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NEWSANOTHER RACIST MURDER, ANOTHER INQUIRY And this time, it is another powerful institution
– the Prison Service. How many ethnic minority lives have to be lost to clean
up our institutions? Five Law Lords ruled on 16th October 2003, restoring the
High Court’s verdict that the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, must set up an
independent public inquiry into the death of an Asian teenager, Zahid Bubarek at
the hands of a racist thug Robert Stewart on March 21st 2000, the day
he was to be released. After his death, Zahid’s parents asked the Home Office for a
public inquiry, but were refused. The refusal was a breach of the European
Convention on Human Rights where right to life is an absolute right. The Law Lords unanimously ruled that the State was under a duty not
only to protect a prisoner’s right to life, but also to investigate publicly,
the death of an inmate due to the failures of the system. They further said that
the failures that led to one inmate’s death at the hands of another were no
less demanding of an investigation than lethal acts which State agents have
deliberately perpetrated. The police investigation concluded there was insufficient evidence
to prosecute the service or any of its employees. In spite of the fact that Stewart had a long record of previous
offences, many apparently racially motivated, and, that a Prison Officer had
earlier warned colleagues that Stewart, a skinhead who had a cross and “RIP”
tattooed on his forehead, and a Ku Klux Klan sign on his cell notice board, was
a “very dangerous individual”, how the police investigation found
insufficient evidence to prosecute the service or any of its employees, raises
another question. The concerns that come out are: 1.
Failure of the Prison system 2. Home Office’s refusal to hold a public inquiry 3.
Police investigation finding insufficient evidence And whether: i.
There is a collaborative cover up by all institutions ii.
Home Office doesn’t have enough legal advisors with intelligence iii. Home Office intentionally disregards international Human Rights instruments iv.
The police still fails to investigate cases related to murders of
ethnic minorities properly or intentionally
We feel the public inquiry team should consider these factors too. Will this be another wake up call after Stephen Lawrence ? Response to the article “Its time to kick some British butt”
which appeared in the Daily Telegraph (Wednesday 3rd December 2003) The article was all about Star Parker quoted to be a Black
Republican Party activist from the United States and Damian Thompson and their
personal encounters of a limited nature with a few organisations in the Race
Relations field. It is good to know that Star Parker moved away from her lustful and
criminal lifestyle into a reformed person, willing to do good to others.
Nevertheless, this does not qualify her to stereotype others based on her own
experience without knowing, understanding or even considering the life long
sufferings, daily experiences and the barriers people face to improve their
lives. It is very inept of Star not to realise that the environment in
America, both institutional and personal are entirely different from Britain.
And for that part, Damian may have failed to highlight this to Star, who came
with the idea that her world is the one everyone lives in. As per their visit to Greenwich Council for Racial Equality (GCRE),
even though Star came to Racist Attacks Monitoring Unit, which is only one part
of GCRE, seeking our support and help to fight for Women’s Rights and domestic
violence, she only saw a very tiny portion of the effects of racist attacks. If she really wanted to learn about how to unlock the mindset of
black people, as she claimed to be an expert in doing so, she would have learnt
a little more about what we do in GCRE. Even though GCRE’s Racist Attacks Monitoring Unit monitors the
extent of racial harassment, attacks and anti-social behaviour, we share the
data with the Greenwich Council and the Police in taking effective steps to
address these issues in order to improve the lives of people to be free from
fear of crime. We also have an education unit, which works with schools, the Local
Education Authority and victims and perpetrators of racism in order to forge a
harmonious educational environment for children to achieve their potentials. We have an Employment Unit addressing racial discrimination in
employment both in public and private sectors. By so doing we not only monitor
the workforce but also advocate a race free employment environment which
provides, not only employability to disadvantaged communities but also
profitability for the employers. We have other colleagues working for the disadvantaged elderly of
the ethnic minority in the fields of health and welfare, on anti-racist
initiatives in public education, community empowerment and on shaping policies,
practices and strategies in delivery of service. We work closely with the Local Council, Police and Voluntary and
Community Organisations to improve the quality of life for all residents of the
borough. The impression Star Parker gives is that black people are lazy and
not willing to work but rather depend on welfare benefits. But she fails to
understand the institutional and personal racist barriers imposed upon the black
people from getting employment. Does she know the experiences of qualified young
black people who struggle to get on the ladder of employment and progress? If
given equal chances and opportunities, black people are more than willing to get
on the ladder. It would have been more appreciable if Parker and company to at
least do a reasonable amount of analysis without exposing their own ignorance. It has been very unfortunate that the journalist Damian Thompson
and poor Star Parker who came all the way from the United States to kick some
British butt, not being able to learn what all GCRE does. It is time they save
their own butts. Media is of course a powerful tool to shape peoples thinking, but
often most of them fail to realise their social responsibilities. If the fine
line is drawn between entertainment value and social responsibilities, media
could do a lot more than saleability. |
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