STEPHEN LAWRENCE, RACISM IN THE UK, 19 YEARS ON: BY ZITA HOLBOURNE

On Tuesday 3^rd 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 3^rd January, entitled ‘Strange Kind of Justice’, sums up how I feel about it.

http://soundcloud.com/zita-holbourne/strange-kind-of-justice-in

 

Zita Holbourne performing at the MLK Day celebration, Occupy LSX London

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.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/feb/24/lawrence.ukcrime12

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.

http://www.tuc.org.uk/sltg/action_plan.htm

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.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/04/where-are-black-police-officers

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 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.

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/equality-and-human-rights-commission/index.cfm

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

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/pcs_comment_archive.cfm/id/EC9D083F-806E-4702-95532257ABBE528C

Information about BARAC including how to join our campaign.

http://blackactivistsrisingagainstcuts.blogspot.com/

Information about Zita’s work as a poet and artist.

www.myspace.com/zitaholbourne

Zita Holbourne pictured right, with Lee Jasper

RACE AND RACISM: LET'S TALK - BARAC Meeting Manchester 23rd January

BARAC Manchester invite you to a meeting:

Race and Racism: Let's Talk.

Monday 23rd January
MCCR
Princess Road
6pm -8pm

On January 3rd, two of the gang who attacked Stephen Lawrence were convicted of his brutal racially motivated murder.

We acknowledge and commend the Lawrences’ for their unwavering resolve to seek justice for their son and we also take note of Doreen Lawrence’s statement that ‘racism and racist attacks still happens’: that racism within institutions and society still blights us.

The MacPherson Enquiry, launched 5 years after the death of Stephen, exposed the institutional racism within the Metropolitan Police. The enquiry also further exposed the racist culture and practices within other major institutions in the country. Though the enquiry report’s 70 recommendations have gone some way to eliminate racist practices and culture within these institutions, we are still experiencing substantial issues of racism; low pay, job cuts, unemployment, stop & search, DNA database, deaths in custody, harassment & bullying and discrimination.

BARAC Manchester invite you to talk about the current situation regarding race and racism -
This is an opportunity for Us to discuss

• What significant improvements have been made since the MacPherson Report and the implementation of the 70 recommendations?

• How have other institutions, Education, Health, Local & central government departments recognised and implemented recommendations to eliminate and reduce racist practices and culture.

• Have and how things have improved for those impacted by institutional racism?

• What is the current situation in terms of race relations; Is there a culture of racist scapegoating peddled by the government and the media? And has Political correctness ‘gone mad’ and created an undercurrent of resentment and hostility? Or not?

Contributions towards venue costs appreciated
For further information:

 Contact Colette Williams
07984 359894
colettecwilliams@yahoo.co.uk

LSESU MEETING "19 years after Stephen Lawrence: The nature of racism today"

Click here for fb event page

This Thursday: 17:00 until 19:00

LSE Clement's House

 

The guilty verdicts of Gary Dobson and David Norris are a welcome victory in the struggle for justice for Stephen Lawrence.

However 3 of the racist murderers are still free and it took 19 years for this sentence - Why ?

This meeting will address the nature of racism in our society and how this can be changed, it would be good to have a debate on how this should take place on our campus!

We will have a panel of speakers including:

Aaron Kiely- NUS NEC speaking on behalf of the NUS Black Students' Campaign

Zita Holbourne- poet, activist and PCS member

Yuri Prasad - journalist who has campaigned since Stephen Lawrence was murdered

TBC a speaker from Jcore - the Jewish council for racial equality
 

FB EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/messages/?action=read&tid=id.324904434199121#!/events/173734222727791/

Voice Poll on British race relations since Stephen Lawrence

'Majority of black people do not believe that race relations in Britain have changed'

VERDICT: 'Majority of black people do not believe that race relations in Britain have changed'

POLL FIGURES from the Voice newspaper show that a huge majority of black people do not believe that race relations in Britain have changed since the murder of Stephen Lawrence almost 19 years ago.
An online survey conducted by Britain's only black weekly revealed that 83 per cent of those who took part in the survey thought things had not got better.

Only 17 per cent of participants said race relations had improved since the stabbing to death of the teenager by a gang of racists in south east London.
It was a surprising result in the wake of the groundbreaking Macpherson inquiry into the Lawrence murder that was hailed as a milestone when it published a report in 1999.

