basil Dearden has created films from genres, to thrillers to war films working at the famous Ealing Studios. However, he then worked with someone and made films that had subjects that the cinema had not gone for yet; including homosexuality and race relations.

Linking media texts

Images representing Black Britain on Prezi

What is Black British Culture?

From this radio programme I have learnt that Black people have made a mark on British of lives of many young people especially this generation and the past generation. They have done this through style, food, talking but most importantly music.

Starting with style, this shaped the identity of Black British people. Black wanted to dress well all the time especially on Sundays however, racism had an impact on their confidence. It started off with the Jackson 5 which a lot of people adopted the style of; afros and silk shirts. In the 90’s especially baggy jeans, baseball caps started to come in which many guys adopted. Even then idols like 50 Cent inspired young Black people with wearing a waist coat with jeans. Even Asians and White people want to dress like this. This generation is engaging with all cultures especially the Black style of baggy jeans or skinny jeans.

Food is a minor part of Black culture however it has had a huge impact on what we eat. Chicken and rice is big things that you can buy in many fast food places or sweet potatoes which some eat with a traditional roast. Again it is about the generations embracing all different cultures and involving them in their everyday lives without realising.

Other cultures are now accused of acting Black which Blacks do not feel offensive by but an unfair stereotype. This ‘acting Black’ may include how loud and aggressive they may be or them using the slang. It’s a very young thing to be talking like this. Many Whites and Asians may have grown up in an area and learnt the culture of Black people that’s why they ‘act Black’. However, young black people feel that in the Media Black people are always represented as violent young people; gang members, drug dealers and stay on the street. As the stereotype also is very forceful and big they sometimes feel that this is what turns them into the stereotype as they are fed up of the accusations.

Music is a huge part of Black British culture and the Black British music has a huge impact on what many of the young generation listens too. It is very popular amongst the genres of reggae, hip-hop, grime, dance hall, garage and drum and bass. Young Black people feel that this Black British music isn’t just for Black people but for every one as the young generation is such a huge market. They feel that this music is under an umbrella of urban music which has a huge audience in Britian amongst all cultures. Some music causes controversy because of some of the negative images that are portrayed as violent or sexual however the success of it is that a lot of people like it.

I believe that Black culture has impacted my life a lot. I listen to a lot of the music, enjoy the music and look up to many Black role-models. Even though there are some issues in the media that do put Black British people in a negative light I do not agree with the stereotype because of how much the Black culture has to offer. It is a positive thing to share all different cultures in experience new things but also having it as a part of my generation’s culture.

Radio extract from 1958

Black people are being represented here as new and ugly showing raical discrimination. They represent Black people as a coloured invasion in Britain. The tone of the men are pompous and stuck up amplifying how they are looking down upon Black people. The instrumental in the background also sounds daunting to add to the tone of the hatrid amongst White people about Blacks.

THE WINDRUSH YEARS notes

Part 1:


What you could call a juxtaposition at the beginning of this series with praising the famous Black people that many admire to then introduce the tough life of what they went through. Half a million people from the West Indies were brought over to the UK to mainly help with the economy. As Jamaica was one country that was colonised by the British, it lead the way of life of the British. They had Church of England schools and respected the royals as much as the British did. Black people helped in the war, they were eager to protect their motherland. The West Indian soldiers were made welcome and were treated like equals because of what they were doing for Britain.



Part 2:


Many West Indians during the war become popular musicians and singers during the war. However, the attitude amongst the white people changed as they discriminated against the Black people; the British did not want them in the UK. Most of them returned however some stayed. Then many West Indians were given the opportunity to go back to Britain with a one way ticket. Many who hadn't been wanted to go as they thought it would be exciting, bigger and adventurous.



Part 3:


There was uncertainty amongst many about jobs however, the West Indians were sent to many parts around the country to work in factories; manual labour. West Indian women were given the opportunity to work as nurses too. People from the West Indies were shocked about England. From what they read in books from Shakespeare they believed it would be a beautiful place but were then disappointed when they arrived by the dullness of the concrete buildings.



