SEAN DELVES INTO HISTORY OF CITY RACE RIOTS
IT’S a ghastly piece of Welsh history that many of us don’t know about. And it’s going to be brought into our living rooms by a New Yorkborn, Essex-raised TV presenter – who is going to broadcast in Welsh!
No wonder, then, that there is some excitement about a documentary that airs on S4C Thursday (9pm), titled Terfysg yn y Bae (Riot in the Bay).
Presented by Sean Fletcher (GMB, Countryfile, Wonders of the coastal path/border), the hour-long documentary shines the spotlight on the Cardiff Race Riot of 1919.
So, how did experienced journalist and broadcaster Sean, born in New York and raised in Essex, end up presenting the documentary in Welsh?
Sean met wife, Luned Tonderai, whilst studying in Cardiff. They married in 1999 and set up home in Grangetown, where their daughter Lili and son Reuben grew up.
Luned is a fluent Welsh speaker and daughter of a Welsh Professor. Sean made a wedding day promise to his new wife that he would learn her native language (possibly influenced by red wine!).
Sean kept this promise, and even though the family now live in London, he has also continued developing his Welsh skills.
Having lived a stone’s throw from Butetown and Tiger Bay, where the riot happened, Sean is passionate about highlighting a horrendous event – a part of Wales’ history that remains largely hidden.
Although the 1919 race riots claimed columns of newspaper coverage across Britain at the time, a surprising number of Welsh people are unfamiliar with the event.
In Terfysg yn y Bae (Riots in the Bay), Sean digs deep to find out what happened and how the beliefs of today’s society compare.
Sean said: “When I lived in Cardiff, I thought I understood a lot about its history; a cosmopolitan city with one of the oldest black communities in Britain. But nobody talked about one of the most important events in the city’s history. This story was dead and buried.
“Just over 100 years ago, there was terrible violence; buildings destroyed and guns fired. White people attacking people of colour in a riot that lasted days, a race riot.
“Workers from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean were targeted, as were mixed race families. The authorities didn’t want these people in their city. But some stood firm, rightly claiming Wales as their home – after all, many had lived there for generations and raised families there.”
To find out more, Sean talks to residents of the Butetown area of Cardiff, where the riots happened, as well as to several history and crime experts.
Leslie Clarke grew up in the old Tiger Bay. Her mother had painful memories of the riot.
Leslie said: “As a mixed race family, my grandparents were targeted. My Gran was beaten in front of my mother who was a child at the time, and the mob ran down the street after my Grandfather. If they had caught him, he would have been lynched.”
When Sean asks Leslie if enough people have heard of the riot, her response is: “No. And it will disappear. Because of people like me. I’m 87, and when I go, the story will be forgotten. ”
To discover awareness levels among the city’s young residents, Sean meets his daughter Lili’s former school friends.
Emily Pemberton, 21, grew up in Grangetown streets away from the scene of the 1919 riot but hadn’t heard about them.
According to Emily, learning about it in school, along with the history of black people in general, would be a huge advantage.
Sean is inspired by the attitudes of the young people of Cardiff, as they discuss their experiences of growing up in the city today.
They discuss racism, education, gentrification and bias in the press. They and Sean believe the positive stories of people of colour need to be taught, without focusing on racism alone.
Sean said: “The slogan today is that black lives matter. But we don’t know much about the lives of people of colour here in Wales.
“It amazes me how little is known about what happened in the area. If I had lived in Cardiff 100 years ago, my mixed race family and I would fear for our lives.”
“How could something like this happen in Cardiff?”
Professor Martin Johnes agrees that the uncomfortable history needs to be confronted.
“We like learning about Owain Glyndwr, hearing about how badly we have been treated by the English, but Welsh people have to think and remember what we have done to people within Wales. Racism is part of our history.”
During the programme, Sean trawls archives to see how the press covered the event at the time.
He refers to one article in the Western Mail, titled, “Cause of the trouble, Colour problem and sex relations”.
As the son of a black mother and white father, and himself a spouse in a mixed race marriage, Sean finds the old news difficult to digest.
■ Terfysg yn y Bae, Thursday, May 13, 9pm, English subtitles available. On S4C Clic, BBC iPlayer and other platforms. A Tinopolis production for S4C.