Outrage At the Death of Henry Nowak Does Not Make You a Racist

The high-profile death of a British university student has reignited debates about race and policing on both sides of the Atlantic.

The argument: Allowing race to figure into the administration of justice is an affront to the rule of law and ultimately makes all of us less free and less safe.

WHY IT MATTERS

The U.K. was still in the midst of learning about the barbaric Pakistani rape gangs that target mostly white British girls when the racially-charged murder of Henry Nowak hit the news cycle. Just this week, Henry’s killer—a Sikh man who claimed to have been “racially abused”---was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to prison. Meanwhile, activists on all sides have rushed to control the narrative in this tragic situation.

Despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s protestations, both the murder and the official response suggest the existence of a troubling double standard. Why was race the first line of defense offered by the killer? Why not self-defense or some other justification? The obvious answer is that he believed a claim of racism would carry special weight. The responding officers appeared eager to accept that narrative, with one dismissing Henry’s plea that he had been stabbed by replying, “I don’t think you have, mate.” Even police statements obscured responsibility through passive language: “there were lies told.” By whom—the dying victim, or the murderer posing as one?