How has the Windrush Generation helped shape today's UK?

Cours

I. Arriving in Britain: the Empire Windrush (1948)

1. Describing the picture

Document : London is the place for me, art print by Eliza Southwood, 2019.

2. The context: the Caribbean in the British Empire

Map British territories in the Caribbean, 1914: Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Belize, Guyana, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, the British Leeward and Windward Islands.

These territories were British colonies: their inhabitants were British subjects / colonial citizens. They saw Britain as “the Mother Country”.

3. Calypso

4. A witness: Alford

The document presents a man, Alford, one of the last passengers of the Empire Windrush still alive. Many years ago, he left his home country, Jamaica, and moved to Britain. The ship brought hundreds of West Indians (Caribbeans) to the UK because people from the British colonies were invited to come and work there. On the ship, they danced and listened to calypso music.

II. Answering the call

1. The song “London is the place for me” (1948)

A 1948 calypso song by Aldwyn Roberts, better known as Lord Kitchener. Extracts:

London is the place for me
London this lovely city
You can go to France or America,
India, Asia or Australia
But you must come back to London city

I am glad to know my mother country

To live in London you are really comfortable
Because the English people are very much sociable
They take you here and they take you there
And they make you feel like a millionaire

I mean my life in London is really magnificent

Q1. How do the West Indians see London? London seems very nice and agreeable (lovely city, magnificent). There are many beautiful places (Shaftesbury Avenue, Hampton Court, the beautiful scenery) and job opportunities. The Londoners seem very friendly, welcoming and sociable (they make you feel like a millionaire).

Q2. What is their mindset? They are happy and optimistic about moving to the UK because they hope to find a better life there. They leave their homeland with confidence and the desire to discover new opportunities. They seem joyful, enthusiastic, excited and grateful (= thankful). They don't seem to feel homesick: they are not missing their home country.

2. Britain needs help! (Linda McDowell, British Library, 2018)

Why did Britain need workers? After the Second World War, Britain was short of workers. Its economy was weakened by the war and many buildings had been bombed. The new reforming Labour government needed men and women to rebuild the country:

• production of raw materials: iron (le fer), steel (l'acier), coal (le charbon), and food;
• maintenance and repair work, severe shortages in the construction sector;
• services: running public transport and staffing the new National Health Service (NHS).

So Britain asked people from its colonies, mainly from the Caribbean, to come and work in the UK.

Jobs: men in manufacturing, construction and public transport; many women in the NHS as nurses and nursing aides, and in factories.

Why did Caribbeans leave? Mostly young people left for the UK to find work (job vacancies), to seek a different life, to escape poverty, societal oppression or family restrictions. Many had fought or worked for the UK during the war. They felt they were “coming home” to join an imperial family to which they belonged. But leaving close family and friends was harder than they had imagined, and some of them finally didn't like the UK.

III. A mistake with big consequences: the Windrush scandal

1. The Guardian cover

The picture is on the cover of the newspaper The Guardian. It shows people demonstrating to support the Windrush generation. They are holding signs and wearing hats with feathers and traditional costumes.

2. Paulette Wilson's story

The document is an interview with Amelia Gentleman, a journalist who works for The Guardian. She wrote the story of Paulette Wilson, 61 years old, who had lived in Britain for 50 years. In 2017, the Home Office (le ministère de l'Intérieur) declared her an illegal migrant and she spent time in detention. Many people of the Windrush generation had the same problems.

3. The video

The video is about the Windrush scandal. We learn about a woman who arrived in the UK when she was young. In 2014, she had problems because she couldn't prove that she had the right to stay in the country. She had difficulties with her job and her driving licence was taken away by the Home Office. The video also explains that the Home Office knew about these problems but didn't do enough to help the Windrush generation.

4. Task: imagine an interview

Imagine the interview of a Windrush generation person about their arrival in Britain, their education and job, their family and their issue with the Home Office.

IV. Recognition today: Prince William's speech (22 June 2022)

1. Key ideas

Compréhension orale : speech at the unveiling of the National Windrush Monument (a statue by the sculptor Basil Watson), unveiled by Windrush pioneers Alford and John.

“the Windrush generation has made our culture richer, our services stronger and our fellow countrymen safer.”

• The Windrush generation helped to make Britain richer, stronger and safer.
• The monument reminds us of a shared history and of the enormous contribution of the Windrush generation.
• They suffered racism when they arrived; discrimination is still a reality for Black people in Britain in 2022.
• Tens of thousands were “profoundly wronged by the Windrush scandal”.
• Prince William and the royal family are thankful; William and Catherine visited the Caribbean earlier in 2022.
• “Without you all, Britain will simply not be what it is today.” → Diversity is what makes us strong.

2. Grammar: make + object + comparative

V. Toolbox

1. Present perfect or past simple?

• Past simple for a dated, finished fact: The Windrush arrived in 1948.
• Present perfect (have/has + past participle) for a past action with a result today: The Windrush generation has helped shape today's UK. It has contributed so much.
• Duration up to now: She has lived in Britain for 50 years. (not “she live… during”)
• help + base verbale : helped shape = helped to shape.

2. Words to know

3. Classroom English

Fiches

Cartes

Quiz

Exercices