Demonstrations highlight our silent shame

THE death of George Floyd was not nuanced, we could see exactly what happened in the video, see the life drain out of him as Derek Chauvin ignored his pleas for mercy. The rioting which took place in the aftermath, the looting and burning of shops, the rampant vandalism, the opportunism of these mindless thugs and imbeciles wasn’t nuanced either.

Nor were the various responses from imbecile-in-chief, Donald Trump; his suggestion Mr Floyd would take solace from America’s recovering economy as shocking as it was monumentally stupid. But then there’s never much nuance where President Trump is concerned.

Here though, in Ireland, things are not so clear. Last Sunday protestors took to the streets of Dublin to show solidarity with people of colour across the States. There was a lot of them, most wore protective masks, but few practised social distancing.

The response was, quite rightly, one of dismay. We have worked hard to suppress the coronavirus, we appear to be on the brink of crushing it altogether; why jeopardise this? Why gather in large numbers to demonstrate against something which is happening thousands of miles away?

These were valid questions. The former was explained away by the average age of those on the streets; they were young people, the virus held no fear for them. The second question was more nuanced. For a start, as these protests have spread across the globe, throughout Europe, into Australia, those in the firing line, those living in the States, have expressed their gratitude to all those involved.

You might question why a white, middle-class Irish person would feel the need to march down the main thoroughfare of their city or town. Well, this is why. Each protest, each demonstration, no matter where it’s held, increases the pressure on the US President. Not only that, it has shown people of colour in America that the world is listening, that Ireland is behind them.

But it’s not just about supporting Americans. We have our own issues here, our own shameful secrets which are now finally coming to the fore. And these protests are as much about addressing those as highlighting inequality in the States.

Racism is endemic in Ireland. It is alive and well. It might not be practised with the same fervour as seen across the Atlantic, but it exists in every facet of our society. Only on rare occasions does it spill over into violence, into the kind of outright enmity we’ve seen in America, but it is here and very few of us can consider ourselves exempt.

Yet we deny its existence, perpetuate the myth of the loveable Irish to anyone who’ ll listen. I’m not suggesting we’re a nation of fascists, I truly believe Irish people are accepting of others, that our history of emigration, of oppression, makes us empathetic to those coming here to start new lives.

No, Irish racism is largely born of ignorance, with a little curiosity in there too; a kind of simple desire to know things, to ogle in fascination, excusing our behaviour because that’s just the way we are.

Mostly though, our racism comes from a deep, profound lack of understanding. If you are over the age of 35 and grew up outside of the country’s main metropolitan areas it’s unlikely you knew too many black people during your formative years.

By the 2000s, when mass immigration into Ireland began, your morals, your values, had already been established. You were a child of a different country, a white Ireland, how could you possibly adapt to such widespread changes?

And when your children were born you unwittingly passed those values onto them; that subconscious suspicion of other races, the belief they were here to avail of our welfare state, became pregnant so their children would have Irish passports, got social housing ahead of more deserving, more Irish people.

Instead of educating yourself you took these stereotypes as fact. You allowed Ireland to record the highest number of hate crimes against African people in all of Europe in 2018. But it’s not too late, you can still change. Start by speaking out, by taking action, by refusing to turn the other cheek when it happens right in front of you. If you don’t, we’re no better than America.