‘We taught Macpherson and Macpherson taught the world’ was how a black activist, who had given evidence to the Commission Inquiry, greeted its findings. For her, it was not just the Report’s conclusions that mattered – ordinary black people, who had borne the brunt of institutional racism in the police force and other public bodies,
Theme: Alternative voices on integration
The politics of stop and search
Much of the recent debate in the press over stop-and-search is more to do with a campaign to re-establish its political legitimacy as a policing tactic than reforming its use. And, if the prime minister’s public endorsement of greater use of stop-and-search is anything to go by, it is a campaign in which the least
Wasting the Macpherson opportunity
The Macpherson report seemed to be a break with old ways of looking at racism and a break with old remedies. And it also signalled the acceptance by ‘the establishment’ of what ‘the community’ had been saying for years: racial violence was endemic and a serious problem, the police were part of the problem of
Adding racism to the criminal justice system
Limiting race legislation Anti-racist campaigners were shocked to find that the Queen’s speech, heralding the legislation for the next parliament, effectively went back on the government’s promise (in the light of Macpherson) to extend race relations legislation to cover all public bodies, including the police and prison service. For the new bill will only relate
Uniting Against Globalisation
In June, the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations met at the G8 summit in Cologne. For a few days the city was swamped with government officials, press teams and camera crews. But in the shadows of the media spotlight different voices were struggling to be heard – the voice of the Inter-Continental Caravan, a
The Politics of Numbers: Police Racism and Crime Figures
The police forces of Britain are currently waging a public relations battle to regain credibility after the Macpherson Inquiry. Crime figures, produced by the police and released to the media along with the police’s interpretation of the figures, are playing a major role in it. The picture they give is one in which whites are
The Press, the Police and Macpherson
IN CARF 48 we analysed the limits of the new agenda of middle England on race, as exemplified by the Daily Mail in its championing of the Lawrence case. The Daily Mail made the murder of Stephen Lawrence a cause célèbre while also campaigning viciously against asylum-seekers. In this way middle England was proving that
Will the Police Be Made Fully Accountable?
No-one doubts that the case of Stephen Lawrence has resulted in unprecedented public awareness of racism in institutions and in the police in particular. Even hostile commentators are no longer able simply to shrug their shoulders and talk about a few bad apples. Nevertheless the debate so far has been considerably less penetrating as to
Stop and Search: Strong words but limited action
THE report of the Lawrence inquiry singles out countrywide racial disparities in the use of stop-and-search as one of the key areas of ‘institutional racism’ in the police. In doing so, the report does no more than to confirm what has long been widely known in the black community. The Macpherson report goes on to
Institutionalised racism and human rights abuses
A special investigation into 45 deaths in Europe in 1998. Human rights abuses, we are told, occur in the Third World – certainly not in democratic Europe. But the 45 deaths we document here throw into question Europe’s respect for human rights. For the treatment of immigrants, asylum-seekers and ethnic minorities is the benchmark by