After the Brixton riots of 1981, Caribbean migrants acquired a sense of belonging

The death in December of Lord Scarman, a former law lord, prompts us to revisit perhaps the most important moment in the development of the Caribbean section of the British working class.

Scarman had a long and distinguished career in the law. On his death, however, newspapers, radio and television homed in on his inquiry into what is popularly misnamed the Brixton riots, as the single most important event in his career. Rightly so. Equally, no history of modern London could be written without the events of April 1981 at the heart of the narrative.

I contend that the Brixton uprising of 1981, which spread throughout the black communities in major British cities, served to transform Caribbean migrants on the margins of British society into full citizens. It was through these events that we acquired a sense of belonging. Young blacks no longer express the uncertainties of their parents. The slogan "Come what may, we're here to stay" is no longer heard. It is no longer necessary. That is because of Brixton 1981.

In that fateful April week, the Metropolitan Police set in train Operation Swamp. Scores of plain-clothes officers swarmed the community and searched every black male that moved. At the end of the week, all Brixton exploded. The battle lasted two long days and nights.

Scarman was summoned by Willie Whitelaw, then home secretary, to investigate. The inquiry was deeply flawed. The final report lacked any knowledge of what had really taken place over those days. A group of us, young black men and women, boycotted the inquiry and held one of our own. We interviewed the major participants in the uprising. We learned that ammunition dumps had been erected and leaders appointed. The terrain, with its many alleyways, was deliberately exploited to the hilt. Scarman knew nothing of all this.

Yet he proposed a crucial innovation - making the police accountable to the people. Community liaison meetings were at the heart of his report and thereafter the local police commander, with support teams in tow, could be seen walking from Brixton Police Station to the town hall, there to account to the masses. That gave us a sense of our own importance.

These structures have now withered. Even so, we, the black citizens of Brixton, go about our business from day to day, sure of step, knowing that we are an immovable part of the landscape.

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