Black activists discuss racism, police and the cuts

In a well attended meeting at ULU, hosted by BARAC (Black Activists Rising Against Cuts), black Londoners came together to discuss racism, the police and the cuts.

With Lee Jasper in lively compere mode the meeting provoked a sometimes thoughtful, sometimes emotional discussion activists described the specific struggles they had been through over campaigning around local services, experiences of the Met Police and racism more generally in society.

Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah, from the PCS union, kicked off the meeting saying that we need to build bridges between black communities as well as across society. While no one is born racist or homophobic unless we build awareness and education those things that divide society will grow.

She talked about how we need to “untie ourselves” because “we constantly feel we need to ask everyone else for help.” That by takig action we can stop seeing ourselves as victims” but as equals.

Aaron Kiely, from the National Union of Students, described a rising tide of racism across the UK and Europe. He said that “we have to face this racism because we can’t afford not to.” But he warned that racism was not always about open bigotry. “When they cut EMA [Education Maintenance Allowance] they are attacking black students” who were disproportionately hit.

Zita Holbourne, co-chair of BARAC, gave an upbeat speech saying that “change does not come through hoping, it comes through action. We need to campaign and organise.”

Michael Abatan, from Justice for Jay, gave a much needed reminder of how serious and heart breaking these issues can be. Describing how his brother had been attacked and killed by racists his tragic story unfolded into a series of errors and mishandling by the police who seemed to think the violent death of a black man was not worthy of a real police investigation, despite the fact that others had been attacked.

With much of the discussion around the death of Stephen Lawrence it is sometimes easy to forget that he might be the most well known victim of racist murder (and police error) he is sadly not the first nor last. There are a host of other victims who’s names are simply unknown to the general public and who have yet to see even a taste of justice.

Richard Stone was a Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Panel Member and his insights into what must be described as the most successful anti-racism panel we’ve had were hair raising. Even within this panel there had to be a struggle against police inertia, racism and attempts from official bodies to slow down their work and make it toothless.

Suresh Grover, from the Society of Black Lawyers, broadened out the debate from the terrible price of racist murders and police inaction to how racism has impacted society more generally. He described how the struggle against inequality and bigotry required us to come together and unite. It’s not enough to understand a problem, he thought, buut we have to understand how to fight too.