This is nothing that comes as any surprise to the many minority groups, and
not just those of other races, who are stopped, harassed and abused on an
almost daily basis by the police.What does comes as a surprise is the claim from the Chief Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police, Sir Paul Condon, that he has no such problem with his
officers; a claim that, I am sure, would be considered laughable by the
residents of various areas in his manor were the consequences of such
racism not so serious.
At least Wilmot has had the courage to admit to the problem whilst Condon clucks
on as if The Met were the most saintly force in the land, however, this
does not excuse Wilmot's failure to offer even the most cursory apology to
those who have suffered from such racism in the past.
Greater Manchester Police have not become racist overnight; as Wilmot put it
himself, it is institutional racism. Offences against ethnic groups have been
endured for many, many years only to be met by a wall, even now, proclaiming
that the police are not racist.
Perhaps now the average man in the street will believe those minorities who
claim they have been abused by the police ? Perhaps we will reconsider the
cases of those ethnic members who have been convicted, on over whelming
evidence, who have cried, "Racially motivated fit-up" ?
Perhaps the inner-city riots of the mid-eighty's will now be viewed for what
they were; a final exasperated, surge of complaint against racially intolerant
police forces and not the senseless actions of a small group of mindless
anarchists the police told us they were. The police also assured us, at the
time, they were not racist; now they have admitted the truth.
And perhaps we can now rid the forces throughout the land of corrupt, racist
and overtly sexist officers, but, somehow I doubt it.
This admission is, however, a step in the right direction.
Let's turn that small step into a leap forward.
