Blame

The second episode dealt with the aftermath of the New Cross fire.

Relatives dealing with the injured and those who died. One survivor giving a graphic account of his injuries.

The episode then dealt with just who was to blame. The black community believed that this was a racist attack.

The police thought the fire started somehow within the property and ruled out a racist motive. Forensic evidence discarded arson or a third party act.

Pretty soon both the police and the black community were at loggerheads. It culminated on a huge march that ended in violence and the press having a field day attacking the black community.

The documentary tried to be even handed. A contributor who was a female police officer gave her version of the events and believed that a thorough investigation took place on the causes of the fire. It did not help that some police officers mocked the incident.

One relative thought that the victims of the fire were forgotten. In the political point scoring, the families wanted to know what happened.

In retrospect it should not be shock when some young white people died in a fire at a disco in the Republican of Ireland in 1981. The Queen sent messages of sympathy to people who were not even her subjects.

No messages were sent to the families of the New Cross fire. Then again it is now known the Queen of Great Britain and the Head of the Commonwealth refused to hire black or asian staff until recently.