STEPHEN
LAWRENCE, RACISM IN THE UK,
19 YEARS ON
WRITTEN
BY ZITA HOLBOURNE
On Tuesday 3rd of January we saw 2 of the
killers guilty of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence sentenced to
imprisonment for their crime.
Stephen Lawrence in the words of his mother was a
‘bright, beautiful young man’ in his teens with his whole life ahead of him
before he was killed by a racist gang in Eltham, South
London in 1993.
Doreen and Neville Lawrence fought an 18 year battle in
their quest for justice for their son and whilst this was a positive outcome,
it has come 18 years too late and the battle is still not over as at least 3 of
those who were part of the gang that murdered Stephen are free.
The poem I wrote on the night of 3rd January,
entitled ‘Strange Kind of Justice’, sums up how I feel about it.
In 1998 a public inquiry known as the Stephen Lawrence
Inquiry took place as a result of the Lawrence
family campaign. This was headed by Sir William MacPherson who concluded that
the Metropolitan Police Service was institutionally racist. MacPherson’s report
and recommendations led to the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 which placed a
duty on public sector bodies to promote race equality through the Public Sector
Race Equality Duty. This was followed in 2006 with a duty on Disability and in
2007 on Gender.
Through the public sector equality duties public sector
bodies were required to publish race, disability and gender equality schemes
and carry out equality impact assessments on any new or changed policies to
assess any disproportionate impact of their proposals on race, disability or
gender. Trade unions have drawn on the public sector equality duties to
challenge the disproportionate impact of job cuts, relocation and
discriminatory pay amongst other discriminatory policies. Whilst employers have
not been proactive in ensuring they adhere to the duties their very existence
has given us a route in which to challenge institutional racism and
discriminatory practices and policies collectively.
I commend Doreen and Neville Lawrence for the inspiration, strength, hope
and determination they have brought to so many others facing racist attacks and
race discrimination – whilst enduring their own prolonged battle, forced to set
aside grieving the loss of their son in their quest for justice because they
had no choice but to keep on fighting for that justice.
I am proud to have played a small part in supporting the Lawrence’s campaign over
many years alongside many other trade union and community anti racist
activists. The TUC
established the Stephen Lawrence Task Force which was a high profile campaign
with the aim of eliminating institutional racism in the workplace.
But I am saddened that it was necessary for the Lawrence
family and so many more families to have to dedicate their lives to seeking
justice for their loved ones and angry that legislation that came into force in
order to prevent the type of institutional racism that was demonstrated by the
Metropolitan Police Force following Stephen’s death is still in existence today
within not only the police forces but other public sector organisations and
institutions.
10 years after the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and
MacPherson Report, Dr Richard Stone who was a panel member of the Inquiry
produced a review report which exposed the failure of government to implement
the vast majority of the original recommendations and other reports evidencing
the same were produced by other independent bodies. That the recommendations
have not been followed through is a disgrace in itself but once the evidence
was produced demonstrating quite clearly that this was the case the government
should have put in place an emergency action plan to address the situation. The
issues that the recommendations sought
to address have not gone away, if anything many of them have got worse and this
is why Dr Stone made some new recommendations in his report.
In October 2010 a new Equality Act came into force and in
April 2011 the public sector equality duty replaced the race, disability and
gender duties. Whilst the duty covers other protected characteristics which is
welcomed we have seen a significant weakening of the previous duties. There is
no longer a requirement for Equality Schemes to be published or for Equality Impact
Assessments (EIAs) to be carried out. Effectively the new law makes it easier
for employers to disregard their duty to promote good race relations and take
steps to prevent race discrimination occurring in employment or the services
they provide. It seems to be that the onus is on lessening the burden on
business and increasing the burden and distress racism brings for those on the
receiving end.
The promised code of practice of the Public Sector
Equality Duty which is even more important because of the watering down of the
Duty has yet to be introduced and I am concerned that any delay in introducing
this will lead to more public sector organisations failing to take race
equality seriously.
Whilst we must fight to defend the equality protection in
law that exists and use it to challenge discrimination, not least in respect of
the disproportionate impact of cuts on gender, race and disability grounds we
must also strive for improvements because we are seeing an increase not a
decrease in discrimination in all aspects of our lives including;
·
at work in respect of job cuts, pay, pensions, promotion and
progression, 1.2 million people are unemployed with 1 in 2 young black people out of
work
·
in
education where the scrapping of EMA
means that those from deprived backgrounds cannot afford further education let
alone afford the tripled tuition fees of £9000 per annum from the start of the
forthcoming academic year, making degree level education a privilege for the
wealthy when it should be available equally to all
But the racism we face goes beyond education and the
workplace, in the criminal justice system, policing, stop and search, DNA database, service provision with many essential
services disappearing due to funding cuts in particular in the voluntary
sector, attacks on migrant workers, the Far Right blaming black communities for
cuts being made by the Con-Dem coalition, racist hate crime, in sports – not
least in football, on our TV screens and disgracefully we saw efforts to
detract from the verdict in Stephen Lawrence’s murder trial in the days
following. In effect there is no aspect of our lives where racism doesn’t raise
its ugly head.
If ever there was a need for robust race equality law,
backed up and enforced by the government through the powers held by the
Equality and Human Rights Commission which is also facing huge cuts reducing
its capacity to deliver on race equality it is now. Access the campaign
leaflet ‘What Price Equality’ and the
Save the EHRC petition here.
The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was set up in
Stephen’s memory supports young people from deprived backgrounds through bursaries
to pursue careers in architecture – which was Stephen’s chosen career and
wishes to broaden this approach to include law, finance and media studies.
You can find out more about the Trust and make donations
via the Trust’s website: http://stephenlawrence.org.uk/
and call upon you all to initiate any fundraising initiatives you can to
further the work of the Trust and to continue Stephen’s legacy.
Doreen Lawrence launched a £2 text campaign this month. You
can donate £2 by texting: DLAW02 £2 to 70070.
Progress to me is not measured by what we’ve achieved but
what we’ve retained maintained and improved upon and the legacy we are able to
create for those who will go after us. A temporary fix does not bring change it
simply delays the problem and the time when we have to face it head on.
There’s never been a more important time for workers,
service users, communities and families to come together to challenge the
discrimination we face in all aspects of our lives. When we divide we fall when
we stay together we have strength and unity, two essential ingredients in the
struggle for justice, equality and freedom.
Zita
Holbourne is co-founder and co-chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts, a
member of the PCS Union National
Executive Committee and of the TUC
Race Relations Committee and a performance poet and artist.
PCS NEC
statement on Stephen Lawrence
Information about BARAC including how to join our
campaign.
Information about Zita’s work as a poet and artist.