The Macpherson report brought about big changes in the way the police handle racist crimes and deal with the black community. But critics say that the disproportionate number of black people - mainly young men - still stopped and searched by police and deaths in custody are stark examples of how things have not changed.
The Voice’s editor George Ruddock said: "The results of our poll reflect a deep dissatisfaction among black people about the way race relations in Britain have failed to progress. Stephen's brutal murder by racist thugs was a wake up call for the whole of the nation - black and white - and for a time the authorities took its lessons to heart. But it is clear that the momentum of change needs to be stepped up if we are not to see more inner city disturbances of the type that happened in the summer."

He added: "Our newspaper, which is proud to be 'The Voice of Black Britain', will continue to champion the cause of black people, fight injustice, highlight success stories and promote race equality.”
See exclusive 6 page report in The Voice this Thursday.


(First published at: http://voice-online.co.uk)

Stephen Lawrence verdict: Videos. Press conference led by Rev Jesse Jackson

 

Press conference led by Rev Jesse Jackson following the guilty verdict given to two of Stephen Lawrence's murderers David Norris and Gary Dobson.

Lawrence convictions should be treated as new evidence of a 'joint enterprise'

http://www.blacklawyer.org

Lawrence convictions should be treated as new evidence of a 'joint enterprise' say lawyers who changed the law on double jeopardy.

The Society of Black Lawyers (SBL) is calling for the immediate prosecution of the three
 remaining men who are suspected of being involved in the racist murder of black teenager,
 Stephen Lawrence in 1993. The call follows the conviction and sentencing of David Norris
 and Gary Dobson who were both given life sentences at the Old Bailey today.
Norris was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years and three months and Dobson received
 15 years and two months. Both were sentenced under old guidelines as if they were juveniles
 because they were under the age of 18 when the crime was committed. Dobson had previously
 been acquitted in 1996, following a private prosecution brought by the Lawrence family. It was
 only due to a change in the law on double jeopardy in 2005 that he was able to be tried again.

More Information

SENTENCING

Jide Lanlehin, criminal barrister, commented:
"We welcome the sentences that have been passed and recognise that the judge's
hands were tied in that respect. The sentences could have been much longer if
judicial discretion, based on exceptional circumstances had been possible.
Such a crime, if it had been committed by juveniles today, would have attracted
 a far longer sentence. Sadly, neither the sentencing guidelines nor legislation
allowed for such discretion to be exercised."

JOINT ENTERPRISE: JAMIE ACOURT, NEIL ACOURT & LUKE KNIGHT

SBL Co-Chair, Peter Herbert OBE commented:
"The SBL is calling on the Crown Prosecution Service to undertake an immediate
 review of this case with a view to bringing prosecutions against the three remaining
suspects. Our view is that the convictions of Norris and Dobson represent substantial
new evidence of a joint enterprise in relation to all five men. Luke Knight and the
Acourt brothers should be re-interviewed. They should not think that they are safe
from the continuing call for justice.'

DOUBLE JEOPARDY

Rosemary Emodi, Vice Chair of the SBL commented:
"SBL made written and oral submissions to the Macpherson Inquiry in 1998, arguing
 that the law on double jeopardy should be reviewed. It was the one recommendation
 that specifically addressed the particular circumstances of the Lawrence family following
 the failed private prosecution in 1996. The wide-ranging impact of the Stephen Lawrence
 case is well documented. But it was the dignified and unwavering fight for justice, led by
 Doreen and Neville Lawrence that has been so compelling.
As lawyers, the SBL believes that our role is not just to practice the law.
We must shape it, influence it and where necessary, change it. Dobson's conviction
 stands as an enduring testament to that belief.'

Company information

The Society of Black Lawyers (SBL) is the oldest organisation of African,
Caribbean and Asian lawyers, jurists, academics and law students in the UK. 
Founded in 1969 by the late Rudy Narayan and Sigbhat Kadric QC, the SBL
 exists to promote diversity within the legal profession and campaign to increase
access to justice and quality legal services for ethnic minority and disadvantaged
communities.

(First published at: http://pressitt.com/smnr/lawrence-convictions-should-be-treated-as-new-evidence-of-a-joint-enterprise-say-lawyers-who-changed-the-law-on-double-jeopardy/89)

Stephen Lawrence: Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.

