How the Bristol bus boycott changed UK civil rights - Witness History, BBC World Service

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10 ай бұрын

In 1963, 18-year-old Guy Bailey wanted to get a job working on buses in Bristol, England. He secured an interview but when he arrived, the Bristol Omnibus Company refused to interview him after discovering he was black.
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Guy’s treatment sparked a boycott of Bristol’s buses which led to Britain's first anti-discrimination laws. Guy Bailey OBE went on to set up the first black housing association in Bristol and be honoured by the late Queen for his commitment to social housing.
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Пікірлер: 164

@ljchandler4876 27 күн бұрын

at least this was made public so that people could do something about it - it is the invisible discrimination of any kind that is insidious

@albert7311 25 күн бұрын

Why?

@user-fe1gb9uc1t 23 күн бұрын

Bristolians know about this already, it is publicised. there are murals in very public places across the city centre.

@yippee8570 4 күн бұрын

@@albert7311 because if you don't know about it you can't do anything to change it

@albert7311 4 күн бұрын

@@user-fe1gb9uc1t Lucky you. Both colonised and ugly murals.

@Iskelderon 28 күн бұрын

I'm always impressed by people who managed to trigger that kind of progress. At the end of the day, it only matters that a person does a good job, not what they look like.

@albert7311 25 күн бұрын

Which is why you are happy to be replaced by an immigrant.

@KitchenSinkSoup 25 күн бұрын

@JakaiwKwkwk-l4v proof?

@errolbaptiste 25 күн бұрын

It was 61 years ago the Bristol Bus Boycott took place in 1963.

@jaker3151 Ай бұрын

1963 was not really that long ago. The 1988 interviews that were mixed in confused me a bit. I thought it took 25 years to resolve but it actually took 4 months in 1963.

@veramae4098 Ай бұрын

Humans were still using sailing ships at the start of the 20th century. 70 years later we landed on the moon.

@stephenholmes1036 28 күн бұрын

@@veramae4098and North Africans are still enslaving fellow Africans today!

@carlbirtles4518 27 күн бұрын

The boycott in Montgomery lasted nearly a year.

@cedriclynch 26 күн бұрын

@@jaker3151 Are people being taught in school about the racist material that was being taught in primary schools in 1963, or about the material that was commonplace in radio and TV comedy and in children's comics? I remember a geography lesson about Outspan oranges taught with educational material handed out by the South African embassy, just after the Sharpeville massacre. Kids were casually taught racist poems like "Eeny meeny miny mo" ; I am not certain where I learned this but it could only have been either in school or on the BBC radio programme "Listen with Mother".

@cedriclynch 26 күн бұрын

The Transport and General Workers' Union apologised for its actions in this incident, several decades later.

@patchso 26 күн бұрын

As a Bristolian, I am so proud of Bailey and Stephenson, and of the city that supported them. This is a piece of our history that should be much better known.

@jamieson88 25 күн бұрын

I think it’s more worthwhile to tap into the shame that should be felt for holding these men back, instead of relishing in pride at their hard-won struggle.

@clive373 25 күн бұрын

@@jamieson88 good point, but still, I would be proud had I been part of that boycott.

@BBCWorldService 10 ай бұрын

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@rad4924 29 күн бұрын

A shameful chapter of our history that I wasn't aware of. It's like watching footage from the American south.

@berniefynn6623 27 күн бұрын

Shameful? WHY? OUR country, not theirs,they CHOSE to come here,should have checked out this sort of thing before coming, NOT their heritage they ate now trying to destroy.

@Anticommunism99 27 күн бұрын

Shameful is to hate white people

@Anticommunism99 27 күн бұрын

No to Marxism

@user-mr1ie1vf9c 26 күн бұрын

There is nothing shameful about it, it is history, it is what makes change. It is shameful at the time of happening, but after it is over, it is progress and no longer shameful.

@berniefynn6623 26 күн бұрын

NOT shameful at the time, HE CHOSE to come here, a white country

@bron-sconcess.10 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for posting! Good archive material; relevant, revealing and heart warming - so many young black males could have had improved lives, no rogue black youth generations borne of hostility to race, climates.

