What is Windrush?
On 22 June 2021 the black Caribbean community once again celebrated Windrush Day. To many, the Windrush is just a boat, but to us it is so much more. I’m proud to say that my grandparents and great grandparents were a part of the Windrush Generation. My paternal grandfather arrived at Plymouth docks on 21 August 1955, and my paternal grandmother followed shortly after, arriving at Southampton docks on 24 August 1957. They came to England for a better life for themselves and their children.
First, what is Windrush to the world?
After World War II, the UK had taken a heavy beating. The UK lost a total of 450,900 British soldiers and civilians between the years 1939 and 1945; the economy was in disarray. The UK needed help to rebuild, and so invitations were sent to many countries, including the British Commonwealth countries of the Caribbean.
The Windrush was a passenger ship that had sailed many voyages, but the most significant and the one that gave it its fame was the 8,000 mile voyage from Jamaica and arriving at Tilbury Docks on the River Thames in Essex, England on 22 June 1948. Aboard the Empire Windrush were 1,027 passengers from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda, Mexico and British Guyana. This group of people, and the 500,000, give or take, that arrived after them up until 1971 are labelled the Windrush Generation. They took up vital roles in the NHS, in factories, in transport and started to work to prop up the country. It’s often said that the post-war regeneration, the NHS and the welfare state would not have survived without the Windrush Generation and the large numbers of Commonwealth immigration. Not only did we bring essential skills, we brought flavour! Flavourful foods, flavourful styles, music and sport. So much of British culture today - what we eat, wear and listen to - has stemmed from Island life.
Windrush Scandal 2018
The British Nationality Act 1948 granted the automatic right to settle in the UK to all British subjects i.e. people born in the UK or a British colony. Most of the Windrush Generation arrived with British passports or Indefinite Leave to Enter, and there was no requirement for them to prove this status. Many of the children arrived on their parents’ passports so had no documents of their own.
Then came the Immigration Act 2014. The Act reversed the 1948 provision meaning citizens could be deported if they could not prove their right to reside in the UK. It then transpired that in 2010 the UK Home Office had destroyed the landing cards of all Windrush migrants, meaning for those without British passports (mainly the children who came on their parents’ passports), there was no evidence of them having arrived legally in the UK as British citizens. By 2018, multiple cases of wrongful detainment and deportation started to surface and more than 80 people have been wrongfully deported. Many people lost their jobs, their homes and had been denied access to healthcare and benefits; so many today still live in daily fear of the same thing happening to them.
In response to activism against the scandal, the UK government set up the Windrush Compensation Scheme to compensate individuals for loss of earnings, benefits, periods of unlawful detention and the overall negative impact the scandal had on people’s lives. Whilst this was welcomed by the Windrush community and their children, for some it was too late. Many have died whilst waiting for payments, and until recently, a very small number had received any payment at all.
Recognising the failings, in December 2020 the Home Office reformed the scheme to ensure payments were made faster and for larger sums. So far it seems to be working.
Now to get personal…
My grandfather worked in a sheet metal factory. My grandmother worked in a biscuit factory and at the weekend, was a seamstress for friends and family. You could say humble beginnings.
My dad, also considered Windrush Generation, arrived in the UK in 1962 at the tender age of 9 with his very own British passport.
“My dad won £200 on the Football pools and the plane fare at the time was £75 so he used his winnings to send for me and my younger sister. We came from the countryside in Jamaica, so I was overwhelmed by everything. I was excited, I had never been on a plane before and never seen anything like it. I was in shock, in awe. We arrived in a huge airport and didn’t know where to turn. It was cold and I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts suit that my aunt had made for me; I had never felt cold like it! I had no clue what was going on, but we must have had an address written on us somewhere because a black taxi driver came over to us and took us to my parents’ house. I didn’t even question the fact that I had no clue who this man was or where he was taking us! That taxi fare cost my dad £4 which was a lot at the time.” Allen Elliott, my dad.
My dad didn’t know his parents when he arrived; they left for the UK when he was still very young. However that sacrifice was so that they could better themselves financially, provide a better life for their children and eventually return home to Jamaica.
“I didn’t know who my mum was. It’s a funny story actually; my sister and I went into the living room after the long drive from the airport, and there were two ladies sitting on the sofa. My dad told me to go and hug my mum, and I went to the wrong woman! I soon got over the initial confusion and built an incredible relationship with my mum and my siblings born here in the UK. My parents came to England — or the motherland as we used to call it — with the idea of staying for 5 years, earning enough money and going back home to buy their own land and build a house.” Allen Elliott
Unfortunately, my grandparents never made it back to Jamaica, and died in Lewisham, London in 1975 and 1983 respectively — my dad, aunts and uncles were still very young. If I could tell my grandparents anything today, it would be that their sacrifice was worth every penny, every challenge and every bit of resistance they came up against. Their children have gone on to live incredibly fulfilling, healthy and financially stable lives; they worked hard and made their way.
“My parents would be pleased to see their children’s, grandchildren’s and great grandchildren’s success; they would be so proud. To know that Carine became a lawyer, the first one in the family, they would be over the moon!” Allen Elliott
I recently had the opportunity to speak to David Lammy Member of Parliament for Tottenham, about diversity and inclusion, racial injustice and the progress the UK has made over the years, and he told me this: “Do not be discouraged. Live up to your ancestor’s dreams and prayers.” That is what Windrush means to me.
This article was prepared and submitted by Carine Elliott in her personal capacity. All opinions and views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the opinions of the paradiGM community. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any ethnic group, gender identity, organization, company or individual.
