Stephen Lawrence Day

In July 1997 the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, commissioned an inquiry into the death and subsequent handling of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.

The aim of this was to “inquire into the matters arising from the death of Stephen Lawrence on 22 April 1993 to date, in order particularly to identify the lessons to be learned for the investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crimes”.

Led by Sir William Macpherson, he was advised by Tom Cook, a former deputy chief constable, Dr John Sentamu, Bishop for Stepney and Dr Richard Stone, the chair of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality.

The report was 350 pages long and was the first to use the term institutional racism, as it concluded the investigation was “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership”.

The report made 70 recommendations designed to show “zero tolerance” for racism. These were wide ranging suggesting changes not only in policing but also the civil service, NHS, judiciary and other public bodies. 67 of the recommendations led to direct changes in practice or the law within 2 years of the report’s publication.

The abolition of the “double jeopardy” rule, that didn’t allow trial for the same crime twice, led to the 2012 conviction for the men responsible for Stephen’s death.

The report defined institutional racism as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racial stereotyping".

The Cambridge dictionary defines institutional racism as “policies, rules, practices, etc. that have become a usual part of the way an organization or society works, and that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race.”

Institutional racism still exists today. This form of racism is less overt because it is not about individual acts, but about a collective upholding of systems that benefit individuals from white backgrounds whilst disadvantaging, or even discriminating against, those who are from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups.

Institutional racism is so embedded within our societal structures that it has become normalised, meaning inequalities and discrimination continue to persist with little exploration and recognition of how they occur.

Institutional racism must be recognised in order to be eradicated. We must all acknowledge these inequalities and work individually and collectively to address them. The term institutional racism is often fiercely debated and is currently the topic of much discussion. Whilst progress has been made in many areas, statistics and lived experiences demonstrate how institutional racism is still very much alive. 

Below are some examples of how institutional racism still persists in the UK today:

• Black Caribbean children are 3.5 times more likely to be excluded than all other children at primary, secondary and special educational needs schools .
• Those categorised as from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds have been found to be more at risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from Covid-19 than those from white ethnic backgrounds.
• Overall stop-and-search rates between 2018 and 2019 show that Black people are now nearly 10 times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white people.
• Across higher education institutions there remains a degree awarding gap where white students are more likely to be awarded a First or 2:1 degree than students from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
• Across the higher education sector, there continues to be a lack of representation of senior academics of colour, particularly for Black women. In 2019, only 25 of Professors in the UK were Black women.

“I want Stephen Lawrence Day to be a reflective learning experience.”  Baroness Doreen Lawrence

A legacy for change

Stephen Lawrence Day is an important time to reflect on the past as well as recognising the progress that still needs to be made.

We all have a responsibility to act to address racism and we must all commit to playing our part. 

You can:

• be an active bystander. Call out racism when you see it
• educate yourself about the Stephen Lawrence story and about institutional racism today
• educate yourself about anti-racism and commit to being anti-racist
• learn about microaggressions and unconscious bias
• use your privilege to amplify the voices of others and to bring about change.

You can also share what you will do to address racism on social media using the hashtag #BecauseOfStephen.

St George’s is committed to achieving race equality for all of our staff and students.

Our data shows us that work is required to ensure equality based on race and ethnicity in areas such career development, recruitment and student degree awards.

We are undertaking various work to directly address these issues and to understand the experiences of our staff and students to inform our approach.

We recognise that there is much work to do. We have recently undertaken an Institutional Review of Race Equality at St George’s, the final report of which includes a series of comprehensive recommendations that provide a robust and long-term action plan, work on which is already in motion. 

In August 2020, St George’s issued an anti-racism statement. We have also been enhancing our training provision to ensure our staff and students are educated about racism and structural inequalities and are supported to play their part in addressing and challenging racism in our organisation. 

You can find out more about what St George’s is doing to progress race equality on the race equality pages on our website.