@cedriclynch 26 күн бұрын

Would it be possible to get rid of the music that makes the interviews much more difficult to listen to?

@jgdooley2003 26 күн бұрын

There needs to be an awareness that as one gets older the ability to filter out background noises becomes less powerful and it is why older people find it hard to engage in conversation or listen to ther people in noisy environments such as pubs, nightclubs etc. Film editors need to be aware of this and tailor their output accordingly. This is especially important with films such as this which are telling a very important story about past practices and injustices.

@cedriclynch 26 күн бұрын

@@jgdooley2003 Thank you, what a thoughtful and constructive comment. Usually the attitude is that us oldies should get younger so as to be able to listen to an interview half blotted out by loud music superimposed on it.

@beth12svist 23 күн бұрын

I'm only in my thirties and still dislike this relatively recent trend of putting music under spoken words. I think there are many people with auditory processing difficulties, not just old people.

@DjWellDressedMan 10 ай бұрын

Linton Kwesi Johnson's Live album explains the Racism in England.

@therealgodessisis Ай бұрын

enoch powell went to the West Indies to recruit workers.

@BabaEsconoir 27 күн бұрын

Only to complain later about West Indians flooding the streets of the UK for political clout. It worked by the way... .

@Steve14ps Ай бұрын

As a former trade union official I find the conduct of the T&GWU appalling.

@stephenholmes1036 28 күн бұрын

He was representing his members views! What was he supposed to do?

@mesamies123 28 күн бұрын

@@stephenholmes1036He should have been a leader - not a racist!

@Steve14ps 28 күн бұрын

@@stephenholmes1036 Sadly so, but as already pointed out he should have been more of a leader than a racist. Also sadly the mindset of the great British public was less tolerant towards minorities back then.

@G6JPG 26 күн бұрын

@@stephenholmes1036 His _white_ members. Of course, it was self-fulfilling: if they wouldn't employ coloured people, he wouldn't _have_ any non-white members. (Actually, I prefer to be called pink, as I'm not dead.)

@cedriclynch 26 күн бұрын

@@Steve14ps At least the TGWU apologised after a few decades, rather than a few centuries like Pope John Paul II apologising for the persecution by the church of astronomers who denied that the Earth is the centre of the universe.

@gunner678 Ай бұрын

Shameful

@Anticommunism99 27 күн бұрын

Yep absolutely shameful behaviour from the radical left Marxism

@Pikestnt 26 күн бұрын

4 months to resolve? I love the way ppl entrench for months, losing reputation and money and then belatedly capitulate. Rather than asking themselves on day one, “Is this right?” and doing the decent thing immediately. See also Sub Postmasters, Contaminated Blood, Grenfell, etc etc

@alex-E7WHU 23 күн бұрын

Etc.... COVID vaccination damage.

@dragonfly4484 15 күн бұрын

The British government has consistently done a poor job of acknowledging its failures in the Caribbean and African societies it once exploited. After World War II, descendants of these exploited communities were invited to Britain to help rebuild its economy. Despite never paying reparations for slavery, the British government has failed to provide even basic support to those who sacrificed their time and left their homelands to assist. It’s disgraceful. Descendants of the British beneficiaries from that era should be sent back without pay to offer free services, so they can understand the hardships faced by the Windrush generation. Anyone who still denies these facts and continues to promote bigotry is ignorant and ungrateful, and their views should be dismissed.

@AdrianB2016 29 күн бұрын

Very informative, but just like in the US because a POC kinda made you apart of a Servant class

@angloaust1575 28 күн бұрын

The australian and canadians Drew much of britains labour After ww2 with cheap fares Creating a labour shortage So west indians were recruited!

