Institutional Racism

Question 1

Bridges

Answer 1

1999

Murder of Laurence in 1993

Scarman rejected idea the the Met were racist

Racial discrimination ingrained:

• low achievement at school
• failure in job market
• high exclusions

AFTER SCARMAN

• Racism awareness training revamped, but reinforced view that crime is inherent in black community
• Reinforced institutional racism
• Mid-80s, police focussing too much on social awareness, not enough on arrest and proper investigation

MACPHERSON inquiry documented:

• Police incompetence
• Institutional racism
• Senior officers at fault, staff shortages
• Disproportionate stop and search on blacks
• Underreporting of racial incidents… lack of confidence

Practices of public bodies and individuals unwittingly discriminate

Called for amendment of the national curriculum to provide anti-racist education

Government response superficial.
- Commitments displaced by desire to speed up justice and tackle crime (e.g. withdrawing right of defendant to a jury) SEE BOURNE 2001

MacPherson failed to dig deeper into the nature of racism

Question 2

Bourne

Answer 2

2001

Commonwelath immigrants represented archetypal strangers

RAT training played on white guilt, best one could be was an anti-racist racist

Scarman reduced object of struggle from state to the individual —— Superficial!

MACPHERSON

• WE are the problem, shamed the nation
• The state and society, not the individual

AFTER MACPHERSON

• Government was superficial
• Diluted response to reccomendations
• Tried to suspend the right to trial by jury (judges consistently taking police view)
• Brought in Immigration and Asylum act, discriminating by dispersing people, marginalizing them with vouchers instead of welfare.
• Problem of political correctness

Right wing, press, and police turned on the report

• made police soft on crime
• afraid to use powers effectively
• KUNDNANI 2000.. Telegraph suggested that RAT stifled police

Fight against institutional racism is fight against state racism

• state is ultimately at fault
• asylum laws, deportations, stop and search, exclusions

Question 3

Kundnani

Answer 3

2000

Rise of the ‘new common sense’

• cultural essentialism
• anti multiculturalism

Said MacPherson report was attack on Englishness

Blair feared backlash by tabloids in name of nationalism

Meritocratic advancement being championed
- Those that fail only have themselves to blame

Tabloids ran success stories

• Asian woman graduate, black entreprenuer
• If one black person can do it then everyone else isn’t trying hard enough

Tabloids cast Brits as most oppressed group, Englishness under threat
- The Left cast as enemies of the people

Question 4

Gilroy

Answer 4

1982

Crime and disorder linked to unemployment, decline of inner cities
- symbolised popular imagery of national decline

Police using counter-insurgency training created in NI
- Thus cast inner cities as places suffering from crisis conditions

Question of black crime must be approached in historical fashion

Taking crime stats at face value a mistake

Police ineptitude highlighted by rise in private security firms.