ENGLAND – april 10, 1981
On 10 April 1981, a Friday, rumours of police brutality against a black man resulted in an angry crowd confronting police for a few hours before the protests were contained.But an arrest the following night saw the streets of Brixton, south London, erupt into violence.Fighting took place between protestors and the Metropolitan police.For three days, rioters – mostly young black men – fought with police, attacked buildings and set fire to cars.More than 300 people were injured and the damage caused came to an estimated cost of £7.5 million.This historic event became known as the Brixton riots. Many people in the black community felt the country was divided.There was high unemployment, racial tensions and, in many places, the country’s black population had poor relationships with the police.Many young black people believed that police officers treated them badly, unfairly and used the ‘stop and search’ law as one of the ways to do it.Under this law, the police could stop anyone to search them if they thought they might be planning to commit a crime.Many black people involved in the riots felt that they were being targeted for these searches just because of the colour of our skin…(read more from source below).
