Thirty years after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a Black teenager whose death sparked a push back against racism in the criminal justice system, attitudes to race, identity and belonging in the UK have undergone a profound shift.
(Bloomberg) — Thirty years after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a Black teenager whose death sparked a push back against racism in the criminal justice system, attitudes to race, identity and belonging in the UK have undergone a profound shift.
Fewer than one-fifth of people now think that being born in Britain is very important for being truly British, down from almost half in 1995, according to a report published by the Runnymede Trust and Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation on Friday, the day before the anniversary of Lawrence’s death on April 22. The percentage of people who think immigration had a negative impact for the economy and cultural life has also more than halved between 2011 and 2019.
The report, which analyzed results of British Social Attitudes surveys between 1998 and 2021, found a divergence between how the British public perceives wider society’s attitudes towards race, and their own views. While people are now more supportive of racial equality, the proportion who said racial prejudice in Britain had increased in the past five years more than double between 1998 and 2019.“The vast majority of people in the UK support the cause of racial equity and justice,” said Halima Begum, Chief Executive Officer of the Runnymede Trust. “We have made considerable progress on the path to achieving racial equality which, in no small part, those are a direct legacy of Stephen’s death.”Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated unprovoked attack by a gang while waiting for a bus in 1993 near his home in South East London. After none of the five suspects in the initial investigation were charged, a public inquiry into the case found that that the investigation was incompetent and exposed institutional racism in the London Metropolitan Police force. Two people were eventually convicted of his murder in 2012, almost two decades after his death.
“As we reflect on the past 30 years, we must acknowledge both the progress that has been made and the work that remains to be done,” said Doreen Lawrence, Lawrence’s mother, in the report. “Stephen’s story serves as a potent reminder that our commitment to racial justice must be constantly renewed.”
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