Far from creating a better world the Stephen Lawrence case became hijacked and twisted around to suit the needs of official anti-racism. Just when a new generation might have discarded those old race-tinted spectacles Macpherson-think said put them back on.
ARTICLE - Posted: January 9th 2012
Who could blame Doreen Lawrence for relentlessly pursuing justice for her son? For both Doreen and Neville Lawrence losing their teenage son in such a brutal attack must have delivered excruciating torment - suffering made infinitely worse by the failure of the police to produce a conviction.
In 1993, the year that Stephen was murdered, there were 565 recorded homicides in the UK – less than the typical yearly average of around 700. About a third were stabbings. On January 18th 1993, some 13 weeks before Stephen’s murder, 16 year old Claire Tiltman from Greenhithe, Kent was stabbed more than 40 times as she took a shortcut to visit a friend. Her killer has never been found. Speaking in 2003, Claire’s father described the frustration of not knowing who was responsible for the murder, “You cannot take out your anger on anyone - if I knew who it was it would help," he said. Regular viewers of the BBC TV show Crimewatch will have witnessed the heart-wrenching agony of those who struggle with the loss of a child, a parent or a close friend, knowing that the perpetrator is still out there.
But what kind of justice has Doreen Lawrence achieved? “How can I celebrate?” she said after yesterday’s convictions. “How can I celebrate when my son lies buried, when I cannot see him or speak to him? When I will not see him grow up or go to university, or get married or have children. These verdicts will not bring my son back.”
Posted: December 22nd 2011
“Absolutely no one believes that racism is a more common scourge in English football today than it was a generation ago”, says today's Guardian editorial 'Racism in football: keep on kicking it out'.
True.
“That’s not to say that racism has been eliminated from English football”.
Also true – and thank goodness this editorial remembered to add that point because the failure to be absolutely clear was the undoing of the hapless (and less than fluent in English) Sepp Blatter. But luckily the Guardian was able to then describe Blatters gaff as “disgraceful ignorance and insouciance”.
Because you’ve got to be careful if you’re going to keep on the right side of Zero Tolerance.