Part 4:


The West Indians thought they had an intimate relationship with the British but again were proven wrong. Black people were shocked about the cockney accents of the working people as well as how grey and dismal Britain was. The British were were ignorant towards the Black people, they did not wish to be friends with them therefore leaving the Black people to feel isolated and lonely. They discriminated and hated also the way the Blacks washed in oil as they did not like the smell. A slogan was introduced to make the Blacks feel weak; 'Keep Britain White'.



Part 5:


The Black people then formed their own clubs, music and celebrities. However, there then started to be romance between the White and Black people. If parents of a White girl found out she was dating a Black guy they would have hit the roof and disowned her. The White women had to then deal with a lot themselves as they were spit on in public by her fellow white people if seen with her Black boyfriend. Then it came to finding rooms to live, many White men did not want 'coloured' people to rent rooms in their houses; they then ended up living on the streets.





Part 6:
Black homeowners were growing and the Whites believed that they had prostitution businesses with making lots of money. Black women and men were giving dirty jobs however by the White people. As there was tremendous cruelty towards the Black people they would carry steel bars to protect themselves just in case they were attacked. The Notting Hill riots then started that were so uncontrollable for the police with petrol bombs to start fires on the Blacks.


Part 7:

White poeple wanted the Blacks to go back to their own country, therefore carrying chains and knives with them to threaten with. The Blacks started to then protect themselves leading into head to head confrontations with the Whites. There then started to be more racial killings and little protection. Local whites even said that the violence had to stop.

Part 8:

They wanted Britain to be multi-cultural, to bring people together. A new wave of parties came in the 60's with Blau's house parties for Black people. These were parties where people felt safe but also cool. Music such as 'ska' came in huge from Jamaica which many enjoyed. Caribbean music hit many of the British club scenes also.

Part 9:

One thing that started to happen was if a white woman was not getting sex from a white man they would move on to the Black guy. A wealthy White woman had relationships with West Indian men that caused many problems for Blacks in the media showing them as quite sleazy. Black people wanted to fit in the community but White people did not want them in Churches on Sundays as they were 'breaking the White community'. Black people then created there own churches for families to feel safe and welcome.

Part 10:

Discrimination got worse for the Blacks as the ones who were visiting were staying also. In Bristol, it was hard for the Blacks to get on buses and feel comfortable but Martin Luther King approached and was an inspiration. Blacks then decided to fight back leading Labour in 1964 to have a race legislation.

Part 11:

Michael X caused controversy as many radical blacks and even liberal whites were supporting him. He even got cash from celebrities to support his cause however, he murdered two people therefore he was hanged. In 1966, anti-immigrants were growing especially in the Midlands where the Blacks were working hard in the factories but there were no houses for them to stay. Birmingham then turned to Conservatives and followed the slogan of 'want a n***** neighbour, vote labour'.

Part 12:

Enoch Powell created the anti-immigrant feeling across the country with 3/4 of the nation supporting him. However, when he lied about a woman living on the streets with a Black guy to make the Blacks look bad he got fired. He had 50,000 letters to petition for him to come back which then showed that the Blacks were not wanted.

Part 13:

In 1981 there was a racial murder of setting a fire to house murdering 13 children. There was also an employment shortage and many Whites were angry that Black people were taking their jobs leading into bars not letting them in. Also, the Black children of the first generation that came to England had their own clubs in community halls to feel much more safe. Celebs like Micheal Jackson, Bruce Lee, Mohammed Ali became very famous and skin heads wanted action on this. In the education system the Black children suffered as many were removed from mainstream classes and put into lower sets as Whites did not believe they were as clever.

Part 14:

Black people wanted to protest however, only 150 protesters went but police were so worried that there were 600 police involved in keeping it under control. In the eyes of the police, these Black radicals were a shame to their families. Black people were arrested for no reason. Parents tried to get support for the children but the discrimination still carried on. It was a very 'bloody' confrontation.

Part 15:

Black people got violent towards the police because police were purposely arresting them. There were bad stereotypes on Black criminals which frustrated the Blacks. When Bob Marley came out it seemed to strengthen the Black people; a new religion/culture of Rastafarian. Even his music was popular amongst British people but his music definitely connected to Black peoples feelings. There was then a march in Lewisham that caused a lot of trouble. Discrimination and racisim and violence did not need to go as far as it went.