73
DOI: 10.1111/erev.12488
© (2020) World Council of Churches. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Racial Justice for the Windrush
Generation in Great Britain
Anthony G. Reddie
Professor Anthony G. Reddie is director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture at Regent’s
Park College, Oxford, and an extraordinary professor of theological ethics at the University of
South Africa.
Abstract
This article argues that the experience of the “Windrush generation,” Black Caribbean post–
Second World War migrants to the UK, has been one of constant struggle for racial justice.
Living in Britain has been undertaken against the backdrop of a Mission Christianity
that has exuded a distinct anti-Blackness in its relationship with Black bodies across four
centuries. This particular dynamic of “Christian Britain” has created a framework that
has helped to shape the agency of Black bodies, essentially marking them as “less than.”
This theo-cultural framework has led to a racialized existence for Black British people of
the Windrush generation and their descendants. The Christianity that has emerged from the
Black Caribbean experience constantly challenges White British Christianity to express an
anti-racist and more inclusive model of liberative praxis. This paper is written against the
backdrop of the Brexit furore in Britain and the xenophobia and rise in racist attacks that
have underpinned the rise in White British nationalism.
Keywords
Windrush generation, Brexit, British nationalism, Mission Christianity
This paper is written against the backdrop of Brexit. It is not concerned with the specif-
ics of whether Britain should remain in or leave the European Union (EU). At the time
of writing, Britain is mired in political paralysis over when to leave the EU, and if so on
what terms, and, indeed, if it should leave at all. This paper offers no opinion on the
political matter of remaining or leaving, although I voted to “Remain.” This ambiv-
alence arises from the belief that whether we leave or not, nothing will change the
toxic climate that has been unleashed by the Leave campaign. A majority of the nation