1981 BRIXTON BURNS
PRESS ASSOCIATION
The rioting that tore through Brixton, south London, a few months earlier briefly returns on 10 July 1981, leaving an overturned police car blazing at the corner of Atlantic Road and Brixton Road. The predominantly black community – where incomes are low and unemployment high – have a fraught relationship with the police, largely due to the use of controversial ‘stop and search’ laws. Tensions snap over a weekend in April, sending 5,000 Brixton locals into the streets, hurling petrol bombs and bricks, setting fire to cars and destroying buildings. More than 300 people, mostly police, are injured. In November, the results of the public inquiry, headed by Lord Scarman, are published, highlighting the “racial disadvantage that is a fact of British life”.
Read the complete article and many more in this issue of
BBC History Revealed Magazine
Purchase options below
If you own the issue,
Login to read the full article now.
Single Digital Issue
July 2016
This issue and other back issues are not included in a new BBC History Revealed Magazine subscription. Subscriptions include the latest regular issue and new issues released during your subscription.
Annual Digital Subscription
SPECIAL OFFER: Was
$39.99
Now $31.99
billed annually
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99
billed monthly