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Culture wars? Bristol's colour bar dispute of 1963 |
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Sir Constantine meets bus conductor Norris Edwards
© Courtesy of Bristol United Press |
In April 1963, the well-spoken Stephenson rang the Bristol Omnibus Company to fix up a job interview for a young man he knew. Guy Bailey, he explained, was a Boy's Brigade Officer, cricket club member, full-time warehouseman and part-time student. The company assured Stephenson that there were vacancies for someone of Bailey's qualifications.
He then rang the Company back and mentioned that Bailey was a West Indian and the interview was promptly cancelled. Stephenson went to see the company's General Manager, Ian Patey, who affirmed that the company did indeed ban the employment of 'coloured labour' on the buses. With that admission, Stephenson went to the press and became the spokesperson for a picket and bus boycott.
Bristol bus |
Though such open discrimination seems shocking today, it was not uncommon in the early 60s for white British employers to reject black workers. The winds of change might have begun blowing through the British Empire, but some old imperial mindsets were still intact. For example, British Rail's Western Region's London Staff officer told a Daily Herald reporter that it was a matter of policy not to have any coloured guards on the trains at Paddington station:
"There is no doubt that passengers prefer having European guards and ticket collectors. It is the same throughout industry. White men are preferred to coloured men for reasons of intelligence and education."
Given the work culture then prevailing, it becomes easier to see why the managers of The Bristol Omnibus Company held similarly racist views. According to one Bristol busworker and union official of the time:
"you must appreciate in those days then the management…was typical of the post war era, ex-army colonels and majors call it what you like coming in with the dogma that you do as I say, not as I do."
Words: Madge Dresser
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