1968 Race Relations Act

On 25th October 1968, the Race Relations Bill was given Royal Assent and so came into law as the Race Relations Act 1968. This Act expanded the provisions of the 1965 Race Relations Act, which had banned racial discrimination in public places and made promoting racial hatred a crime. The 1968 Act focused on eradicating discrimination in housing and employment. It aimed to ensure that the second-generation immigrants “who have been born here” and were “going through our schools” would get “the jobs for which they are qualified and the houses they can afford”. Although there was considerable debate during the second reading of the Bill, consensus was eventually reached with the Bill passing its third reading 182 ayes to 44 noes.