Mounting anger over race report
The mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence is the latest figure to criticise a Government report on racial disparity.
Doreen Lawrence said: “My first thought was it has pushed [the fight against] racism back 20 years.”
‘Those people who marched for Black Lives Matter? It’s denying all of that. The George Floyd stuff? It’s denied all of that’
Them other of murdered teenagerstephen lawrence has said thegovernment-backedreview of racial disparities in Britain gives “racists the green light”, and accused its authors of not being “in touch with reality”.
Baroness Doreen Lawrence’s comments come after the report said that geography, family influence, socio-economic background, culture, and religionall affect life chances more than racism.
Its findings have been described as insulting and divisive, and the chairman of the review has been accused of putting a“positive spin on slavery and empire”.
Speaking at a public event organised by De Montfort University on 31 March, Lawrence – who was made a peer in 2013 after campaigning for justice for her son – said: “When I first heard about the report my first thought was it has pushed [the fight against] racism back 20 years or more."
“I think if you were to speak to somebody whose employer speaks to them in a certain way, where do you go with that now?" she said. "If a person is up for promotion and has been denied that, where does he go with that now? Those people who marched for Black Lives Matter? It’s denying all of that. The George Floyd stuff? It’s denied all of that.”
Lawrence said her son – who died in 1993 following a racially motivated attack in southeast London – was murdered “because of racism” and “you cannot forget that.”
“Those who sit behind this report (saying) that racism doesn’t exist or it no longer exists need to speak to the young boys who are stopped and searched constantly on the street,” she said. “They need to speak to those young people.
“They( the report authors) are not in touch with reality basically. That’s what it boils down to. When you are privileged you do not have those experiences.”
Ministers have been facing a backlash over the report – which has been branded culturally deaf, out of step with public opinion, and “steeped in denial” – since its publication.
The chairman of the report said it had found no evidence of “institutional racism ”, and criticisedthe way the term has been applied, saying it should not be
used as a “catch-all” phrase for any microaggression.
The Prime Minister thanked Samuel Kasumu, his most senior black adviser, after it emerged he had quit in the wake of the report’s publication – although downing street insists his departure was “absolutely nothing to do” with the report.
Kasumu resigned from his
role as a special adviser to Mr Johnson on civil society but will stay in post until may to continue work on improving vaccineuptake in minority groups, Politico reported.
In his resignation letter, which was obtained by thebbc, Kasu mu accused the conservativeparty of pursuing“a politics steeped in division”.
Asked about Kasumu’s resignation, johnson said:“i worked very closely with Samuel in the last year or so and he’s done some great stuff. I thank him very much, particularly on helping to encourage vaccine take-up amongst more hesitant groups and communities.”