The New Cross Fire was a devastating house fire that killed 13 young black people during a birthday party in New Cross, southeast London, on Sunday, 18 January 1981. Some were shocked by what they perceived as the indifference of the white population, and accused the London Metropolitan Police of covering up the cause, which they suspected was an arson attack motivated by racism; the protests arising out of the fire led to a mobilisation of black political activity. Nobody has ever been charged in relation to the fire.
Read more about New Cross Fire: The Fire, The Aftermath, The Inquests, Commemoration
Famous quotes containing the words cross and/or fire:
“The cross of the Legion of Honor has been conferred on me. However, few escape that distinction.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Prosecutors insist they are mounting a “thorough investigation,” which sometimes means thorough and sometimes, historically, has meant long enough to let the fire burn down in an incendiary case. A thorough investigation is fine; an interminable one is disgraceful.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)