The Glasgow race disturbances of 1919

Recovering the history of Asian migration to Scotland

“…Opposition to the employment of colonial seamen intensified, culminating in 1919 in riots and violence in a number of ports, including Glasgow. 67 The colonial seamen involved in the riot in Glasgow all appear to have originated from Sierra Leone and there is no mention of Lascar seamen having been the victims of assault. 68 In the context of the depression, colonial seamen also joined the ranks of the unemployed.…”

“…67 The colonial seamen involved in the riot in Glasgow all appear to have originated from Sierra Leone and there is no mention of Lascar seamen having been the victims of assault. 68 In the context of the depression, colonial seamen also joined the ranks of the unemployed. With the ending in late 1919 of the 20 shillings a week out-of-work donation made to all unemployed colonial seamen and the withdrawal of the government's post-riot offer to repatriate unemployed colonial seamen, 100 seamen were left destitute in Glasgow, several being taken to a city poorhouse in Barnhill suffering from the cold and hunger.…”

“…Seamen 'Official concern' over the presence of Lascar seamen became a significant force in both Scotland and England after 1919 following a series of disturbances in Britain's major seaports, 56 but the first expressions of concern were evident at least as early as 1910. Principally as a result of discrimination in the shipping industry 57 the presence of increasing numbers of destitute colonial seamen in many of Britain's ports was followed by the organization of a Parliamentary Enquiry into 'Distressed Colonial and Indian Subjects in Britain' in 1910.…”

Within Our Gates: A New Perspective on Germans in Glasgow during the First World War

“…62 The anti-German violence, including the riots in May 1915, also bears some resemblance to other disturbances that were directed at foreigners such as nineteenth-century assaults on Catholic Irish immigrants 63 or the 1919 Glasgow race disturbances, with physical attacks on black seamen apparently caused by a mixture of industrial unrest, rivalry between two unions and racism. 64 Similarly, during the unemployment riots in 1931 Italian and Jewish shops were attacked in Glasgow's city centre. 65 Nine years later, war news and bigotry caused more Glasgow rioting.…”

‘Vindictiveness on Account of Colour’?: Race, Gender, and Class at the English Divorce Court, 1872–1939

“…Racial "others" certainly had disadvantages in the criminal courts (Seal and Neale 2020;D'Cruze 2007), but well-off and prominent men of color in the empire enjoyed more success in civil litigation, particularly against poor women (Yahaya 2019). Bias in criminal courts also emerged after the riots of 1919, since white perpetrators received little punishment for attacking people of color (Evans 1980;Jenkinson 1985;Jenkinson 2009, pp. 131-54).…”