Tudor on Windrush 75

On 22 June 1948 HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in Essex carrying 492 passengers from the Caribbean islands who had answered the call to come and help fill post-war labour shortages in Great Britain.

This year marks the 75^th anniversary of that journey with festivities aimed at celebrating the incredible contribution to society made by those who came to Britain from the Commonwealth between 1948 and 1971.

Former England fast bowler Alex Tudor’s parents came to Britain from Barbados in the 1960s and are thus part of the ‘Windrush Generation’, a generation that Tudor has a lot of admiration for.

“The government at the time were handing out jobs, they were still re-building after the war and my parents answered the call and came over to help. My mum and aunts worked as nurses and my dad worked in transport.

“I get asked a lot about role models but I didn’t have to look too far, my mum and dad were my role models because they worked so hard to make sure my brother and I had enough and I’m forever grateful.

“The Windrush Generation worked tirelessly for not much money and we should have the utmost respect and thanks for the work they did. As you get older you realise the hardships they would have gone through when they got here, especially with the racism.”

The PCA England Legends captain says that despite race relations at the time, many of the Windrush Generation that came from the Caribbean were able to go to work with pride thanks to the efforts of the West Indian cricket team of the 1970s and 1980s.

“It was inspirational seeing that side dominate cricket across the world. Being a young Black kid in South London seeing those guys play and dominate on terrestrial television, it was great seeing people that looked like me playing so well and doing it with a bit of panache. I tried to mimic them in the playground by trying to bowl like Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and bat like Viv Richards.”

Despite their incredible contribution to society, the Windrush scandal of 2018 resulted in people being wrongfully deported back to the Caribbean after it was revealed that the UK Home Office had failed to keep records of those that were granted permission to stay in the country.

“Obviously it was very sad when people were being deported after giving their blood, sweat and tears to this country. For people to be told thanks very much but you’re no longer needed, it’s like the government have very short memories of the hard work these people did.

“I hope that the powers that be at the top really do celebrate them properly and all the hard work they did. They should also issue a few apologies to the people that they deported which was shameful, it was disappointing that it got to that. I hope they get the proper respect that they deserve.”

In April this year, the Human Rights Watch claimed that the Windrush Compensation Scheme, which 15,000 people were eligible for, was failing victims and causing more trauma, they called for it to be removed from the Home Office’s control.

The 45-year-old believes that education in schools and of the general public is imperative to ensuring racism and discrimination are no longer part of our society.

“It’s vitally important that we teach this in schools, I’ve said it before that I don’t agree with Black History Month just being a month, it should be in the curriculum and taught throughout the year. I think it’s so important that all history is taught because we are a multi-diverse country.

“I think Michael Holding really started the conversation in cricket following the death of George Floyd in America. It really started to resonate with people in the game when Mikey spoke so eloquently on Sky. You’ve got to educate people and it’s got to be people that are willing to learn to make change in our society and conversations around Windrush can help to bring our society together and combat discrimination.”