The news that David Norris and Gary Dobson have been found guilty of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence will no doubt be heralded by many as a victory for British justice. I won’t be one of them.

I believe that British justice stands convicted, at least in the court of black public opinion, as incapable of offering justice to black people either as victims of crime or as suspects.

Had the police simply done their job in 1993 all those responsible would have been arrested and convicted. Whilst they can say that new forensic evidence made today’s guilty verdict possible, the fact is their racism cost the Lawrence family justice when they needed it most: 19 years ago. That insidious racism has condemned them to a lifetime of misery and years of endless campaigning.

I was just one of many activists at the centre of the Stephen Lawrence Justice campaign in the early 1990s and organized some of the largest anti racist demonstrations ever seen.

We marched against the BNP bookshop in Welling. The BNP celebrated the killers, exalting them as “national heroes” and falsely smearing Stephen as a “drug dealer”. We marched with the Rev Al Sharpton demanding a public inquiry: a demand that was rejected by the then Prime Minister John Majors’ Tory government.

March against BNP, Welling 1993. Photo: Stefan Rousseau

Jack Staw MP as Shadow Home Secretary in 1997 publicly announced Labours pre election commitment to holding a public inquiry into Stephens’s death at a press conference held by the 1990 Trust of which I was Director at the time.

At the MacPherson Inquiry I was one of a handful people representing black organizations who gave oral evidence to the Inquiry. Years later whilst working for former Mayor Ken Livingstone it gave me enormous pleasure to personally ensure that the Stephen Lawrence Centre was funded and built.

During that time I also witnessed the constant attempts by Sir John Stevens and Ian Blair to seek convictions of these men, only to watch as they failed each time. Both of these officers accepted the reality of institutional racism within the Met.

The debacle of the initial Metropolitan Police Service investigation was not only racist to its core but I believe that it was fundamentally corrupt and not just incompetent.

A BBC investigation alleged that the murder inquiry's Det.Sgt. John Davidson had taken money from the gangster and known drug smuggler Clifford Norris, the father of David Norris, a chief suspect in the investigation. Neil Putnam, a former corrupt police detective turned whistleblower, told a BBC investigation that Norris was paying Mr. Davidson to obstruct the case and to protect the suspects.

"Davidson told me that he was looking after Norris and that to me meant that he was protecting him, protecting his family against arrest and any conviction," Putnam said.

Had justice been truly served then Metropolitan Police Officers would have been in the dock along with Norris and Dobson. But the other big hole in the reputation of British justice is the fact that Jamie and Neil Acourt and Luke Knight, the co accused, all remain free.

The Acourts are the men who are suspected by police of actually stabbing Stephen, they were ardent racists of the most violent kind. In 2002 David Norris, 25, and Neil Acourt, 27, were convicted of a racist attack on Detective Constable Gareth Reid in south-east London. The shadows of Luke Knight, Jamie and Neil Acourt continue to hang over the Metropolitan Police Service.

That those who are responsible for Stephen murder remain free is tragedy enough. However it is even more of a tragedy when one considers the fact that tensions with the Met, in terms of their relationship with London’s black community, are as high now as they were in 1993.

Black deaths in custody, massively escalating rates of stop and search as personally demanded by current Mayor Boris Johnson are evidence of both a resurgent and rampant racism. Recession and racism go together like hand and glove. In 1993 the UK was suffering a mini recession. The extreme and violent racism we saw back then could be set to return with a vengeance. That’s the nature of racism, like a life threatening disease if the symptoms are treated and the cause is ignored it returns with increased intensity.

That heady fleeting moment of hope for black British citizens, when the McPherson Inquiry report determined that these monumental failures were not the result of one bad apple but of systemic institutional racism, seems like a distant long forgotten memory.

That brief moment of hope where the country considered that the social evil of racism could at last be consigned to the dustbin of history lasted three years.

In 2003 Home Secretary David Blunkett, after a sustained and bitter campaign by sections of the press and the Tory against the report and its conclusions, joined in the attack on the principle on institutional racism.

Blunkett signaled in a speech to Black and Asian civil servants a dramatic and irreversible retreat in government race policy by saying the idea of "institutional racism" had "missed the point".

The following years saw repeated attacks on the concept and the Inquiry reports’ recommendations.  Institutions such as the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Police Federation, the judiciary, the right wing press in cohorts with the then Conservative opposition, began a backlash of unprecedented scale.

