Thirteen dead and nothing said

On this day in 1981, 13 young black partygoers were killed in a house fire at 439 New Cross Road. Although many suspected that the fire was the result of an racially motivated arson attack, a succession of inquests returned an open verdict.

The 1980s saw a number of organised racist attacks against the black community in South London, including firebombings at nightclubs in Deptford and New Cross. The black community accused the police and the press of showing a lack of sympathy for the victims of the fire, which led to huge political mobilisation amongst the local community.

On Monday 2nd March 1981, 20,000 people gathered to march for the Black People’s Day of Action, the largest political demonstration ever seen in the UK black community. The Sun reported this with the headline “The Day The Blacks Ran Riot”.

Twenty years on there are still no clear answers, but what is certain is that we will not forget, thirteen dead and nothing said. We will not forget.

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