Standing Up to Hatred on Cable Street

A few years after the signing of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Eleanor Roosevelt gave a speech at the United Nations which she called “Where Do Human Rights Begin?” In her view, human rights began,

In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world. ¹

The final lessons of this scheme of work explore the theme of “Choosing to Participate,” inviting students to envision the ways that they might contribute to the process of creating a more humane, fair, and compassionate environment “in small places, close to home,” such as their schools and local communities. To achieve this end, in the next three lessons, students will learn how different groups of people came together in solidarity to confront injustices in their communities during the 1936 Battle of Cable Street and the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott and examine the strategies that individuals and groups used to take action and demand change in the face of antisemitism and racial discrimination.

In this two-period lesson, students will study the Battle of Cable Street in London, where Jews, Irish labourers and dockworkers, Communists, and members of the Labour Party came together to protest against Fascist leader Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts when they attempted to march through London’s East End on 4th October 1936. First, students will preview images from this historic event and use them to make predictions about what may have happened. Then they will listen to a BBC Witness audio account in which social historian Bill Fishman recalls his experience sneaking out of his house as a teenager to join the hundreds of thousands of protesters who crowded Whitechapel, Shoreditch, and the surrounding areas to protest Mosley’s march. In the second period of this lesson, students will deepen their understanding of the Battle of Cable Street by reading an article commemorating the event’s 80th anniversary in 2016. They will then consider their own responsibility to take action when they encounter racism, antisemitism, and prejudice in their communities today.

• 1Eleanor Roosevelt, “Where Do Human Rights Begin?” in Courage in a Dangerous World, ed. Allida M. Black (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 190.

Before teaching this text set, please review the following information to help guide your preparation process.

Day 1, Activity 1 Analyse Photos of the Battle of Cable Street in London

• Before hearing an eyewitness account of the Battle of Cable Street, have students circulate around the room in a modified gallery walk to examine the six photographs from The Battle of Cable Street gallery. This will help them “see” the event and start to imagine the story of Cable Street in 1936.

• Tell students that they are looking at photographs depicting scenes of a historical event called the Battle of Cable Street. Let the students take a few minutes to browse all of the photographs in the collection. As they browse, instruct them to choose one photo that resonates with them for some reason.

• Then lead students through a See, Think, Wonder and have them record their observations in their journals.

• To debrief the activity, divide students into groups so each group has at least one student with each image and instruct students to share their observations from their See, Think, Wonder reflections.

• Then pass out the handout The Battle of Cable Street Word Bank and ask groups to brainstorm the story of the Battle of Cable Street based on their set of images and the information on the handout. Remind students that they are making educated guesses and will learn about what happened in the next activity.

Day 1, Activity 2 Listen to a Cable Street Eyewitness Tell His Story

• Tell students that next they will listen to a BBC Witness audio account of the Battle of Cable Street that includes the testimony of Bill Fishman, who snuck out of his house to join the protesters at Cable Street when he was 15 years old. They will create a storyboard of the audio to capture key events and information about the battle.

• Pass out the Storyboard Template handout and explain that you will pause the audio in six places. During those pauses, instruct students to use one or two boxes on the handout to draw a quick sketch of what they heard in that segment and to write a brief description.

• Play BBC Witness audio The Battle of Cable Street. To allow time for students to process what they have heard and create their storyboards, consider pausing the audio after each of the following segments:

  • 00:00-01:00 (Overview of Mosley and Fascist march)
  • 01:00-02:44 (Fishman’s family story and hearing Mosley on the radio)
  • 02:44-04:35 (Whitechapel and the police presence)
  • 04:45-06:50 (The spy and how the march shifted to Cable Street)
  • 06:50-08:20 (Mosley’s retreat and the arrests and injured)
  • 08:20-08:59 (The aftermath)

• Instruct students to share their storyboards with one or more of their peers or in a gallery walk and then answer any remaining questions that they have about the audio.

• Then as a class, discuss the following questions:

  • What happened during the Battle of Cable Street? How did community members protest the march of fascists through their neighbourhood? What actions did they take? Were they successful?
  • What role did violence play in the Battle of Cable Street? Was it necessary? Could it have been avoided? Should it have been avoided?

Day 1, Activity 3 Reflect on the Battle of Cable Street

To capture students’ understanding, ask them to respond on an exit card to the following question:

What can the Battle of Cable Street teach us about the importance of individuals and groups working in solidarity against discrimination, racism, and antisemitism?

Day 2, Activity 1 Revisit Exit Cards

Take a few minutes at the start of class to share from some of the exit cards. We recommend that you keep the students’ responses anonymous unless they have given you permission in advance of the lesson to share their ideas.

Day 2, Activity 2 Deepen Student Understanding of the Battle of Cable Street

• Tell students they will now read an article commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street. While reading, they can annotate by underlining or writing a “C” in the margin for places where they see connections to images and the audio recording from the previous lesson. They might also write an exclamation mark in places where they are surprised and a question mark in places where they feel confused or have a question.

• Pass out and read aloud (or divide students into groups to read) the reading “I’d Do It All Over Again”: Last Hurrah for the Veterans of Cable Street. After reading, if you haven’t already, divide the class into groups and ask them to complete a Connect, Extend, Challenge Chart in response to the following questions:

  • Connect: How do the ideas and information in this reading connect to what you already know about the Battle of Cable Street?
  • Extend: How does this reading extend or broaden your thinking about the Battle of Cable Street?
  • Challenge: Does this reading challenge or complicate your understanding of the Battle of Cable Street? What new questions does it raise for you?

• After groups have finished their Connect, Extend, Challenge charts, review their answers together, perhaps creating a class version on a piece of chart paper.

Day 2, Activity 3 Discuss the Bigger Lessons that Cable Street Teaches Us

Then in small groups or as a class, discuss one or more of the following questions. You might assign one question to each group and have them present the key points from their discussion to the class and then allow everyone to share their thoughts about the question. Alternatively, you might ask each group to answer all of the questions while you circulate to get a sense of their understanding of the material.

• What factors may have motivated the different groups of men, women, and children to protest Mosley and his march through the East End of London in 1936? What risks did the protesters take by participating in the protest? What does the response of the East End community reveal about their obligation and responsibility to defend each other’s human rights?

• Willie Myers, who was at the Battle of Cable Street, reflects on the situation today:

  Prejudice is still directed at Jews, but it’s even worse towards Muslims. When I hear Muslims, or Polish people, being attacked today, I feel angry. I cannot fathom out why we can’t see each other as human beings.

  • What factors do you think prevent people from seeing each other as human beings? How can we help people expand their universes of obligation?
  • What responsibility do you think individuals and groups have to act when they see or hear others being attacked because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other aspects of their identity?

    • What are some ways we might take action?
    • What factors might prevent us from taking action?
    • What reasons for not taking action do you think are excusable? What reasons for not taking action are inexcusable?

• In the final paragraph of the article, Danny, a history student from Bristol who visited Cable Street in 2016 to see the mural commemorating the event, said:

  Given the current climate, the battle of Cable Street still has enormous relevance. There are right-wing nationalist movements in France, Germany, Austria, and here we have UKIP. The way things are going, future generations need to learn the lessons.

  What lessons do you think your generation and future generations need to learn from the Battle of Cable Street? What makes you say that?

Day 2, Activity 4 Reflect on Applying Lessons from Cable Street

Ask students to reflect on the following question in a journal response:

Think about the lessons that you think your generation and future generations need to learn from the Battle of Cable Street. How might you apply one or more of these lessons in your own school or local community to make it a more welcoming and inclusive place?