Concerns surrounding the British government’s immigration proposals have reignited discussions about the notorious signs that allegedly read “No Irish, no blacks, no dogs.” Activists and pundits often point to these signs. Given the historical record, it’s hard to find evidence that they really ever existed.
Irish activists claim that these signs were prevalent in the 1980s. Perhaps most importantly, they underscore how this points to a legacy of racial and ethnic discrimination. Researchers have never found any record of these signs in British or Irish archives. During the sometimes heated racial harmony debates within Parliament in Confederation’s centennial decade, MPs were in complete denial of the indications. Yet they did not make an appearance in any of the debates in Westminster or Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament.
The earliest date for a published photograph showing these notorious signs appeared as late as the late 1980s. Everyone assumes that this image was conceived for a major international exhibition entitled, “An Irish Experience.” The exhibition was held at the now-closed Roger Casement Irish Centre in Islington, London. The photo’s provenance is still “a bit unclear,” said the Irish Diaspora Studies Centre of London Metropolitan University.
Nik Wood and John Draper, both of London, recently chatted about the photograph. We drew on a piece that The Guardian published a day earlier on 20th October 2015. The article, titled “Green light for tenant immigration checks,” examined the government’s immigration policies and their implications.
“The government isn’t just turning landlords into a private police force for its immigration policies. It is also planning to require them to enforce its rental policies.” – Nik Wood and John Draper
Sign enforcement efforts just became more high profile. This shift comes while growing concerns about the government’s immigration enforcement tactics, particularly at public and subsidized housing. This arcane and historic backdrop of the alleged signs emphasizes a larger, longstanding context of discrimination and exclusion. These issues are rooted in ethnic and national origin, and they need to be addressed.
Notably, alternative phrases such as “no coloureds” and “no West Indians” have surfaced in various historical accounts and media archives, including the BBC film archive. These variations indicate that while the specific phrase “No Irish, no blacks, no dogs” may lack substantiation, discriminatory sentiments were indeed present during certain periods in British history.