Essay: Stephen Lawrence: A Defining Struggle
From: Say it Loud!: Marxism and the Fight Against Racism ed Richardson, Brian. (Bookmarks, 2013)
"I USED to talk to Stephen about the dangers of being out and the dangers of the police as well, because of stories that you hear that used to frighten me. The stories that you would hear would be about walking on the street on your own or with your friends or whatever, and the police would stop you and bundle you in the back of the van and beat up the kids. That is the story that would be going round, especially with black children.
Stephen's attitude towards the police was always: ‘Well if I'm not doing anything wrong how could they do that to me?' I used to say to him from what I am hearing you don’t have to be doing anything. I didn’t trust the police, I never have done, and I certainly don’t now. Stephen did not have that mistrust, however, because as far as he was concerned, if he wasn’t doing anything wrong he had nothing to worry about. That was his attitude".
Statement of Doreen Lawrence, 8 March 1998 Appendix 6, The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Appendices, The Stationary Office Limited, (February 1999)
In May 1997 Tony Blair’s New Labour party was swept into office with a left wing mandate from voters (but a right wing reformist political programme). In the run up to the general election the Tories had in desperation tried to play the race card and appeal to bigotry. Tory strategist Andrew Lansley had advised that “Immigration as an issue played well in the last election and still has the capacity to hurt our opponents”.
