Page 8 - Race Awareness Pocket Book

The law came in because there was a lot of anger and

discrimination shown towards black and Asian

immigrants who had come to Britain to work after

World War Two, in particular.

But even after the 1965 law, there was still a long way to

go to address the problem of discrimination in society.

The law didn't include certain places like shops, and

racial discrimination in many other areas of life was still

incredibly common - and not illegal.

Many black and Asian people were not allowed houses

and couldn't get jobs because of the colour of their skin.

So, in 1968, a new Race Relations Act law made it illegal for

someone to be refused housing, a job or access to services

(like a mortgage) because of their ethnic background.

Then, in 1976, the third Race Relations Act tightened

the law even more. It outlined what direct and indirect

discrimination was, and the Commission for Racial

Equality was founded.

The 1968 and 1976 versions of the Race Relations Acts,

in particular, completely transformed the way that

discrimination was dealt with, although there was - and

still is - a lot more to be done to stamp out racism from

society completely.

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