Memories still raw 25 years after racist murder
Southeast London suburb of Eltham has struggled to shake off a reputation for racism
Life continues near the unobtrusive granite plaque which marks the spot where Stephen Lawrence died, 25 years ago on Sunday.
A woman pushes a pram, cars and buses rumble along, people wait at a bus stop perhaps unaware that this is the place where the aspiring architect was set upon by a gang of racists and stabbed to death.
The murder of the 18-yearold on Well Hall Road in Eltham, southeast London, left an indelible mark on British society, forcing the country to face up to endemic racism which resulted in two men being convicted for his murder but only 18 years later and after a change in the law.
Warning
But now, a quarter of a century after Stephen was killed, those who have watched the repercussions unfold warn that lessons hard learnt are in danger of being lost.
“I get the sense there isn’t the urgency around tackling incidents of racial harassment or racial abuse in the way that there was,” says Clive Efford, the MP here since 1997. “I think as you get further away from an incident as serious as the murder of Stephen Lawrence it has dulled the senses.”
The landmark anniversary brings back painful memories for people in this quiet suburb, including the moment they realised they lived in such a deeply divided society. “We were horrified; no one I knew had ever thought about that type of thing. We hadn’t needed to — no, we hadn’t appreciated that we needed to,” says Judy Smith, a long-time community organiser and part of South Greenwich Forum.
The police investigation that followed the murder was later exposed as incompetent and racist — with arrests only made two weeks after the stabbing despite locals giving names of suspects to police.
The area has struggled to shake off a reputation for racism. Three people, including a 13-year-old girl, were found guilty of attacking two Muslim women in Eltham last year.