Read the research at www.Nottingham1958.info 

This petition, started by myself and Dr Jenny Woodley from the History MA at NTU, calls for Nottingham Archives to work with local academics to release the Nottingham Race Riot court documents which were sealed for 100 years.

During 2024, I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on how a Black-led reprisal against racial violence at the Chase Tavern Pub in the St Ann’s area of Nottingham, was a direct trigger for the Nottingham and Notting Hill Race Riots of 1958. 

In the course of this research, I was advised by Nottingham Archives that key court documents relating to the 1958 Reprisal and Race Riot are sealed for 100 years, which is far beyond the standard 10 - 20 year restriction applied by the National Archives, and longer even than the 75-year sealing of records from the Notting Hill riots.

This extreme level of censorship raises urgent questions: Which truths are being withheld? What was Nottingham's involvement? Why is this history being silenced? When the Notting Hill records were finally released in 2002, they exposed the scale of institutional racism and extreme violence carried out by racist White mobs, enabled by the MET Police and Home Office - amongst other revelations that rewrote the official narrative.

Could this be the same for the Nottinghamshire Police and local authorities?

As academics and historians, we need the help of our Nottingham community to develop our research and understanding of the Nottingham 1958 Reprisal and Race Riots. We believe the work of uncovering this history should be led by academics, in partnership with local communities, to ensure we are centring those most affected by these histories; whilst ensuring consistency with academic rigour and critical thinking.

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The events of the Nottingham Reprisal and Race Riots remain shrouded in mystery and scandal; therefore, if we are to understand Nottingham's modern history in it's entirety, we must create space for open, community-rooted research and healing. 

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If you are able to, please do sign the petition, and join us in facilitating a respectfully transparent investigation into what really happened in Nottingham during 1958, so we can begin to rebuild trust between institutions and communities, facilitate healing and positive race relations, and ensure Nottingham’s rich and complex histories are positioned at the forefront of national conversations regarding British history.

In his August 24th, 2002, article for The Guardian, Home Office Affairs Editor Alan Travis revealed that newly disclosed Metropolitan Police files from the 1958 Notting Hill riots expose a significant gap between official accounts and the reality of the events, as the violence was predominantly perpetrated by White mobs of racist Teddy Boys, who were actively engaged in ”n****r-hunting”, attacking those they perceived to be Black Caribbean migrants. Despite this, both police and politicians, including the then Home Secretary Rab Butler, attempted to downplay the racial elements of the riots, characterising them instead as mere acts of ”hooliganism” involving both ”coloured and white” individuals. This conclusion was shared by Culture Correspondent Ian Burrell in a 2003 article in The Independent, who concluded the Home Office and Scotland Yard attempted to obscure the racial nature of the Notting Hill riots by portraying them as racially neutral rioters, despite having indisputable evidence that the Notting Hill Riots were racially motivated, highlighting a pattern of institutional censorship that would have been undoubtedly present in Nottingham. 

This lack of transparency further confuses the consensus regarding the socio-political factors and dynamics of violence involved with the 1958 Race Riots, by potentially concealing the influence of White-nationalist gangs and overt racism within Nottinghamshire Police and the London Metropolitan Police. 

By launching this petition, we intend to improve race relations and historical understanding in Nottingham by conducting this research campaign with accuracy, honesty and integrity. We are committed to approaching this work with compassion for all ethnicities and cultures involved; and for the descendants of everyone involved in the Reprisal and Race Riots of 1958 - whether victims of racial violence or not.

This is not about placing blame on an individual or community, as our intention is to promote understanding and critical thinking by acknowledging the full truth of our shared history in Nottingham - regardless of how complex it may seem.

(this campaign is led by Fatou Marong and Dr Jenny Woodley at Nottingham Trent University)