The Birmingham riots of 2005 occurred on two consecutive nights on Saturday 22 October and Sunday 23 October 2005 in the

Lozells Lozells is a loosely defined inner-city area in West Birmingham, England. It is centred on Lozells Road, and is known for its multi-racial population. It is part of the ward of Lozells and East Handsworth and lies between the districts of Hands ...

and Handsworth area of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The riots were derived from ethnic tensions between the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and

British Pakistani British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakis ...

communities, with the spark for the riot being an alleged

gang rape In scholarly literature and criminology, gang rape, also called serial gang rape, party rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrato ...

of a teenage black girl by a group of

men. The rape allegation has never been substantiated. No evidence has been found to support the rumour nor has any victim come forward (further rumours asserted that this was because the victim was present in Britain unlawfully and feared deportation). The clashes involved groups of Caribbean and British Pakistani men committing serious acts of violence against various targets from both communities. The riots were connected to the deaths of two men, 23-year-old Isaiah Young-Sam and 18-year-old Aaron James.

Background

The majority of the Asian population in the Lozells area are of

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

origin. The black population is predominantly of

origin. The animosity that preceded the rioting appears to have been largely based on local economic rivalry combined with possible agitation from opposing criminal gangs. During a 2004 documentary titled ''Who You Callin' a Nigger?'' writer and broadcaster

Darcus Howe Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe (26 February 1943 – 1 April 2017)"Civil ...

picked up and commented upon a backdrop of mutual ethnic minority

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

both in the West Midlands and the rest of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. His documentary did not focus solely on the differences between the Caribbean and

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...

community but also included tensions between the

Caribbean community The Caribbean Community (abbreviated as CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organisation that is a Political association, political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) and five associated members thro ...

and recent African immigrants as well as inter-Asian

. The problems specific to the Lozells area appear to be centered on the prevalence of Asian-owned businesses, the "unfair treatment" and "derogatory attitudes" of each community to the other.

The alleged rape

There has never been agreement on the date the alleged rape occurred and the exact circumstances remain unclear: descriptions of the event change dependent on source. The earliest news items concerning the issue seem to begin with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reporting a "Stop traffic" protest on 18 October 2005. The rumours involved a 14-year-old girl of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n heritage attempting to shoplift from a branch of "Beauty Queen Cosmetics". The girl was then raped by a group of eight to nineteen Pakistani origin men. Afraid of being deported due to her

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

status the girl supposedly refused to provide a statement to the police. The police appealed for any evidence of the event occurring and stated at the very least her immigrant status would not be an issue until after the allegations had been dealt with. Despite the appeal, forensic searches and questioning of several individuals, the allegations have never been substantiated and no witnesses have come forward, nor was the girl ever identified.

Rumours and riot

Local

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

stations, most notably Hot 92 along with one of its DJs 'Warren G' discussed the details of the alleged rape and a picket was set up outside the premises of the shop in question. There were also calls for boycotts of other British Asian businesses. Ajaib Hussein, 33, the shop owner denied the event ever occurred and blamed business rivals for starting the rumour. A public meeting was held on Saturday 22 October at the New Testament Church of God. At around 17:45 the meeting ended and violence erupted outside. Gangs of men fought running battles and at 19:15 Isaiah Young-Sam, who later died, was stabbed. Young-Sam had not been present at the meeting, or been involved in the running battles between gangs of youths, he had been at a cinema in the city centre with friends before being forced off his bus home due to it being diverted because of the public disorder. As he and his friends made their way on foot down a side street they were confronted by a group of Asian Youths who chased them down and stabbed Isaiah. As the night progressed the police recorded 80 offences occurring. Rioting also occurred to a lesser extent during the night of 23 October. Between 30 and 50 individuals were thought to be involved in the most serious incidents. Three men were convicted, but after a subsequent retrial acquitted of the murder of Isaiah Young-Sam. A man pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Aaron James. In July 2007 six people were convicted of various offences related to the riots; four men were subsequently jailed in November 2007. In May 2008 four men were convicted for a being part of a mob that confronted and threatened a fire crew with firearms and machetes. In the aftermath of the riots a solidarity march for unity was conducted by Caribbean, white and British Asian women and children. On 5 November 2005 graves in the Muslim part of a local cemetery were desecrated. Vandals who pushed over and destroyed several grave stones left behind leaflets insulting Muslims. The leaflets were signed by a group calling itself "Black Nation". There is no previous history of any such organisation and it is not known whether it does in fact exist. Dr John Sentamu, the first African archbishop in the Church of England, strongly condemned the desecrations.

Media coverage

On 21 February 2006 the

Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Ind ...

censured ''The Voice'', the leading black newspaper in Britain, for reporting the alleged rape in terms that suggested it was unchallenged fact (the newspaper had headlined "Gang of 19 rape teen"). The rumours were picked up by two Caribbean websites Blacknet and Supertrax which each allowed their chatrooms to post reactions from around the country. Supertrax reported that Lozells was swarming with "Paki gangs" with "sumtin to prove"; whilst Blacknet, a website promoted by

The British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, printed various contributions one of which was: "I hope Asian women are getting their throats cut as we speak", followed by a response: "Narrow it down to Pakistani women and I'll agree with you". After the riot, Blacknet apologised and removed what it called "absolutely disgusting" material posted on its site. The riots were the subject of a retrospective

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

podcast, made in 2023.

References

External links