{"id":17880,"date":"2019-04-24T17:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17880"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:56:50","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:56:50","slug":"unite-stephen-lawrence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17880","title":{"rendered":"‘Turning point’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Twenty-six years ago this week, Stephen Lawrence, 18, was murdered in cold blood by a gang of young men who targeted him in a racist attack in south east London, stabbing him to death.<\/p>\n

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While two people were convicted of his murder nearly ten years later thanks to DNA evidence, their accomplices were never brought to justice.<\/p>\n

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Stephen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s murder, the resultant case and its aftermath marked a watershed moment in the history of British race relations. \u00c2\u00a0In a grossly mishandled case, the abject failure of the police in securing justice for Stephen and his family sparked a public inquiry that laid bare the extent of institutional racism in the police force.<\/p>\n

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The twenty-sixth anniversary of Stephen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death on Monday (April 22), marked the first official Stephen Lawrence Day, announced by the government last year to commemorate the young man whose life was violently cut short by racism.<\/p>\n

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London mayor Sadiq Khan called Stephen Lawrence Day \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban opportunity to celebrate Stephen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life as well as the great work that is now being done in his name to inspire schoolchildren to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098live their best life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe murder of Stephen Lawrence was a horrific racist crime that shamed our country \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and led to the Stephen Lawrence Public Inquiry,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis was a landmark moment in the history of British race relations. But as well as reflecting on this legacy, we most also remember Stephen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bStephen was a talented young Londoner who dreamt of becoming an architect but tragically never had the opportunity fulfil his true potential.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Education<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Stephen Lawrence\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, said much more had to be done to combat racism through education.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we are to encourage future generations to build a better society, free from discrimination, I believe that we must teach tolerance and inclusion from an early age,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she wrote in a letter to the Guardian<\/em> this week<\/a>. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bEducation is a powerful way of inspiring young people, and I would like to see British schools put the values of respect and fairness at the heart of the curriculum.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite executive council member and bus driver James Mitchell \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who has long been an advocate for anti-racism education in schools \u00e2\u20ac\u201c agreed.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLady Doreen Lawrence is 110 per cent correct,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told UniteLive. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe only way we can effectively tackle racism is through early intervention. Show Racism the Red Card, an organisation that Unite has long supported has done just that, by going into schools and educating our young people about racism, using football as an educational tool.”<\/p>\n

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But Mitchell warned that such education will require the necessary funding.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bShow Racism the Red Card and other organisations like it have faced significant cuts in government funding. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all well and good for the government to say it wants to tackle racism but it needs to follow up its words with action.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Mitchell went on to slam the government for cutting funding to youth clubs and other services for young people.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a scandal that twenty-six years after Stephen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, knife crime has skyrocketed in lockstep with government cuts to youth services. Young people must feel like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been given a stake in society \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they must be given something to do. Otherwise we will continue to see this knock-on effect of escalating youth crime.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Youth and equality’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mitchell said that it was important to mark Stephen Lawrence Day this week because his story \u00e2\u20ac\u015breally represented a turning point in our history\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s devastating that an innocent young man had to die for change to happen, but the inquiry truly brought about a monumental change \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it forced the establishment to reckon with racism within its own ranks.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMarking Stephen Lawrence Day is critical for us as trade unionists because at the heart of our union is youth and equality \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we can only grow as a union if we support our young people and it is only through our dedication to equality that we create an even playing field that allows all people, no matter their race, creed or sexuality, to realise their full potential.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite national officer for equalities Harish Patel agreed.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite welcomes this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first Stephen Lawrence Day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we believe it is vital to pay tribute to an inspiring young man whose life was tragically cut short by the violent racism that still blights our society today. But our tributes must be coupled with the action we must undertake every day of the year to fight racism and violent crime.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis includes the work Unite does day-in and day-out with its support of organisations like Show Racism the Red Card and other union-led initiatives to stand up to racism in whatever form it takes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whether it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the streets, in our workplaces or in our institutions of power.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Speaking ahead of a Show Racism the Red Card School Competition Awards at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow (April 25), Unite general secretary Len McCluskey hailed the work of the organisation.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is a proud supporter of Show Racism the Red Card and its tireless work in schools across the country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe work of Show Racism the Red Card is vital in educating young people and ridding racism from our football pitches, terraces and communities. All the entrants and winners in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awards should be proud of their work which demonstrates that unity can overcome division and discrimination.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more about Show Racism the Red Card, and how you can support the organisation here.<\/a> Find out more about the Steve Lawrence Charitable Trust and the work they do here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-six years ago this week, Stephen Lawrence, 18, was murdered in cold blood by a gang of young men who targeted him in a racist attack in south east London, stabbing him to death.   While two people were convicted of his murder nearly ten years later thanks to DNA evidence, their accomplices were never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[1158,242,1157],"wps_subtitle":"Unite marks first Stephen Lawrence Day, calling for action against racism","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17880"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25333,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17880\/revisions\/25333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}