Once the political climate moved further to the right, in the aftermath of both 9/11 and 7/7, the process of retrenchment accelerated. Policy recommendations were torn up, sidelined or discarded. The race riots in Oldham and Bradford in 2001 and the subsequent failure of Ted Cantle to accept that institutional racism in policing had been at the root cause of these disturbances, as the police failed to protect Asian communities under violent attack by fascist extremists, was virtually ignored as a causal factor.

By 2009 the retreat was almost complete as Home Secretary Vernon Coker scrapped the Government commitment to race equality employment quotas. By 2011 the rout was complete as Prime Minister Cameron declared that the concept of multiculturalism was dead and declared a return to muscular liberalism and traditional “British values”. Assimilation not integration is now the order of the day.

So here we stand today among the wreckage of the British justice system. 19 years later science has seemingly delivered where equality, professional policing and politics had failed.

I am not celebrating, pleased though I am for my dear friends the Lawrence’s. I’m incensed: this is no victory for British justice, far from it. This verdict in my view exemplifies and represents the historical and continued calamitous amplification of routine injustice faced by black people in Britain.

The fact is the guilty still walk free. The live their lives without consequence protected by those residents of Eltham who know who the guilty are and continue to shield them.

As for black people, racism is back on the ascendency. Racism in the police force and politics is now refreshed and resurgent. Stop and search, black deaths in custody, a tide of black police officers leaving the force, riots, race and resistance are back on the agenda.

The gains and hopes raised over the last 19 years have been dashed and we are left with a pale facsimile of justice. There is now not one single black organization in the UK that has policy consultation status with Government: that is how far we have been pushed back.

It was Dr Martin Luther King who said that “The arch of the moral universe is long but its bends toward justice”. In Britain in 2012 there is no justice for black people and as Dr King also pointed out “where there is no justice there can be no peace.”

Lee Jasper

Former Policing Director for London and Chair of London Race and Criminal Justice Consortium.

Post Stephen Lawrence Trial Press Conference with Rev Jesse Jackson Snr

Reverend Jesse Jackson to take part in post-Lawrence trial Press Conference

Today, a jury of their peers found David Norris and Gary Dobson guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Doreen, Neville and the Lawrence family have waited a gruelling, heart-breaking 18 years for justice - but we want to ask:

What does this all mean?

Does this mean there is closure for the Lawrence family?

Will this help the police regain trust within Black communities?

And what of the Stephen Lawrence public inquiry findings around ‘Institutional Racism’; are they still relevant, or have we dealt with the racism of the 80’s and 90’s?

Speakers will include Reverend Jesse Jackson, Diane Abbott MP, Dr Richard Stone, member of the Lawrence inquiry, Superintendent Leroy Logan, OBV Director Simon Woolley and Chair of London Race and Criminal Justice Consortium Lee Jasper.

(First published at OBV http://obv.org.uk)

The press conference will take place on
Wednesday 4th January 2012 from 9.00am – 10.00am
18a Victoria Park Square, London, E2 9PB. Nearest tube station is Bethnal Green.

Diane Abbott MP

OBV Director Simon Woolley



Lee Jasper




Superintendent Leroy Logan



Dr Richard Stone

I'm attending the Stephen Lawrence Murder Trial at the Old Bailey

Stephen Lawrence R.I.P.

Thursday 17th November at 09:30am 

Jury swearing in Monday 14th November.  Trial is scheduled to start sometime later this week. We will advise as soon as we know. Trial is set to last 6 weeks.

Please promote and support this event page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=274203732616440

This is for all those who reject racism and uphold the principle of justice for all British citizens regardless of their race or faith. Those who love justice and hate racism. I would ask that we encourage people to attend the trial and let the country know that we have not forgotten Stephen or indeed all the other victims of racist murders.

As the economic crisis worsens so will racism. Stephen died during the last recession in the early 1990s, in the 1980s we had civil disturbances and concerning the arrests that followed we had a huge number of miscarriage of justice cases all over the country. So we need to ensure that we are ready to support justice and reject racism.

Now advised that Court 16 seats only 30 people. In that case,  I may think about calling a number of demonstrations of solidarity and support for the Lawrence family  outside the court . The defendants families will no doubt be there and they and the Lawrence's will be given seats and if there are any left they will be given to the public. Any other ideas or proposals will be welcomed.