Response to Eric Garner verdict, USA

As members of the British ‘Movement for Justice and Reconciliation’ we want to state publicly our alignment with those in America who are protesting at the injustices in the American judicial system that fails to put on trial the police officers responsible for choking to death a black American citizen.
In Britain we see the roots of the same insensitivity and gross injustice in the failure to recognise the legacy of slaverythat is choking the life out of inner-city communities of institutionalised unemployment, inequality and injustice.
We want to warn the British Government that the failure to recognise the legacy of slavery – from both colonial and industrial exploitation – that exists in our nation will lead to similar unrest on our city streets as is being witnessed today in the USA. It is only a matter of time before further civil unrest is seen in British cities due to the continuing failure to recognise the monstrous injustice of the past that still affects large sectors of our population today.
We call upon the Government urgently to begin a process of investigation of what has hitherto been regarded as a ‘no go’ area in the social fabric of this nation. Community leaders are at present willing to talk and to outline areas of social action that could alleviate some of the tensions that are building up in our inner-city areas today. The door is still open for talking, but the time it remains open may be limited.