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Mosques were attacked with bricks and stones. Marchers chanting, “We want our country back.” A man’s head was also reportedly stamped on during a racist attack.
The scenes last week in Britain and Northern Ireland have evoked painful memories among British Asians who recall the 1970s and 1980s, a time of rampant racist violence and the rise of the National Front.
Harish Patel, who is in his 70s, said he was heartbroken.
He said teens are likely hearing about what life is like in this country from their parents and grandparents.
“They thought it was all over, and now they’re experiencing it for themselves.”
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Riots and police clash in Sunderland on August 2nd
The unrest was sparked by the stabbings of three girls in Southport, which led to false speculation that the suspects were Muslim asylum seekers.
It sent a lightning bolt of fear into Asian and minority communities.
Mungura, an elderly Asian woman who came from Kenya 50 years ago, was transported back to her early days in London.
She was worried that the escalation in violence would leave her too scared to get milk from the corner store. “I’m worried because we were like that back then.”
Tens of thousands of South Asians came to work in British factories and public services in the 1950s as Britain rebuilt its post-war economy.
By the early 1970s, the population had grown to about 500,000, driven by family reunions and Asians fleeing East Africa, many of them expelled from Uganda.
Immigration has become a political issue. In 1968, Conservative MP Enoch Powell gave his explosive “Rivers of Blood” speech in which he said that by allowing mass immigration, the country was “heaping up its own funeral pyre”.
The far-right National Front was the most vocal and held regular rallies. Asians had to contend with daily harassment and police brutality.
“The climate and fear of racism was so strong that it was difficult for me to ignore the fact that I was a person of color,” Mungla says.
“It was a common swear word, a nasty word, when you’re walking down the street.”
Mungla witnessed the riots in Southall, a predominantly Asian area of west London. The incident took place in 1979, three years after the racist murder of local Sikh teenager Gurdip Singh Chagar.
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Thousands attended the funeral of Blair Peach, a teacher killed in Southall race riots in 1979.
A few weeks before the general election, the National Front decided to hold a rally at Southall Town Hall.
Thousands of people, mostly Asian, but also anti-racist allies, took to the streets to protest far-right and police brutality.
According to a Metropolitan Police Department report, 40 people were injured, including 21 police officers, 300 people were arrested and one teacher was killed. The fatal wound was probably caused by a police officer.
These were cruel times that left lasting trauma on those who lived through them. And they take me back to my childhood.
I was just a toddler when a lit firework was thrown into my parents’ mailbox in Hampshire. Our neighbors didn’t like Asians living on the street.
My mother remembers holding my hyperactive brother, a few years older than me, as he ran toward the front door.
She was shivering for hours afterward. She will never forget the fear she felt in that moment.
It happened several months after the P-word was scrawled on the garage door. At the time, we were living with my grandmother, who wore a Gujarati sari, and my parents felt incredibly vulnerable.
They felt targeted because they looked different, even though they were just trying to live a happy life in 1980s England. We moved soon after that.
It’s amazing to hear, decades later, that Asians, including members of my own family, are afraid to leave their homes again.
Iqbal, a father in his 50s from Bolton, nervously tugged at his fingers as he said his children had told him not to go outside because they were scared.
“I thought the era of racism was over,” he said.
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Demonstrators from across the community gathered to protest against racism in Sheffield on Wednesday.
Seven days of violence saw hotels housing asylum seekers attacked, minority-owned businesses looted and cars and buildings set on fire. More than 400 people were arrested.
Muslims were particularly targeted, with missiles thrown into mosques, Islamophobic chants and Muslim gravestones in Burnley destroyed.
Police patrols have been stepped up, but some young people said they did not trust officers to protect them.
“We don’t feel like they’re protecting us because they haven’t protected us in the past. I feel like I have to,” said Mohammad, who is in his 20s.
But Wednesday felt like a turning point.
After the immigration lawyer’s name and address were spread online, the community braced for a night of chaos, but the riots almost never materialized.
Instead, thousands of anti-racism demonstrators rallied in cities and towns across England. People chanted, “Get racism out of the streets!”
In Accrington, Lancashire, there was a “massive” moment of solidarity as Muslim anti-fascist protesters turned out to protect a local mosque and were received by pub patrons.
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Anti-racism demonstrators also gathered in Walthamstow on Wednesday following reports that far-right demonstrations could take place in the area.
Hadi Malik, who was part of the group, said: “There were a few cries of ‘respect’, which was great. We need to come together to stop this far-right violence.”
The show of force gave people hope, courage, and a sense of relief.
However, the ripples of intimidation have not yet subsided. Some people wonder if they are really accepted in this country.
“I don’t want to feel like that,” said Hamza Morris, a 20-year-old Muslim. “I am a part of this country, just like they are.”
Meanwhile, Mungla felt deeply uneasy.
“This past week has made me think that not much has really changed, that racism still persists, and that we may never really be seen the same…not really. there is no.”
The image above, taken on July 4, 1981, shows a damaged store on Broadway in Southall, following riots in the area.
