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The 1919 Cardiff Racist Riots



I only just found out about the riots that took place 100 years ago in Cardiff, that killed several people. I wish I could link to one comprehensive webpage that gives the full history, but I don't think one exists. It's a surprisingly hidden piece of history.

The 1919 Cardiff Racist Riots lasted several days with white crowds attacking black and minority ethnic communities, and homes. I feel like we should call them "racist riots" rather than "race riots" as "race riots" suggests a neutrality with blame equally on both sides when this was clearly primarily an attack from the white population on the black and middle eastern populations of Cardiff. Particularly targeted were mixed race families and white women who has married black men.

Cardiff was not isolated but this was part of a pattern that affected Barry, Newport, as well as English and Scottish port towns where there were ethnic minority populations.

High unemployment, newspapers whipping up fear and hatred, and a post-traumatic war population all led to this outburst of racist violence.

The question is: where is the commemoration of this violence in Cardiff today? Why isn't there a plaque or some art work to remember what happened?

This is just another small example of how we choose to be very selective in the history that we remember, and have yet to come to terms with our imperialist and racist history, to tell the truth about our own history, and to come to terms with the history of white supremacy.

This Twitter account is "live tweeting" the riots right now. Check it out.

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