Dr Omar Khan: 'Social Justice and the Lessons from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report: 20 Years On'
Speaking to a packed audience at the Eleanor Rathbone Theatre in the University of Liverpool on Wednesday 8th May, Dr Omar Khan, Director of the Runnymede Trust, delivered a lecture as part of 2018-19 series of Eleanor Rathbone Social Justice Public Lecture Series. Dr Khan's lecture was entitled: 'Social Justice and the Lessons from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report: 20 Years On'.
It is 20 years since the publication of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report. The Inquiry – led by Sir William Macpherson - held 69 days of public hearings, heard 88 witnesses and considered thousands of pages of evidence. Its finding that ‘institutional racism’ played a part in the failed police investigation into Stephen’s murder and that it existed not only in the police but in ‘other institutions countrywide’, reverberated everywhere. In addition to making vitally important recommendations on policing, the Report invoked a wider examination of how key public institutions could better respond to racism. But two decades on and we continue to misunderstand what racism is and precisely what effects it imposes and we have failed to implement policies that address it effectively. By re-considering, the Report’s analysis and recommendations the lecture will chart a better response to racism over the next 20 years.
Dr Omar Khan is the Director of the Runnymede Trust, the leading independent race equality think tank in the UK. The Trust is committed to the principle that democratic dialogue, policy and practice should all be based on reliable evidence drawn from rigorous research and thorough analysis. Omar has authored or co-authored numerous authoritative reports for Runnymede on a range of topics including multiculturalism, integration, socio-economic disadvantage and positive action. He has also provided expert evidence to a range of high-level bodies including the United Nations in Geneva, the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the US Government on Capitol Hill, Washington DC. Omar obtained a PhD in Political Theory from the University of Oxford, a Masters Degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters Degree in South Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.