Calls for more black history in schools after Bristol Bus Boycott anniversary
60 years ago black and Asian people were banned from being bus drivers in Bristol, but did you even realise?
Last updated 31st Aug 2023
There are calls for the government to ensure more black history is taught in schools, after events in Bristol marked a key anniversary in modern British history.
On Wednesday (30 August) the city celebrated 60 years since the Bristol Bus Boycott ended, which was when many people refused to ride services because the company in charge of buses, the Bristol Omnibus Company, had a ban on black and Asian drivers and conductors.
The boycott lasted four months from April to August 1963 but eventually came to an end on 28 August when the Bristol Omnibus Company agreed to lift its ban on black staff.
By chance that was the same day Martin Luther King Jr gave his now iconic "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington DC, but while one is widely known about as a symbol of the Civil Rights movement, the other is not.
Rodney Wilson, who's uncle Guy Bailey was refused a job as a Bristol bus driver in 1963 purely for being black, said: "The education system is not geared towards the true history of this country, the true history of this city.
"There's a lot that's happened and still happening that's not documented, that young people are not made aware of.
"We all know the negatives of people of colour, those things are lauded all over the place, but the positives are hardly ever talked about and this is one of the biggest and most significant positives that people of colour have had in this city and indeed in this country because it led to reform, equal justice and various equal rights Acts, since 1965."
Parliament introduced the UK's first ever Race Relations Act two years after the Boycott, with events in Bristol credited for inspiring the change.
The Act made racial discrimination illegal in public for the first time with several other pieces of legislation introduced since, the most recent example being the Equality Act in 2010, which aims to protect people from discrimination at work and across wider society.
Rodney said he is "exceptionally proud" of his uncle's role in improving the rights of people of colour in the UK.
"If it weren't for his actions and the actions of those that were involved in the Bus Boycott, people like me wouldn't be able to do what we do."
Also on Wednesday a new stained glass window was unveiled at St Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol, celebrating the Bus Boycott.
It replaces an old window put up many years ago in tribute to the slave trader Edward Colston, who's statue in the city centre was torn down by Black Lives Matter protestors in June 2020.
"This is the first time a Church of England church has been allowed to put new stained glass into a window of such a size, ever," Vicar Dan Tyndall said.
"It's outrageous isn't it, it's just outrageous (that more people don't know about the Boycott).
"Something that was happening here in Bristol, which changed the face of Race Relations here and beyond these shores.
"The Race Relations Act of 65', the Race Relations Act of 98', the Equalities Act of 2010, born and bred in Bristol, of course hand in hand with the speech of I Have a Dream, but why isn't this better known?
"If we can do anything to make Bristolians and those further afield more aware that the change in society that happened in 1963 happened on both sides of the Atlantic, hallelujah."
In a statement sent to heat radio a spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “Schools play a crucial role in helping pupils understand the world around them and their place within it.
“Teachers are able to use their own knowledge and expertise to make choices about what they teach their pupils, but the freedom and flexibility in the national curriculum means there is no doubt that black history can be taught, and many teachers and schools ensure that they include black voices and experience in their teaching.”
The government is developing a new "Model History Curriculum", which we're told will support the teaching of "high-quality, diverse content" by 2024.