For a number of years the Mechanics Arms, a Davenport pub in Nottingham, ha operated a colour bar, This has taken various forms, the present one bei : that Indians and Pakistanis can be served, but only in a small back room ” while West Indians are not served at all. In February of this year two Jam aicans, who had been refused drinls there, wrote to the brewery, the local f MP and to the Nottingham & District Trades Council. The brewery denied that aa a ty Garg ge leer: matter was widely publicised in the local
elp o e Tra i i wien moe oe ag Council. The case was referred to the
The conciliation process laid down in the Race Relations Act was set in motion by the Regional Conciliation Committee, and the licensee and his wife were interviewed, They admitted to the Conciliation Officer that they practised a colour bar and, eventually, on June lst the licensee Signed an agreement stating that he would not allow racial discrimination in the pub. Qn June end the. two Jamaicans who had first reported the case went to the pub with another Jamaican and an English woman, The licensee refused to serve them and they immediately left the pub. They reported this incident to the Conciliation Committee at a meeting on June 15th, and written statements were made by the two witnesses a few days later. It is obvious that the Race Relations Act is too weak to deal with cases of racial discrimination if an agreement can be signed one day and broken the next, On Sunday June 18th, at 9.30 pm, over a dozen people, West Indian and English, went to the pub, The West Indians attempted to buy drinks for the others, but were refused, One asked if the reason for this was that they would not serve black men, and the answer was 'Yes', Eventually an Englishman was allowed by the licensee's wife to buy a drink for a Jamaican of Chinese extraction, but was told that ‘the others! could not drink, One of the 'other' Jamaicans then argued that a coloured man should not drink unless he was able to buy ‘the drink himself, At this point the licensee's wife called the 'other' Jamaican a ‘dirty black bastard nigger', The said gentleman then emptied the disputed pint of beer onto the floor, Immediately a barman jumped over the counter and demanded that the beer be cleaned up by the man who spilt it. He refused and, after a fierce argument, the barman was left to clear up the beer himself, Because cf this incidert it was decided that a larger mixed group should demonstrate inside the pub on the following Saturday, June 24th. The intention was again that the Jamaicans should buy for the others. When they were refused, leaflets explaining the situation were given to everyone in the pub, including some Indians in the back room, who left the pub immediately after reading about the colour bar and its nature. A number of Imglish people walked out at about the same time, The demonstrators, a group of about 20, decided to stay until the Jamaicans were served. After almost an hour, which is a long time to stand in a pub without a drink, the police were called by the licensee, but did not interfere or take any action. By now the English demonstrators were ordering drinks and being refused. The licensee told them all to leave and appealed to the two constables. Unsure what to do, the two policemen then sent for an Inspector who refused to take any action and took his men outside onto the street, where they remained. Eventually the thirsty demonstrators left and went to another pub where they could drink together and discuss the course of future action,