Bishop Stopford’s School Statement on George Floyd and Stephen Lawrence

This week has been a memorable one in the long-running fight against racism. Firstly, on Monday 20th April Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd and then on Thursday 22nd April, we paused to remember the life of Stephen Lawrence and the subsequent quest of his family for justice and for people to see the evil of racism.

We at Bishop Stopford’s School see this momentous week as an opportunity to reaffirm ours, and the Church of England’s stance that ‘racism is an affront to God’ and stand in solidarity with those who fight to eradicate it. Our school is underpinned by deep rooted values of respect, consideration, loyalty, responsibility and success and we wish to share responsibility and play our part to eliminate the scourge of racism on humanity. As a school we are ‘one body’ and the Bishop’s family again joins in prayer with the Church of England ‘that God’s abounding wisdom, compassion and love will guide leaders across the world to forge a better society.’

Bishop Stopford’s School continues to challenge discrimination, bigotry and injustice, racism and inequality in society and not be conscious bystanders, and we will always challenge discrimination, bigotry and injustice. This week we have asked our students to reflect on both George Floyd and Stephen Lawrence, and to contemplate where we are as a society in dealing with racism. We have followed the news closely and invited students to comment on what they think and to discuss this in their form times.

We will always endeavour to empower and educate our young people so that they can confidently embrace the trials that will no doubt greet them in their lives and hopefully overcome them just as we have seen this week.

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