The Historical Context: Race and Policing 1945-90

The Stephen Lawrence Case

In this course, Dr Anthony Gunter (The Open University) discusses the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence in a racist attack in London on 22 April 1993, and why the case is considered a watershed moment in the history of race relations in Britain. In the first lecture, we set the context by exploring issues around race and policing since 1945, and especially the notion that BAME communities are “overpoliced and underprotected”. In the second lecture, we look at police malpractice during the investigation into Stephen’s murder and the Lawrence family’s fight for justice. Next, we explore the Lawrence Inquiry, commissioned in 1997, its recommendations, and its hugely important finding that the investigation into Stephen’s murder was marred by “institutional racism”. In the fourth and final lecture, we consider the legacies of the Lawrence Inquiry, including changes to the law and police practices, before tempering this by noting some persistent problems in the policing of BAME communities.

The Historical Context: Race and Policing 1945-90

In this lecture, we think about race and policing since the Second World War, and especially the idea that BAME communities are “overpoliced and underprotected”, focusing in particular on: (i) the impact of immigration policy on policing, including the death of Joy Gardner during a police raid on her home in 1993; (ii) the disproportionate use of stop and search powers on black communities and the tensions this has caused since the 1970s; (iii) police failures to protect BAME communities from racist violence, from the 1958 race riots to the New Cross fire of 1981.