5. Handsworth 1985

Description:Text: Malcolm Dick

Between 9 and 10 September 1985, the area experienced the so called “Handsworth Riots”, even though the “disturbances” centred on one part – Lozells Road – and not the whole of the area. The immediate spark is shrouded in controversy. Was it a lawless reaction to the legitimate apprehension of a car-tax evader by police or an example of police harassment and physical abuse towards a black female resident? In any case, amidst widespread unrest, property and vehicles were burnt, 122 people were injured and two Asians died in the flames of their burning shop. Most of the “rioters” were young men between 16 and 26. Sections of the press were keen to portray the unrest as a “race riot” and represented the events by a dramatic picture of a young African-Caribbean man throwing a fire bomb.

The causes of the disturbances were explored in three very different reports which followed the riots. One portrayed them as a “rebellion” against the police, implying that they reflected a meaningful set of actions with a clear set of objectives. Another report presented the disturbances as “riots” displaying mindless lawlessness and a drug-fuelled appetite for destruction. A third, produced by the local Council avoided the terms riot or rebellion and blamed the events on social deprivation, racial discrimination and poor relations with the police. National and local attention was focused on Handsworth. After 1985 considerable energy was directed towards building community relations and institutions and revitalising economic and educational activities.

See Sources and Further Reading:

Handsworth 1985, the three reports into the disturbances.
Millennibrum Project, Transcripts…
Murphy, Tale for Two Cities…