This evening there was a vigil to remember Jason Arday, who died on Friday after being hounded by the press and online attackers and was forced to resign his Professorship at Cambridge University.
I am away from Cambridge and couldn’t be there, and I’m grateful to my colleague and friend Councillor Rosy Moore for reading some words on my behalf.
Like every one of my fellow councillors I am shocked and profoundly saddened by the death of Dr Jason Arday. We send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
As a community we will grieve his death and try to learn from what has happened. Nobody should face the pressure Jason was put under, particularly by the excessive, racially-motivated and cruel press coverage. And there are serious questions to answer for the organisations that had a duty of care towards Jason, and whether they did enough to protect him.
We know that much of the coverage was motivated by an attempt to destroy the career of an exceptional black man, and we must not allow those who tormented him to hide behind false protestations of shock or sadness.
Like many of you, I am left wondering what we have lost now that his voice is absent from the academic debate about race and inclusion, and that he will no longer be heard by the Runnymede Trust, the British Sociological Association and the many other places where he brought his insights and expertise. While we grieve Jason’s death today, we also remember and celebrate his legacy.
Thank you