Sociology

The Macpherson Report was a government inquiry into the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the case of the murder of a black teenager, Stephen Lawrence. The inquiry concluded that the inefficient treatment of the case was indicative of a more widespread ‘institutional racism’ within the police force. That is, it was not that individual police officers were overtly racist, but that more subtle forms of discrimination were built into the working routines and bureaucratic practices of the institution. 228-229