Two days earlier, representatives of the Nation of Islam, a militant black group, had to be ejected from the inquiry into the death of a young black man some years earlier. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown was outraged by these events...

Surely I know somebody who would come on and say vile things about white folk.

Six radio producers called me on Monday, all desperate to make contact with a militant, separatist, suitably angry young black man to put on air. One producer in particular had the tenacity of a double-glazing salesman on a hot day. Surely I must know somebody who would come on and say vile and violent things about white folk, and demand a state within a state? They already had their voice of reason, but to get the really exciting calls in, they needed a bullish Nation of Islam (NOI) chap to stir things up; presumably this would validate the fear and loathing far too many Britons already feel when they encounter black men. This was only one of the undesirable outcomes of the shameful NOI "demonstration" that fouled up the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. Thanks, boys. Your 15 seconds of infamy meant that the spotlight in most of the media moved to your fine suits and cute red bow ties, and away from where it should have been - on the repugnant, sneering faces of Jamie and Neil Acourt, David Norris, Luke Knight and Gary Dobson. I don't blame the NOI for complaining. The arrangements for that day should have been better. Everyone knew that the numbers of people attending could overwhelm the facilities. Feelings were running feverishly high as black people, already incensed by the failure of the entire criminal justice system, were confronted by the hubris of the five suspects. Some of the police actions were extraordinarily insensitive. So much for the race training the Met has had for more than a decade. I was at the inquiry on the day of the grand apology made by the assistant Metropolitan Police commissioner, Ian Johnston. As he unpicked bits of his apology, he kept referring to this race training like a mantra. Fat lot of good it seems to have done. So, there was much that should have been better handled. But does this in any way excuse the arrival of the boys in black looking and behaving like a bunch of mobsters? No. And not just because they diverted attention from what should have been a crucial, transforming event, when we could see how truly appalling the five suspects are. The NOI were wrong because they showed disrespect (their favourite word) for the bereaved family, the campaign groups, black people, and even themselves. I first met Mr and Mrs Lawrence two years ago when I was asked to deliver the Stephen Lawrence memorial lecture. Like most other Britons, I was astonished by their courage, which controlled the unspeakable pain they were feeling. The mother of Rohit Duggal - an Asian teenager also murdered by racists in the same area - and the family of Rolan Adams, another black victim, were equally impressive. I was so affected by their self-denial and control that I wept on stage, before I could gather myself up to speak. I realised immediately that I should have done better, tried harder not to cry, because I had no right to such self-indulgence. To my shame, I was appropriating the grief of the families. What NOI did was much worse. They stole the tragedy and trampled on it. As Mr Lawrence said: "This is private. I'm allowing you to join in but you have to conduct yourselves the way my family want you to. If you can't conduct yourselves in a right and proper way I want you to leave. When you start making noise, remember what our feelings are, not yours." Did the NOI talk to people such as Mr and Mrs Lawrence, and Suresh Grover, the campaign co-ordinator who is the unsung hero of so many such campaigns for justice? If not, why not?

They were wrong when they showed disrespect for the bereaved family, black people, and even themselves.

If they had consulted others, they would not have ended up doing exactly what all rebels without nous do; making rebellion an end in itself and into a performance to behold rather than believe in. I endlessly meet such people from all the ethnic minority communities. They are above integration, above compromise, above the law, so pure that you can't breathe in the same room as them. They write me threatening or patronising letters because nothing anti-racists like me do is good enough for them. They give resistance a bad name. Black Britons were failed by this fracas. People expect us to be unruly, make loud noises, riot. This is our allocated role. As that apologist for bad policemen, Mike Bennett of the Police Federation, said glibly: "We expected this." The great thing about the inquiry and the behaviour of all those involved with the Lawrence family is that those hateful expectations have not been fulfilled until this week. Ian Johnston, who seems a decent enough man, was unprepared for and unsettled by the sheer professionalism and dignity of the people questioning him and of those watching. Some of us left the room when we could not stand some of his excuses, but the atmosphere remained calm. Finally, the NOI has damaged its own cause and name. In Britain at least, the 2,500 members have done some good work. They have been helping black criminals and those in self-destructive activities to reclaim their lives. Leo Muhammad, one of the two leaders in Britain, is a typical example. Brought up in the care system after his parents separated when he was 11, he quickly turned into a delinquent. Soon he was carrying guns, stealing and raising hell. Now, at 39, he is an upright member of society with a clean record, and ambitions to help others like himself. But the more sinister side of his movement destroys the impressive good done by NOI. To atone for this fiasco, the members of NOI should go back and revisit Malcolm X's autobiography. There they will read: "One of the major troubles that I was having in building the organisation I wanted - an all black organisation whose ultimate objective was to help create a society in which there could exist honest white-black brotherhood - was that my earlier public image, my so-called 'black Muslim' image, kept blocking me. I was trying gradually to reshape that image, to turn a corner. I was no less angry than I had been, but the true brotherhood I had seen in the holy world had influenced me to recognise that anger can blind human vision." Let them remember that it is widely believed that the lesser members of his own brotherhood shot Malcolm soon after this; and in doing so they shot themselves in their own right arm. A lesson to ponder once again this week.