Introduction

A popular theme in defining white working-class communities is that they have been in the vanguard of racism. This is usually linked to the perceived adverse impact of immigration in a number of areas, including national identity, public benefits (such as welfare or subsidised housing) and competition for meaningful employment. The narrative surrounding immigration has been fuelled further by the national interventions of politicians who have championed the slogan ‘British jobs for British workers’ or who have decried the failure of ‘state multiculturalism’ in an attempt to protect the white working class from the excesses of multiculturalism and to gain short-term political dividends for themselves.

This chapter will consider the cultural representation of white working-class communities with reference to their portrayal in film and television, which are two of the most accessible forms of consumer culture. They shape and challenge our interpretation of communities and individuals ,as well as places and neighbourhoods. In addition, we will also explore the representation of white working-class communities with regards to issues of race and multiculturalism within the musical subcultures known as punk, Oi! and ska. Charting the cultural representation of white working-class communities against the frame of social change supports a much more rounded picture than is gained from policy responses alone. These communities are variously viewed as being both ‘hero’ and ‘zero’ with regards to multiculturalism. This can be seen in two examples, both of which have been framed, in part, as popular white working-class interventions on multiculturalism and change. These are the 1958 Race Riots in Notting Hill, where their involvement is viewed in negative racial terms, and the rise of 2 Tone in the city of Coventry, which was viewed locally as a union of diverse elements of the working class, merging to celebrate difference. These two events show how the pathology of whiteness and class have been interpreted differently.

At the outset the focus will be on the portrayal of the white working class in film and television, with a concentration on the social realism that emerged in the late 1950s. We will then turn to the iconic, but controversial, Till Death Us Do Part, a television show based on overt racialised discussions of immigration and social change that depicted the working class in a caricatured way as being racist and reactionary.