ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the employment of workers from the Caribbean from 1945 in Leicester. The 'colour bar' was simultaneously supported and denied. This placed a complex double burden on black people who were well aware of discrimination yet found it hard to demonstrate. Black women experienced the prejudice of an ethnocentric view of such employment of women. This view was reflected in discussion held by the Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration held in May 1973. Imperial Typewriters has been considered one of Leicester's most important companies throughout the twentieth century. The Imperial Typewriters strike which began on May Day in 1974 has been widely written about and is regarded as highly significant in the history of black industrial struggle in Britain. African Caribbeans in Leicester as in other areas of Britain are overwhelmingly working class. The few exceptions to the class profile of African Caribbeans have not challenged this construction.
