There’s no place for prejudice (From The Northern Echo)

There’s no place for prejudice

2:12pm Friday 6th January 2012 in Ray Mallon By Ray Mallon

THEY say that silence speaks volumes.

So perhaps it was the words that weren’t spoken after the conviction of two of Stephen Lawrence’s murderers that will prove most significant.

They’re words we’ve heard time and again at inquiries, press conferences and inquests. They’re usually delivered in a cut-glass accent and accompanied by a polite cough and the shuffling of papers. They are “nothing like this can ever happen again”, the motto of the British establishment closing ranks. Mercifully, we did not hear them this week for several reasons.

First, the investigation into Stephen Lawrence’s murder remains, even after 18 years, a work in progress. Others need to be brought to justice.

Second, while the convictions are welcome, they’re only a partial victory. Neither the guilty verdicts, nor the undoubted progress that we’ve made in confronting racist attitudes in the police and society can cancel out the mistakes that were made, the sloppiness, the prejudice that marked the initial response to the crime.

Because make no mistake, if the police had done their job properly and investigated without fear or favour, they would have wrapped things up in a fortnight. Instead, the case still can't be closed. The words “justice delayed is justice denied” have never been more appropriate. So it isn’t time to move on or draw a line under matters. It’s a time to keep challenging and questioning ourselves and our institutions and to be prepared for some inconvenient and unpleasant truths.

It is also a time to look for real solutions not tick-box fixes.

We need more black police officers. But a greater priority is to ensure that all police officers deliver the kind of service that everyone has confidence in, one that is respectful, visible, and makes sure people are safe.

Make that your foundation and I think you will find that the priorities of black, Asian and white communities are pretty much the same. As in so many other aspects of life, more unites us than divides us. We also need to tackle the root causes of prejudice.

When I hear the racist filth spouted by Stephen Lawrence’s killers and some of their associates, I find myself asking how they ended up like that. Where did all the hatred and ignorance come from? Diagnosing a physical illness is usually pretty easy. Trying to find why someone whose whole personality is sick is far harder. You can pick up attitudes like this in the workplace, the neighbourhood, the playground, even sections of the media. They have to be challenged.

But the key battleground, as in so many other areas, has to be the place where we spend most of our time and where we do most of our learning: the home. For years now, we’ve played the blame game when things go wrong in society. One week it’s schools, next week television. We all do it. But the reality is that all these influences are pretty much background noise when it comes to shaping someone's attitudes to their community and fellow citizens. The real talking, the real influence, occurs in the home and in the thousand and one actions we go through every day and which make us the people we are.

Every government in my lifetime has been long on promises to support families and ensure parents are equipped to do their job tobring up children in a supportive environment.

Up to now they’ve been short on action.

That has to change if we're going to make our streets safer and finally create a society based on respect for others.