The experiences of the Windrush generation have been mixed.  When the boat first anchored off Tilbury Docks, the UK’s then prime minister, Clement Atlee, was petitioned by Labour MPs to stop the passengers from disembarking on the basis that they would sow racial disharmony.  He considered their request and considered sending those passengers to work on a plantation in east Africa.  These were free men and women who had bought tickets to come to the UK, after an invitation, and believing they were British.  This was in 1948, not 1848. Since then, those early arrivals and their descendants have battled against the odds to build prosperity and achieve across the spectrum of society’s indicators of attainment.  Much of the wealth in the community is derived from house price inflation, with house buying became a necessity when racist property owners denied them tenancies and lodgings, coining the phrase, No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs. 

Many of the Windrush generation, and particularly their children and grandchildren, have made great strides across various spheres of life and professions, but too, there have significant inequalities and institutional fetters which have hindered progress in areas such as employment, criminal justice, health, education and immigration, with the Windrush Scandals and the deportation of Windrush grandchildren being central to the debate on these conditions.

This year marks the symbolic anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush generation from countries in the Caribbean, specifically noting the docking of HMT Empire Windrush, a boat which anchored at Tilbury Docks on the 22 June 1948.