{{Short description|1981 riot in Birmingham, England}} {{Use British English|date=January 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox civil conflict | title=1981 Handsworth riots | partof=the [[1981 England riots]] | image= | caption= | date= 10–12 July 1981 | place= [[Handsworth, West Midlands|Handsworth]], [[Birmingham]], England | methods= Rioting | casualties3=40 police officers injured<br />121 arrests made | casualties_label=Reported injuries }}
The '''1981 Handsworth riots''' were three days of [[riot]]ing that took place in the [[Handsworth, West Midlands|Handsworth]] area of [[Birmingham]], England in July 1981.<ref name="Waddington">{{cite book|last=Waddington|first=David P.|title=Contemporary issues in public disorder: a comparative and historical approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=61XZdjCj9PMC&pg=PA90|year=1992|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=0-415-07913-6|pages=90–91}}</ref> The major outbreak of violence took place on the night of Friday 10/11 July, with smaller disturbances on the following two nights.<ref>{{cite book|last=Southgate|first=Peter|editor=Field, Simon |editor2=Southgate, Peter|title=Public disorder: a review of research and a study in one inner city area|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ls_wAAAAIAAJ|series=Home Office Research Studies|year=1982|publisher=H.M.S.O.|location=London|isbn=0-11-340767-X|page=42|chapter= "Abstract: Disturbances of July 1981 in Handsworth, Birmingham - A Survey of the Views and Experiences of Male Residents}}</ref>
The riots were characterised by the [[Scarman report]] into the [[1981 England riots|1981 riots in England]] as "copycat riots" – taking place after the [[1981 Brixton riot|Brixton riots]] in London, and around the same time as the [[1981 Toxteth riots|Toxteth riots]] in [[Liverpool]] and the [[1981 Moss Side riot|Moss Side riots]] in [[Manchester]] – though some have argued that this is an oversimplification.<ref name="Waddington" /> The immediate flashpoint was an attack on a locally well-known [[Superintendent (police)|Police Superintendent]] who was trying to calm rumours of an impending march by the right-wing [[National Front (United Kingdom)|National Front]].<ref name="Waddington" /> The following disturbances resulted in 121 arrests and 40 injuries to police officers, alongside widespread damage to property.<ref name="ncjrs">{{cite web|url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=84135|title=Abstract: Disturbances of July 1981 in Handsworth, Birmingham - A Survey of the Views and Experiences of Male Residents (From Public Disorder, pp. 41–73, 1982, by Simon Field and Peter Southgate)|work=National Criminal Justice Reference Service|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice}}</ref>
Before the riots Handsworth had been considered to be a good example of successful [[community policing]], though local [[Black British]] youths later disputed the claim that relations between them and the police had been amicable: around 40% of them had been [[Stop and search|stopped and searched]] over the previous 12 months.<ref name="Waddington" /> Handsworth had a mixed population of [[White British|white]], [[Black British|black]] and [[British Asian|Asian]] residents, but surveys after the riots showed little evidence of significant [[Racism|racial tension]].<ref name="ncjrs" /> A week before the riots, during the weekend that saw [[CS gas]] used against rioters for the first time on the British Mainland in [[Toxteth]], [[Liverpool]], a reporter from ''[[The Times]]'' had visited a festival in [[Handsworth Park]] and found "8,000 people, black and white" in "a spirit as amiable and peaceful as a rural village fete".<ref>{{cite news|first=Arthur|last=Osman|author2=Timmins, Nicholas|author3= Tendler, Stewart. |title=3am: Residents begin Toxteth evacuation Police use CS gas after admitting riot is out of control|work=The Times|publisher=Times Newspapers|page=1|date=6 July 1981}}</ref> The most common reasons for the riots reported by participants were unemployment, boredom and the imitation of events elsewhere.<ref name="ncjrs" />
==See also== *[[1981 England riots]] *[[1985 Handsworth riots]] *[[1991 Handsworth riots]] *[[2005 Birmingham race riots]] *[[2011 UK riots]]
==References== {{reflist}}
[[Category:1981 in England|Handsworth riots]] [[Category:1981 riots|Handsworth riots]] [[Category:Black British history]] [[Category:Crime in Birmingham, West Midlands]] [[Category:Riots and civil disorder in the West Midlands]] [[Category:July 1981 in the United Kingdom|Handsworth riots]] [[Category:1980s in Birmingham, West Midlands|Handsworth riots]]