@shankarbalan3813 27 күн бұрын

I read in a book that there was some kind of TV Serial in the 1970’s and all, whose title was “My Neighbour is a “Darkie”? The irony of this is so evident. The British went all over the world. Enslaved so many people of different Nationalities. Looted money and minerals and natural resources and took away the freedom of whole geographies. And still retained this “colour consciousness’ right through time. In today’s new Labour Britain you have a Gentleman of Colour who is the Foreign Secretary and you’ve just said Goodbye to an PM of Asian extraction. How the world has changed.

@Pikestnt 26 күн бұрын

It was actually called Love Thy Neighbour but Bill Bryson mentioned seeing it and deliberately mis-remembered the title in his book. 😀 It was pretty dire. Not only offensive but not even very well written

@mike-myke22 25 күн бұрын

I remember it as really bad. The one racist premise ('joke') repeated episode after episode

@thespamdance311 20 күн бұрын

It wasn’t a great show, but the writer actually had good intentions. The black neighbour was smarter than his white neighbour, and always got the last laugh. The two households mixed, yet the white guy couldn’t help making bigoted comments. The show was actually about tolerance, but would be seen as racist today because it dares to joke about a taboo subject.

@jamieson88 25 күн бұрын

“U.S.-Americans are always so preoccupied with race and racial division.” 😅😅😅 Britons’ and Europeans’ delusions about U.S.-Americans never cease to amaze me.

@stephfoxwell4620 27 күн бұрын

No it didn't.

@KitchenSinkSoup 25 күн бұрын

Why didn't it?

@johnashton4776 17 күн бұрын

Calling Afticans colored the audacity.

@captainchaos3667 23 күн бұрын

1963, Jesus. That just happened.

@andyaim4764 3 күн бұрын

Reform party trying to keep this spirit going…..

@Rabolisk 25 күн бұрын

Makes you wonder if Bristol having a strong green party now will make another boycott successful.

@KitchenSinkSoup 25 күн бұрын

boycott of what?

@matthewbaynham6286 Ай бұрын

And now we have the Reform party with Nigel Farage.

@gunner678 Ай бұрын

Sad and worrying

@rad4924 29 күн бұрын

Imagining being so brainwashed that you actually believe that

@stephenholmes1036 28 күн бұрын

The biggest enermy of the black American is the white liberal! Malcolm.X

@joelgeorgeable 28 күн бұрын

When did he ever say that coloured people can not enter Uk?

@jaymareachealee3351 26 күн бұрын

@@joelgeorgeablewhen did Hitler PUBLICLY state that Jews were going to be murdered in extermination camps?

@youme1414 27 күн бұрын

Colonial master! The usual suspect!

@MichaelJ44 25 күн бұрын

Aaah :)

@marketads1 27 күн бұрын

Thank you a million times for this. Europe and America have forgotten how terrible we had been to black people. Now, the idea of “others” in our midst has frightened us once again. Can we rise?

@albert7311 25 күн бұрын

What did you do to them?

@mnaeem4783 10 ай бұрын

Ai20

@stephenholmes1036 26 күн бұрын

In Northern Ireland a fair %age of Catholics did not have the vote till the 1970s yet few people acknowledge that they were not black and the irish got as much stick as black people especially in housing and jobs, ? Whats happened has happened you live and learn. Just treat people in the manner you would wish to be treated yourself. None of the language was particularly offensive and the BBC need to remember that.

@Hex___666 26 күн бұрын

What rubbish, Cathloics always had the right to vote in Northern Ireland.

@AaronMcDaid 26 күн бұрын

@@Hex___666there was lots of anti-Catholic discrimination in voting. As one small example, business owners had extra votes in some elections

@Hex___666 26 күн бұрын

@@AaronMcDaid Including Catholic business owners so what's your point?

@harryturner8701 24 күн бұрын

Now this is real racism

@stephenchappell7512 22 күн бұрын

Great Stuff 👍 Now how about some indigenous rights???

@somethinglikeanonymous1773 19 күн бұрын

Sorry? What do you mean?

