15 July 1966: Colour bar scrapped
About this episode
The episode discusses the scrapping of the colour bar by British Rail on 15 July 1966, highlighting the campaign led by Black train guard Asquith Xavier.
On this day, 15 July 1966, national rail operator British Rail scrapped a "colour bar" preventing Black workers from higher paid employment at Euston station in London. At the time the bar was supported by unions but a Black train guard, Asquith Xavier, campaigned to overturn the bar, eventually finding some support in Parliament. Xavier was a member of the Windrush Generation who moved to Britain after World War II. In 2019 many of those who moved with him were to be criminalised and deported by the government. Despite the success of his campaign, when Xavier was promoted he faced racist abuse and had to work with a police guard, eventually the stress took its toll and he died in 1980. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8683/british-rail-scraps-colour-bar Learn more about Black British workers' struggles in this book: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/the-making-of-the-black-working-class-in-britain-ron-ramdin Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon . If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory . See all…
More episodes of On This Day in Working Class History
- 21 July 1945: Dublin laundry strike
- 20 July 1979: Leonard Peltier escapes
- 19 July 1984: Dunnes store strike
- 16 July 2015: Nunavut power strike
- 14 July 1966: Fort Hood Three
- 13 July 1917: São Paulo general strike
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