Rolan Adams and Stephen Lawrence

In February 1991, Rolan Adams, a 15-year old Black British boy, was murdered in a racist hate crime. At the time of his murder, his local area of Thamesmead, South London, was an area heavily influenced by racist and fascist movements, and was in close proximity to the national headquarters of the far-right British Nationalist Party (BNP). Through years of dedicated activism around issues of racism in Britain and his reputation as the ‘voice’ of Britain’s Black communities, Bernie Grant was approached by Rolan’s family for help with their campaign for justice. However, as too often parliamentary protocols meant that it was not always possible for Grant to be involved in cases in other constituencies, as such issues required dealing with by designated local MPs. Grant therefore had to tread s fine line in his involvement, although he often felt compelled to break the rules. This predicament highlighted a key issue which Grant faced throughout his career, as one of only a small number of elected politicians who seriously took up issues of racism, he was therefore inundated with cases throughout the country.

This problem was brought up during a meeting between Grant and Rolan’s family in May 1991: “the real goal should be to pressurise the 646 white MPs who ought to be representing their black constituents”. Despite constraints of time and resources, Grant supported the campaign for justice for Rolan’s family and victims of racism more generally during this time. Rolan’s murder was raised in Parliament over the course of the year, and an Early Day Motion was tabled on 16 th February 1993, sponsored by Diane Abbott MP, and supported by Grant and 76 others. In the aftermath of his murder, Rolan’s parents worked closely with the Anti-Racist Alliance in its work to combat racial violence.

Alongside Rolan Adams, the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in April 1993 was another infamous event of the 1990s which highlighted the prevalence of racist and fascist ideologies, their influence on young people in particular areas of London, and the attitude of indifference toward racist crimes by the police. Alike to Rolan Adams, Stephen Lawrence was murdered by a group of young white men this time in Plumstead, South East London – an area heavily influenced by the racist rhetoric of the BNP and other far-right groups. As has become well known, Stephen Lawrence’s parents, in particular his mother Doreen Lawrence, launched a far reaching and impactful campaign against racial injustice which continues to this day. Their campaigning work highlights the complexities of organising a social justice campaign, working in tandem with other like-minded organisations, and maintaining autonomy from larger groups. In September 1994, the Stephen Lawrence campaign published an open letter condemning the attempted co-option of their campaign and Stephen Lawrence’s name by the Anti-Racist Alliance. An outcome of the Stephen Lawrence case was the Stephen Lawrence enquiry chaired by Sir William Macpherson, which published what is referred to by some as the “Macpherson Report”, in 1999. This report famously described the Metropolitan Police as “institutionally racist” and helped to popularise this term, although it had been used previously by Bernie Grant and his affiliated projects. The Macpherson Report identified stop and search figures as one of the primary indicators of the presence of institutional racism.