@stephenchappell7512 19 күн бұрын

@@somethinglikeanonymous1773 I thought that would be obvious All we hear about is 'rights' for colonizers While indigenous people are being silenced and driven from their homes in order to make more room for yet more colonizers

@edmundprice5276 28 күн бұрын

Of course the racism is appalling, but a part of me laments the cultural change that erased the westcountry heritage of Bristol.

@stephenholmes1036 28 күн бұрын

True I see it as a Cornish man

@edmundprice5276 28 күн бұрын

@@stephenholmes1036 onen hag oll my cornish friend, grockles be coming for us all, in Devon too.

@dalek3086 28 күн бұрын

good old Bristol - the city that made good money out of the slave trade. some heritage eh

@edmundprice5276 28 күн бұрын

@dalek3086 as did London, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and almost every other port city. Not to mention the vast majority of cultures around the world. I am proud to be a son of the westcountry, and proud to stand against the imperialists of London.

@dalek3086 28 күн бұрын

@@edmundprice5276 I must seek out these imperialists of London. Good for you being proud to be a son of the West Country. London has had waves of immigrants. Huguenots. Jews. Bangladeshis. Yorkshire has a Viking heritage ......

@lliamjurdom9505 28 күн бұрын

ah those were the days of the queens britain of 1963

@Flubbydubbydoodoo 26 күн бұрын

60 years later and it's not about equality, it's about preferential treatment.

@ThePierre58 27 күн бұрын

Well, I do not know where the BBC dug this up from. I grew up quite close to Bristol, and my French mother would catch some sarcastic comments when spoke with her heavy accent. I distinctly recall black children in our primary school. Everybody got along. The narrative some media outlets put out is simply not accurate.

@bisiosindero831 27 күн бұрын

😂funny you.

@xandervk2371 27 күн бұрын

Are you questioning the historical footage and interviews with actual participants?

@ThePierre58 26 күн бұрын

@@xandervk2371 In a word, yes, I was there.

@xandervk2371 26 күн бұрын

@@ThePierre58 Excellent, I just noticed you in the video.

@patchso 26 күн бұрын

This absolutely DID happen. It’s a well known piece of Bristol’s history. It’s historical FACT. But don’t worry, when all else fails you can simply stick your head in the ground and deny reality.

@BJBjornson-wn5qp Ай бұрын

Native people have a right to defend labour in their home country.

@joedellinger9437 Ай бұрын

Right, all bus drivers in Bristol must be Welsh!

@mzanzibariful Ай бұрын

You do understand this was the 60s right? Before collapse of the “empire” that built up said home country. At a time when the mighty overlords could import labour from the colonies at will - which they did in the case of people from the West Indies to England, and people from India to the other colonies. But go on 😂

@PGHEngineer 29 күн бұрын

@@mzanzibarifuland what has that got to do with me pr lhim, who should have had the power to bring both the empire and immigration to an end but were overruled constantly by a mysterious power elite that simply does as it pleases in our fake democracy?

@dalek3086 28 күн бұрын

look out for Welsh, Irish, Scottish......you native people sure need to defend your home country labour

@stephenholmes1036 28 күн бұрын

@dalek3086 The biggest enermy of the black man is the white liberal! Malcolm X

@stephenholmes1036 28 күн бұрын

Oh yes let's go on about some things that occurred 200 years ago, Many more Britons we're enslaved by the Romans! The King of Benin enslaved far more and the North African slave trade today! Far larger than anything then, Oh but you won't mention that will you?

@joechucks1555 28 күн бұрын

Thats nonsense the british involvement in the slave trade is the biggest in history bringing up the benin kingdom is not even comparable. Romans do not treat you as lesser humans even today. Can’t people take accountability for their bs

@abo7628 28 күн бұрын

Yeah the bbc should defo show us the footage from the time you ask for, might get a few more hits on YT rather than some archived bus driver story

@symontemplar1418 27 күн бұрын

The black and white footage clearly displaying a period of racism in the U.K.

@patchso 26 күн бұрын

A word to the wise. Try listening to the video before commenting, then you won’t sound quite so foolish.

@KitchenSinkSoup 25 күн бұрын

this was just over 60 years ago