Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street carnival in Europe with 1-2 million people joining the carnival over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Although this year the event had to be cancelled due to Covid-19 and was hosted online instead, it is a better time than ever to reflect on why the carnival began and how media coverage skews the general public’s perceptions on the event. Notting Hill Carnival is globally known for it’s rich celebration of Caribbean culture that is open for everyone to freely attend, with even a dedicated children’s day. Yet unfortunately there are a lot of people that view the event as dangerous and a place of violence. However, this is rarely the case and often an ignorant perception, especially when the event’s origins and media coverage isn’t carefully considered.
Origins of Notting Hill Carnival
Post World War Two, Britain actively encouraged citizens from their Caribbean colonies to come to Britain to boost the UK economy and were promised good jobs. Millions accepted this invitation and began a new life in Britain which became known as the ‘Windrush Generation’. However they were not welcome with open arms, instead they were faced with overt and systemic racism.
Notting Hill became home for many West Indies as it was a place they were able to find affordable housing, most houses being of multiple occupancy that were cramped and in poor conditions. Assimilating into the white working-class community and working the same labour jobs as them led to tensions and resentment towards the Caribbean community as many English people were supportive of the anti-immigration rhetoric which sparked riots and abuse towards West Indies.
The 1950s in Britain were unpleasant, Teddy Boys – a white nationalist’s subgroup made up of rebellious young men – would terrorise Caribbean communities purely for being in Notting Hill and other areas in London.
Racial tensions reached breaking point in August of 1958 after an attack on an interracial couple. A Swedish women, who was married to a Jamaican man, was approached by a group of Teddy Boys after she was seen arguing with her husband and was subsequently attacked by them. The Teddy Boys threw objects at her and called her a “black man’s trollop”. The number of Teddy Boys grew in their hundreds as they moved through Notting Hill and rioted until the 5th of September with the Caribbean community to the extent of throwing fire-bombs at Caribbean households.
There was a loss of trust in the police and a low morale in the Caribbean community after the riots. However, Trinidadian activists Claudia Jones, was committed to raising the communities morale and organised the first Caribbean Carnival in St. Pancras town hall in 1959 which honoured their heritage and gave the community an opportunity to celebrate their culture. Although it was on a much smaller scale than what we know Carnival as today, the event was televised on BBC to improve race relations. Along the years, the annual event grew in popularity with people outside the Caribbean community also attending, and turned into a weekend long celebration that we now know as Notting Hill Carnival.
Yet despite its roots in community building, British media amplify a crime rhetoric and society continuously buy into the toxic racialised stereotype of the violent black male youth.
Carnival and its Crime Measurement
Year after year, Notting Hill Carnival faces scrutiny as the public focus on its crime figures more than any other festival in the UK and in turn stifles its success and clouds why it is celebrated. This is due to a lot of reasons but something that people fail to factor in is the huge crowd size attending Notting Hill. Statistically, Carnival is safer than other iconic UK events like Glastonbury or Reading Festival when taking into account the crowd size. However, this is rarely reflected. Carnival’s crowd can get as big as 2 million people across the weekend, and any outdoor event that big is bound to have crime.
The Huffington Post made an analysis on arrest rates at five major UK events from 2016-2018 and their findings showed that over the three years Notting Hill’s arrest rates were ‘almost identical to Glastonbury when the number of people attending is taken into place.’ The event with the most arrests was Creamfields festival as seen in the below graph.
This data not only proves that Notting Hill Carnival is safer than some other festivals, but highlights that the press and the police hold significant power in the framing of racial discourse by portraying Notting Hill as dangerous, and ultimately feeding to the general public’s fear of ‘black spaces’.
Carnival is a prime example of a black space that is over policed as numerous stop and searches are held on young black boys as knife crime dominates their stereotyped narrative. However, knife crime doesn’t only happen at Notting Hill Carnival, other festivals also encounter many knife crime arrests yet it’s not scrutinised or even brought to the public’s concern – the same goes for drug related crimes. If we compare Notting Hill Carnival to Royal Ascot – although it’s a much smaller event – there’s always aggressive fights breaking out and cocaine being consumed by guests at Royal Ascot, yet it’s very rarely covered in the media and guests are rarely arrested.
It’s clear that race and class affects the way events are policed and covered by the media, with ‘black spaces’ receiving the harshest treatments. This completely clouds the unity and positivity that is experienced at Notting Hill Carnival that has been bringing people from all types of backgrounds to celebrate Caribbean and black diasporic cultures for almost half a century and contributing to a huge boost in the economy every year.
Suggestions
Statistically, Carnival is like any other festival when it comes to crime, the only difference being the space and the people. So when you next have thoughts of Carnival being dangerous or violent, factor in why you are thinking this and where you’re getting your information from.
If you’re anxious or afraid of attending Carnival, think about what you’re afraid of or who, and where do these feelings stem from and how representative are they. Is it something you’ve experienced or something you’ve heard on the news or social media? You can’t rely on the media to make a judgement for you as it’s designed to give a construed view on the matter.
Sources
Huffington Post – Notting Hill Carnival: New Data Reveals Crime Should Not Be The Story Of The Weekend
My Notting Hill – The History of Notting Hill
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