How were black people represented through 'Sapphire'?

Throughout 'Sapphire' there is a very strong racist view of black people throughout. This is clearly shown by the use of the quote, "she died because she was black" this gives the immediate racist view as it connotes the way that Britain have a very poor view of Black people in Britain. Another sense of racism shown from the film would be where the detective says "nice enough for a coloured" which shows how he thinks yeah for a black person its okay but if it was a white girl then it would be disgusting as a white girl is so much better then what they believe a black women is so therefore black people can wear such horrid clothes. However this is the case  I believe there is what appears to be a racial solution through the film, this comes particularly through the brother and the fact that he is presented as a smart respectful man as they would expect a typical white man would be, this is shown typically towards the end of the film where the brother and the more racist of the two detectives shake hands showing the mutual respect they have now between black and white. 

Britain 1948 - 1962

Investigate what was happening in Britain between 1948 – 1962 –

·       Although people from the Caribbean have settled in the UK for more than 300 years, large-scale migration did not begin until 1948.

·      Civil registration - the central recording of births, marriages and deaths - began in the mid-19th century in the Caribbean

·      The arrival of the Empire Windrush 60 years ago represents a defining moment in British history. This ship docked in June 1948

·      Over 10,000 West Indians volunteered to defend Britain against the Nazis during the Second World War. Among them was Donald Clarke. The RAF veteran was born in British Guyana. He enlisted during the war and served in the West Indies, then signed up for a further 12 years of service in 1948.

·      Many people in the British empire took part in raising money to help the war effort – in addition to the extra taxes, raw materials and food that flowed from the colonies to support the war. 

·      Some 15,000 black merchant seamen helped keep the vital supply routes open. The majority of them hauled coal on the older, slower ships. Over 5,000 perished at sea. 

·      Trinidad and Tobago gains its independence 31 August

·      Commonwealth immigrants act 1962

How was the social landscape changing?

Throughout this time period the social landscape had been changing dramatically! There was a beginning of some form of structure between the glasses and a grading system was brought in. this also changed due to the number of west Indian and Asian and the dominance in which they slowly take in the British work force.  This soon lead to many conflicts between the white and black community, an example of this would be the Nottingham riots which was a broad number of racial attacks from whites to blacks. This lead to many issues between the two different races and it became obvious that there was going to be a number of difficulties among the two sides of cultures an example of this would be a white women’s family rejecting her for being with a black man and she would be segregated by society.

How did the changing social landscape lead to a ‘racialization’ of British politics?

The major change in social landscaping caused much anxiety to the amount of coloured immigrants in Britain at the time mainly within the conservative party. This is shown by soon after empire windrush happened there was a letter sent o the priminister of the time requesting the control of black immigration as people view it as a negative thing to be black. The black community became the aim of much blame throughout this period such as the British economic standing and how bad it was through this period. 1962 introduced the first legal act restricting entry of British Commonwealth citizens.

Representation works through construction – how were black people represented in the film?

Sapphire 1959 is a British crime drama about a girl of black origin that appeared to be white that had been stabbed and murdered after people recently began to find out that she was not white but in fact of black origin. Black women were portrayed to be sluttish as they are referred to as the police officer says “the child could be any bodies” hinting that because she is black she may have slept with anyone the women also had there own clothes in which shows the difference between black and white culture. It was believed as they were black they must be involved in some sort of crime. Throughout the film they were treated as if they were scum like they should be slaves to do as the white man believes and ask no questions about it. Although at the end of the film there is some respect gained which is represented through the hand shake between the brother and the police officers.