Representing Race and Place: Black Midlanders on Television in the 1960s and 1970s

This article explores the history of black midlanders in media representations. Through a focus on Birmingham and television in particular it
explores issues involved in approaching history in this manner. Key historical moments in television coverage are analysed in light of these concerns:
how have black people been spoken about and how have their experiences
(and responses to them) been recorded and dramatised? The analysis
covers news reports held in the Media Archives Centre England archive and
television production at the BBC, including the documentary work of Philip
Donnellan and dramas such as Rainbow City, Gangsters and Empire Road.
What is revealed here is evidence of a struggle over representations and
their production. Ultimately, this is a struggle by black people themselves
for adequate recognition, to be heard and ultimately to take up their place
in a shared space of representation and history.