Man who prompted Bristol bus boycott after he was denied job gets written apology 60 years later
A man who prompted the Bristol bus boycotts after he was refused a job has finally received an apology in writing from the city.
The letter of apology has been written by the Lord Mayor of Bristol to Guy Reid-Bailey, almost 60 years after the incident.
At the time Mr Reid-Bailey was lied to by a council-owned bus company boss who told him there were no jobs available on the buses back in 1963.
The incident prompted a widespread campaign and a raft of equalities legislation.
Civic leaders will also endow the Freedom of the City status on Mr Reid-Bailey and five other leaders of the Bristol Bus Boycott.
Four of the six have since passed away.
Guy Reid-Bailey, Roy Hackett, Barbara Dettering, Owen Henry, Audley Evans and Prince Brown, will be given the honour for their leading role in the Bristol Bus Boycott, which took place for months during the spring and summer of 1963.
Fellow organiser Paul Stephenson was given the Freedom of the City back in 2013.
The 1963 boycott saw a huge campaign to end what was described at the time as a "colour bar" - an unofficial bar on any Black or Asian people getting a job either driving or conducting the buses in Bristol.
The marches, pickets outside bus depots and major political lobbying, was backed by local MPs like Tony Benn, and ultimately forced the Bristol Omnibus Company to cave in and end their racist, but at the time legal, practices.
It also then paved the way for the Labour Government of the 1960s to pass a series of new laws outlawing discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of race, religion or gender.
All but two of those receiving the Freedom of the City have since passed away in the 59 years since - Guy Reid-Bailey and Barbara Dettering are still with us.
Roy Hackett OBE died earlier this year.
His family received a posthumous award of an honorary doctorate at his funeral.
Owen Henry died in 1989, ten years after the then Jamaican President Michael Manley awarded him the Order of Merit.
Like many of the other organisers of the bus boycott, Audley Evans went on to help set up what became the St Pauls Carnival in 1967.
He moved to Florida soon after, and passed away in 1991.
Bristol’s deputy mayor, Cllr Asher Craig, said: “I hope it will show Guy, the boycott leaders, and the wider community who participated in the boycott, how appreciative the city is for them taking a stand against injustice.”
Cllr Amirah Cole added: “I’m especially pleased to hear that Guy Bailey will receive an apology from the Lord Mayor.
"The Bristol Omnibus Company was run by the predecessor organisation to the Bristol City Council, so it is only right we acknowledge the harm its policy caused and offer him a full, unreserved apology.”
The decision to bestow the Freedom of the City on the two surviving members of the Bristol Bus Boycott campaign team and posthumously for the other four, was announced by Cllr Craig, who said she was "delighted" to announce the plans.
She said: “The Bristol Bus Boycott had a lasting impact not only in our city, but across the UK, as it drew political attention to the treatment black people were facing, which ultimately led to the Race Relations Act – a landmark law that went some way to outlawing racial discrimination.
“Leading the boycott took tremendous courage. While the boycott is now rightly seen as what it was – a peaceful protest aiming to end racist employment practices – we shouldn’t forget the level of opposition they faced at the time. Bristol has a proud history of peaceful protests – such as the Chartists, the suffragettes, and the Bristol Bus Boycott.
"All these protests have led to sorely-needed, positive change and changed Bristol for the better. I’m very proud to put forward plans to recognise this.
“Awarding the leading members of the boycott will hopefully reiterate how proud Bristol is of them for standing up to injustice."
"I’m particularly pleased that Barbara Dettering will be given this honour. She played an important role in organising the boycott which is often overlooked, so I hope this will show her how much we appreciate her work and her lifetime of service to her community,” she added.
The Freedom of the City awards will be bestowed at an extraordinary full council meeting, scheduled to be held on Tuesday 13 December.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...