Race and the Dance Hall
Race and the Dance Hall
Race was an issue intimately related to dancing and caused considerable debate, considered in Chapter 9. Although the bulk of non-white migration to Britain came after 1960, race was already an issue in the history of dance halls. Much dance music was black in origin, creating both positive and negative responses. This chapter explores developing race relations in the period before mass immigration and multiculturalism. The associations of dancing with jazz music in the 1920s and the racist reaction to it are examined. Labelled as primitive, the origins of many racist stereotypes can be found in British responses to new social dances. Wartime tensions between white and black GIs present in Britain and the public’s reaction to this conflict are discussed. In the post-war period, West Indian immigration in the 1950s and colour bars in dance halls are explored. Anti-semitism and anti-Americanism (partially a response to alleged Americanization) also feature.
Keywords: primitive, multiculturalism, mass immigration, Americanization, GI, Anti-American, colour bar
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