Murder of Rolan Adams

Rolan Adams (21 March 1975 – 21 February 1991)[1] was a Black British boy who was murdered as the result of a racist hate crime in 1991.

He is frequently associated in connection to Stephen Lawrence, another teenager from a neighboring area in Southeast London, who was later killed in a similar incident.

[2] The deaths of these teenagers influenced the public view of racially motivated attacks in Southeast London at the time.

At the time of his death at age 15, Rolan was preparing to take his pre-university exams, had been scouted by a professional football club, West Ham United, and was working on recording original music he wrote.

[4] Rolan's family moved to Abbey Wood, an area in Southeast London, five years prior to his death.

The immigration of black people to England increased in the late 1940s and 1950s, leading to racial tensions in the following decades.

[6] On Friday 21 February 1991, Rolan Adams and his brother Nathan, fifteen and fourteen years old respectively, were unknowingly being followed as they walked from Thamesmead's multicultural Hawksmoor Youth Centre.

[5] Upon arrival at the bus stop, they were surrounded by a large group of 12-15 older white youths,[4] members of the NTOs, who had been drinking at the Wildfowler Pub.

Nathan and Rolan were not seen as victims but identified as guilty parties by the police, because of the racist stereotype that "Black boys cannot be innocent.

[4] Rolan's family stated that local officials and authorities displayed a lack of support following his murder.

[4] They received threatening phone calls from people gloating about Rolan's death[4] and a letter with the message, "glad a nigger is dead.

This effort against the High Court of England aimed to bring to light and seek justice for the fact that the British police were spying on victims of crime and their families.

[1] The black American activist Reverend Al Sharpton came to London to hold a meeting in support of the Adams family.

Sharpton's efforts were met with mixed responses from local black rights activists, but brought more media attention to Rolan's murder.

Aerial view of Thamesmead , the area where Rolan Adams was murdered [ 5 ]
The Wildfowler Pub, where Rolan's assailants were drinking before his attack [ 6 ]
Logo for the Undercover Policing Inquiry that Rolan Adam's parents and siblings were involved in. They were one of many families of crime victims that claimed they were put under surveillance by the British police following Rolan's murder. [ 4 ]