Building a united future: NCRM Spring Conference

Having attended the National Civil Rights Movement Spring conference I came
away with a sense of hope and sadness. I had some hope that one day we
would be able to live in a society that valued the civil liberties of its
citizens and I felt sadness because our civil rights were being abused daily
because of our skin colour or beliefs.

In the afternoon there were various group discussions that focus on a
variety of civil and racial issues, which are briefly outlined below.

Education

The education discussion looked at the chronic inability of schools to
involve the community and the inadequate preparation of Black and White
children for our culturally diverse society, which often led to the mistrust
of one another. It was decided that an interactive website for parents,
pupils and teachers should be set up to produce material that could be used
as part of the national curriculum to reflect our culturally diverse
society.

Law & Order

Imran Khan, Michael Mansfield QC and Professor Lee Bridges were among the
attendees that discussed if a person could be tried twice for the same crime
(double jeopardy), racial motivated crime, disclosure and accountability in
light of the McPherson report.

The prisons and racism group discussion focused on the secretive nature and
the lack of accountability of prisons as well as mental health institutions
and children home, especially suspicious deaths. If a permanent commission
with wide ranging powers was established it could prevent such abuses.

Asylum

The last discussion looked at fighting racism against asylum seekers. The
main points were;

Myths about asylum seekers should be dispelled, instead we should increase
public awareness of the plight of asylum seekers.

The majority of asylum seekers were victims of the UK government's foreign
policy, therefore the government should not collaborate with oppressive
regimes.

Sadness

The saddest part of the day for me was when a widower described how a gang
of white youths stabbed her husband to death in front of their 17-year-old
son. She was forced to re-live the whole experience in court as she was
cross-examined and sat through the trial. She was traumatised when the
courts found the youths not guilty even though there were testimonies from
her children and other strong evidence. She showed incredible strength even
when she was ridiculed and feels that there are a set of laws for Whites and
another set of laws for Blacks.