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UK: Institute of Race Relations report: Racial violence: Facing reality

18 February 2013

"Violent racism in the UK is generally seen as something consigned to history. When it is brought to public attention, it is largely presented as the preserve of isolated, ill-adapted individuals motivated by personal prejudice and hate. This is a perception that was reinforced with last year’s conviction of two of the men involved in the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence in south London. The general narrative is that racism has been ‘dealt with’ though reforms to the criminal justice system (largely those which have been implemented as a result of the Macpherson Report, published in 1999).

"Racial violence, however, remains an every-day experience for some. And, as research conducted by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) shows, it is no longer confined to the major urban centres with which racist attacks have been historically associated. The geography of racial violence is changing, violent racism is spreading to areas which had hitherto no such tradition. With a few exceptions, this spreading of racial violence has gone unnoticed."

See: Racial violence: facing reality by Jon Burnett