If we are to properly learn the lessons of the Lawrence Inquiry Report and its legacy, we need to focus on the institutions that continue to reproduce racial inequalities 20 years on.
This is according to the Runnymede Trust’s briefing on Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 20 years on (pdf), in February 2019.
The briefing finds:
- There needs to be a renewed focus on institutions as recommended in the Lawrence Inquiry report
- This includes the police, but also all public, private and charitable institutions, who must continuously guard against policies and practices that would deny fair treatment and outcomes for Britain’s 8 million black and minority ethnic (BME) people
- The legacy of the report is being undermined by the failure of successive governments, especially since 2010, to give full effect to the ‘public sector equality duty’.
- Had the duty been working as intended, the worst of the Windrush injustices should not have occurred
- An often overlooked recommendation is on the need for more accurate teaching of Britain’s diverse history and our place in the world.
