Page 8 - Race Awareness Pocket Book
P. 8
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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