FOR all that a great many of the facts and implications of the unpunished racist murder of Stephen Lawrence have been relayed time and again to the public in the span of almost six years since his needless death, the report of the Macpherson inquiry into his killing still comes as a sobering, shaming shock to society.

For it is not just its unveiling of a catalogue of police incompetence nor the branding of the Metropolitan force as "institutionally racist" that rightfully disgraces a profession whose ideal as an arm of justice should be total even-handedness.

It is also the mirror that is held up to our whole community, confronting it with the extensive ignorance and indifference of so many to the racist attitudes and behaviour widespread in our society - even still when, for more than two generations, ours has developed into a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society.

It must be that Stephen's legacy is that a turning point is brought about to rid Britain of this evil canker.

And the key recommendations of the Macpherson inquiry - welcomed by Home Secretary Jack Straw and embraced by him as a platform for swift action - ought to be the foundation for that.

But this should be not just to reform police relations with the community - so that the service not only has the trust and confidence of every sector of the community, but also reflects it. It should also be so that racism is stamped out throughout society. There is no doubt that many of the proposed measures ought to have been enacted long ago - particularly those which call for the sacking of police officers found to have acted in a racist manner, those which would enable disciplinary action to be taken against officers for at least five years after retirement and that which would require investigations of complaints by the police to be carried out, not by other officers, but independently.

This would end prevailing suspicions of officers being allowed to escape investigation and of the profession "looking after its own."

But if the process of spreading zero tolerance for racism throughout society is to be successfully begun, the government must ensure that a backlash is not generated by pushing too far against the basics of liberty.

The bungled Lawrence case may have highlighted the problems arising from the law preventing prosecution for the same crime twice. But the proposal for this to be allowed if new evidence is brought forward after an acquittal is , for all its tempting logic, disturbing - in that it may open the door to legalised witch-hunts.

Similarly, the notion that a racist incident may be defined as such by its victim is worrying - since it makes the complainant the judge, not the court.

Yet, it is vital that the law, the police and the entire public unite in purging society of the evil that killed Stephen Lawrence and left him unavenged.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.