Why riots break out in London?

It’s not new that riots broke out in London after the killing of a member of the Jamaican immigrant community on Sunday.

After World War Two, immigrants came to London to work in industries such as British Rail and London Transport, mostly from Jamaica. It was also the beginning of racial tensions between the Jamaican Black immigrants and local Whites. Being a poor and unemployed community, they were prone to robbery and theft and often involved in riots following arrests or killings by the local police. Some 250,000 Jamaicans live in London.

The first traces of racial unrest appeared in 1958 when a large number of Carribbean immigrants’ houses were attacked by about 400 Whites in Notting Hill leading to tension in the area and arrests of more than 140 people.

Again in 1976, Notting Hill Carnival with 150,000 participants from the community led to riots targeting the police who were seen harassing the community youth.

In 1979, a protest against racism held in Southall by about 3,000 members of the Anti-Nazi League turned violent over a New Zealand-born UK migrant Blair Peach’s killing by the police. About 21 policemen were injured in the incident and more than 300 were arrested.

In less than a year, a local housing scandal denying equal rights to the community led to riots in St. Pauls in Bristol. Nearly 19 policemen were injured in the incident and 130 people were arrested. Next year saw another massive riot breaking out in Brixton. More than 350 people were injured 100 vehicles damaged and 28 buildings set afire. Another riot in Toxteth in Liverpool saw looting and damage of 70 buildings. Moss Side in Manchester, Chapel Town and Handwork suburb in Birmingham also witnessed riots.

In 1985, a Jamaican mother searching for her son was killed by the Metropolitan Police which led to immediate provocation resulting in a two-day arson and rioting in Brixton, Handsworth.

A decade later in 1995, Brixton saw another riot triggered by the killing of a youth from the community in police custody.

In 2001, racial tension between Asian Muslims and local whites in Oldham led to riots in the area and in Hare Hills alleging wrongful arrest of a youth by Yorkshire police. More than 300 policemen were injured and an equal number of people were arrested.

Ten years later, on August 7, 2011, killing of a local community member by the local police led to looting and riots for three consecutive days in Tottenham, Brixton, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Enfield Town and other parts of London.

Unlike the past riots, the latest one was triggered almost instantly with the help of social media networks like FaceBook and Twitter spreading rumours on BlackBerry messenger.

A writer by name Kami, however, disagrees: “People who protest in the western countries are rioters, looters, and violent enemies of the good state, so social media is the ‘catalyst.’ In Egypt and elsewhere, social media was the tool that made revolution against evil dictators possible.”

Irrespective of the social media, the growing unemployment and poverty among the immigrants in London is one major reason often cited by analysts, but with the economy dwindling, there is hardly any hope for a better future.