Unacceptable incidents may occur but Ireland doesn’t deserve the label of a ‘racist country’
IRELAND is objectively not a racist country, nor are the vast majority of its people.
This needs to be emphasized in the face of the current barrage of anecdotal media reports about unpleasant remarks made to some black people here.
Ireland has extensive equality legislation governing racial discrimination. We have no history of slavery nor institutional racism; in fact we were historic victims ourselves, and not long ago either – look at the segregation and discrimination in Northern Ireland until recently. There is no racist police brutality here whatsoever. In recent years, we’ve spent hundreds of millions on asylum seekers, offering those who qualify an unprecedented fresh start in our home. We are an outlier in Europe in not having any significant far-right antiimmigrant political party.
Media reports of what constitutes racism here appear to consist of school bullying (teenagers and other kids being of course otherwise well known for their tolerance and compassion!), shouted abuse at GAA matches (another crew well known for their politeness and reserve in the stands!), and drunks yelling in the streets.
Such incidents, unacceptable as they are, do not make this country one of the most racist in the world, as reported on the front page of your newspaper of June 9 (‘Ireland really is the most racist country I’ve lived in’). Such reporting is unfair.
I wish our politicians would speak up for the country and defend things like our record on international human rights, and our individual charitable generosity towards Africa. The one-sided story needs to stop. Thomas Ryan Thurles, Co Tipperary