From ‘Bloody Brixton’ to ‘Burning Britain’: Placing the Riots of 1981 in British Post-Imperial History

Abstract

The ‘short, hot summer’ of 1981 started with a springtime misunderstanding.1 On a warm and sunny Friday evening in early April, when police constable Stephen Margiotta, on duty in Brixton, first glimpsed a black youth running towards him, he could not have known that this was but the beginning of a long weekend of violent unrest that would trigger a national debate on the questions of identity and belonging in post-imperial Britain. Presuming that the youth had committed a crime, he and his colleague proceeded to attempt an arrest, only to discover that the young man was suffering from a stab wound to the back. Trying to help, the police officers called an ambulance, but these efforts went unnoticed by the group of onlookers that had congregated in the meantime. Rumours rapidly spread that the officers were arresting the stab victim rather than helping him, and agitated black youths dragged the injured young man away. Tensions that had been simmering for weeks in this district of South London soon escalated into extensive rioting that continued uninterrupted throughout the night and went on until Sunday evening.2 The confrontations on Saturday evening alone saw 279 policemen and 45 members of the public injured and many police cars and 28 buildings damaged or destroyed by fire.3