Posted on Wed 4 Jan 2012

When the Macpherson Report (external website) was published in 1999, the Race Equality Foundation welcomed its main recommendations but expressed concern about the failure to convict the killers of Stephen Lawrence. We, and our sister organisations, have regularly returned to this issue and have waited for the day when justice would be done.  It is therefore gratifying to see that two men have been sentenced for the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.

However, whilst we acknowledge that positive changes have occurred in race equality since the Macpherson Report, the videos produced for our recent end of year round up, #Goodbyeto2011, show that black and minority ethnic communities continue to be disproportionately affected by poverty, stop-and-search, poor health and housing.  We hope that 2012, which has started positively with the convictions of at least two of Stephen’s killers, will bring forth further progress in race equality and call on all to renew their efforts to make this a reality.