EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 18

Jul-Aug 1999

Let's NOT forget
Stephen Lawrence
Father Jim
McCartney
Background based on the Stephen Lawrence memorial window
by Julian St.Claire Forde.

The Macpherson report which categorises pernicious institutionalised racism by the Metropolitan Police is a visible reminder of how unjust we can be to each other. We can disguise with a smile, deep rooted prejudices and manipulatively inflict our own destructive attitudes with the aim of fragmenting the human family with our own depravity and amoral energy. We can become people with fixed and deeply seated ideas which can become ingrained within our human thinking, preventing us from accepting the diversity of each other. The Church proclaims all people are sacred, made in the image and likeness of God, but do we really believe it? People are discriminated against because of their race, disability, poverty, age, lack of success and sexual orientation. This is Fact and our silence and unwillingness to face this truth makes us as guilty as those who inflict the inequalities. Recognising we have to change is our first step in transforming our nation. The next step involves breaking down the barriers with our own energies.

The Church reminds us that we have a fundamental right to equality and tells us of our responsibilities to each other which cross racial, economic, national and ideological differences. But are we prepared to radically examine how we can fulfil our accountability to humanity?. We can go to our churches on Sundays and fail to recognise the giftedness of our multi-cultural nationhood. In the Gospel we see how Jesus faces the narrow labels and oppressive systems in his encounter with the Samaritan Women (John 4:5-42). She too suffered from discrimination and the disciples were shocked to see Jesus relating with her.

In the true sense of the word Jesus was a builder of bridges. He constantly saw the dignity in the human person. As we stand in the moment of today and prepare to greet the new millennium, we need to construct new bridges of solidarity between peoples. The Church has a vital role in bringing this about. Equally, we need to work with other faith communities. Our spiritual values can regenerate a new hope as we approach the future. Black and white, blind and deaf, gay and straight, Muslim, Christian and Jew. We all have a place and something to offer each other.

Stephen's death was a ferocious, brutal and savagely racist murder and the inquiry tainted with bigotry discrimination weighs heavily on the minds of all decent people in this country. Nevertheless, on the night Stephen died, a glimmer of hope was to be found in the two people who came to his rescue. Their white skin stood admist his presence. Connor Taffee was one of those people and he states the following.

"We saw Stephen running along the pavement with his hand to his chest. Then Stephen crashed to the ground, and we went to be at his side praying for him as he breathed his last. In his dying moments my wife Louise whispered into Stephen's ears: you are loved".

As our century slowly ends, it is tainted with various persecutions and injustices of wars rooted in ethnic cleansing and global inequality. Yet in the midst of this savageness and cruelty there are those who have not let themselves be contaminated by the sinister and unethical behaviour of others. Christ was also a man of action not mere words. In the Gospel Jesus rests at the ancient well of Jacob near Sychar. The Samaritan woman is surprised when Jesus asks her for a drink. This is because Jews did not accept Samaritans as pure Jews and did not share food or drink with them. The actions of our saviour say it all. He breaks down the barriers

As the Government addresses the recommendations of the Macpherson report and the Metropolitan Police try to deal with its problems of insitutionalised racism, parish communities can become signs of hope in Stephen Larence Memorial Windowtheir localities. In most of our Church diocese there is a great deal of emphasis on the "Option for the Poor". This is good and needs to be applauded. Nevertheless, sometimes we look for poverty in the wrong places and fail to recognize the poverty that can be created when our communities are not united. It can be a lot easier to give a sandwich to a homeless person than stare him in the eye and say: I accept you.




Stephen
Lawrence
Memorial
Window

By Julia St.
Claire Forde

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