‘We are not a racist country’
FATHER MARTIN PENDER, A PRIEST WHO WORKED IN SOUTH AFRICA, DISPUTES CLAIMS IRELAND HAS A RACISM ISSUE
THE issue of race and attitudes towards people of colour has been at the forefront of public discourse in recent weeks. The death of George Floyd sparked protests all over the world, many of them in this country, in our cities and towns.
And as a result we have been forced to reflect on whether we, as a nation, have an issue with racism, whether our behaviour needs to change along with that of our American cousins.
One man uniquely placed to discuss this issue is Fr Martin Pender. Currently the Parish priest in Ballymitty, Fr Martin has spent a large portion of his career in South Africa, a country with a long and complicated history of racial tension.
And Fr Martin disputes claims that Ireland is a racist country.
‘We need to get clarity on the issue at hand. Do we have an issue with racism in Ireland? No. I don’t think so. Do all people think equally in this country? No, we do not,’ he says.
‘We’re basing this opinion on individuals, certain people who think that way. You will always have racial problems in every country because of individuals. It’s worrying and absolutely dangerous to stamp an entire people as racist, as a nation we have no control over how a person lives.’
During his time in South Africa Fr Martin experienced prejudice based on the colour of his skin, but he says he refused to let that taint his opinion of the South African people.
‘At the moment we have white people in America falling on their knees saying “forgive me” as if they are to blame for what’s happening. From my time in Africa, if I was to use the same logic then all black people are racist against white people.’
‘I had an accident in my car one day and when I got out of the car the people there told me I had no right to be driving on their roads. Another time I was coming out of the supermarket one day and had my shopping bags dragged out of my hands and when I went to the police station they said “what do you expect, you’re a white man?”’
‘But I don’t see that as typical of South Africa, the people there are not like that; these are just individuals, not everyone is like that.’
As if to prove his point, Fr Martin went on to fund education programmes for children in South Africa and has even brought students to Ireland to help them further their career prospects.
And he believes the key to overcoming racism and discrimination is gaining a greater understanding of cultures which may be unfamiliar to us.
‘What’s happening at present is based on a lack of knowledge, a lack of insight and a lack of reflection. Racism is an attitude of mind, not based on skin colour, or white versus black.
‘The way it’s being portrayed at the moment is that all black people are innocent because of their skin colour. But in South Afica there is hatred for other black people based on their tribe, where they live, this is black against black, they are racist against one another.
‘Black people kill one another, is blacks killing blacks acceptable? The Black Lives Matter movement is an ideology, there’s no reflection or analysis involved. You grow as a person when you experience other cultures.
‘Africa taught me a lot about human nature, about suffering and about living a life with a lack of education, of health, a lack of everything. If you are open-minded you can gain a deeper understanding of these issues,’ says Fr Martin.
And the Ballymitty priest believes younger people of colour who were born in Ireland can help to educate their peers, but only if society allows them to.
‘The younger generation of black people here feel much more at home, but still, we’ve judged them by their colour, we need to eradicate that way of thinking. This is another issue which needs to be addressed.’
A fervent opponent of the Direct Provision system, Fr Martin says newcomers to this country should be integrated into our communities rather than locked away for an indefinite amount of time.
‘Direct Provision treats people without respect. A lot of people in those centres were not given the correct information when the pandemic struck and they were living in fear as a result.
‘I had to go and translate for some of them so they would understand it better. There was a total lack of awareness there. Those people have already been to hell and back, and they arrive here asking for protection and in some cases they were forgotten about.
‘We need to look at the Swedish model of integrating immigrants. You should never put people into detention centres, you need to integrate them. At the moment they are suddenly expected to integrate into society after spending three or four years in Direct Provision. The centres create a them and us mentality, and we need to break that down.’
‘WHAT’S HAPPENING AT PRESENT IS BASED ON A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, A LACK OF INSIGHT AND A LACK OF REFLECTION.’