RACISM is delighted that Coronation Street has produced this special episode…

This instalment of Corrie was originally supposed to air on Stephen Lawrence Day – held on 22 April each year to commemorate the life of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1993. But while the recent change in schedules means it has gone out a few weeks later, the sentiment remains unchanged, with producers setting out to explore attitudes to racism…

DIFFERENT APPROACHES

“One of our story team discussed the racism that the Bailey family experience in the course of their day-to-day work,” says Corrie boss Iain Macleod. “We then also chatted about it with the actors. The scripts have been generated in large part through workshopping with them.”

The team discovered that while instances of overt racism were experienced perhaps less than in the past, there was still a high degree of more ‘under the radar’ racism, and realised there was a story on how two generations dealt with this.

“James and Michael feel you should deal with it head on, whereas Ed and Aggie are more about ignoring it, as you’ll never change idiots’ minds,” says Iain. “It’s about exploring the generational differences between their approaches to racism, and them reconciling with each other’s points of view a bit.”

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Alas, star Trevor shares with us first-hand experience that racism is far from absent from our society…

“A few weeks ago, I went into my children’s school to discuss issues one of my children was having regarding racist remarks made by one of their peers,” explains Trevor. “Society doesn’t change easily, and the subject matter won’t go away if we ignore it. It’s good for Corrie to stay grafted to the real world to maintain its relevance.”