Why are we constantly told from various groups that Ireland is racist?

darkman2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieno-ictmOQ

Just saw this trash today. Firstly I dont believe for a second that Irish people in general are racist. However the amount of ppl on the liberal side telling us we are has increased hugely in recent years. Why do they say things like this? (and its not just silly cartoons I mean) Is it really for the good for immigrants that we are constantly told as a society we are racist? Or is there something actually sinister about making us believe we are racist. I cant understand it really. They dont want Irish people to be racist yet they drill it into us that we are racist - when obviously the vast majority of us are not. This actually annoys me when people get on TV or whatever and tell Irish people (essentially me and you) that we are racist - but we just dont know it yet.

How this helps their cause I dont know. I think these sort of condescending rants just make Irish people annoyed. We are NOT a racist society. We except many more immgrants per capita then practically any other European country and they are looked after very well in comparison. I thnk we deal with immigrants very fairly. OK there are a few bad apples but stop labelling us a racist country. Its getting tiresome:mad:

Black Swan

Just an example of another broad sweeping generalisation that has no merit. Chill out and have a Guinness. Cheers!

haunted-room

darkman2 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieno-ictmOQ

Just saw this trash today. Firstly I dont believe for a second that Irish ppl in general are racist. However the amount of ppl on the liberal side telling us we are has increased hugely in recent years. Why do they say things like this? (and its not just silly cartoons I mean) Is it really for the good for immigrants that we are constantly told as a society we are racist? Or is there something actually sinister about making us believe we are racist. I cant understand it really. They dont want Irish ppl to be racist yet they drill it into us that we are racist - when obviously the vast majority of us are not. This actually annoys me when ppl get on TV or whatever and tell Irish ppl (essentially me and you) that we are racist - but we just dont know it yet.

How this helps their cause I dont know. I think these sort of condescending rants just make Irish ppl annoyed. We are NOT a racist society. We except many more immgrants per capita then practically any other European country and they are looked after very well in comparison. I thnk we deal with immigrants very fairly. OK there are a few bad apples but stop labelling us a racist country. Its getting tiresome:mad:

Well Ireland is filled with racists. I always hear the older generation complaining about foreign people in Ireland. I havnt gone around doing a survey, but, from what I hear and see everyday, racism is alive and weill in this country

danniemcq

haha this title reminded me of stormfront

Karmafaerie

Well I'm not racist....but.......!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

most Irish people I've met are pretty racist, but then most people are pretty racist so I suppose it all evens out in the end

The_Minister

The reason that we ar often described as racist is because groups like RAR and the SWP, use different standards to judge racism. They say that since only people of other nationalities are deported, then deportations are inhrently racist, as they involve discrimination. Thus, anyone who spports any deportation whatsoever, is a racist.
I just ignore them, laugh at them, and hope other people do too.

Terry

darkman2 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieno-ictmOQ

Just saw this trash today. Firstly I dont believe for a second that Irish ppl in general are racist. However the amount of ppl on the liberal side telling us we are has increased hugely in recent years. Why do they say things like this? (and its not just silly cartoons I mean) Is it really for the good for immigrants that we are constantly told as a society we are racist? Or is there something actually sinister about making us believe we are racist. I cant understand it really. They dont want Irish ppl to be racist yet they drill it into us that we are racist - when obviously the vast majority of us are not. This actually annoys me when ppl get on TV or whatever and tell Irish ppl (essentially me and you) that we are racist - but we just dont know it yet.

How this helps their cause I dont know. I think these sort of condescending rants just make Irish ppl annoyed. We are NOT a racist society. We except many more immgrants per capita then practically any other European country and they are looked after very well in comparison. I thnk we deal with immigrants very fairly. OK there are a few bad apples but stop labelling us a racist country. Its getting tiresome:mad:

be you black, white, yellow, red, green, chinese, japanese, french, belgian, dunboynish etc, i don't care.
what really pisses me off is PEOPLE using text speak when they have a full qwerty keyboard in front of them.
I don't care if you text your friends and use that crap. I just don't want to read it here. seriously, how hard is it to put the extra three letters in?

i suppose that makes me textist.

biko

Effing culchies coming over here and... blah... blah... blah...

darkman2

julep wrote:

how hard is it to put the extra three letters in?

Not very hard at all. How hard is it to put 'letter' in the plural? That really pisses me off;)

I suppose that makes me pluralist!

Terry

darkman2 wrote:

Not very hard at all. How hard is it to put 'letter' in the plural? That really pisses me off;)

I suppose that makes me pluralist!

what are you talking about? it's already pluralised.

Judt

These liberals ought to be careful, lest somebody decides to get their monies worth and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. People aren't racist, they're afraid of change - it's the "Who moved my cheese?" workplace problem, except we don't call a fear of, say, a new procedure at work racism. Racism is the belief that your race is superior to another one - That is, for example, that white people are better than black people in some way, and so forth. This is different from a fear of a changing face of Ireland - Irish people don't want to wipe out or enslave other people because they consider themselves inferior specimens. They're simply worried about the impact of new people on a traditional society. There's a difference there to racism.

It's a multi-faceted debate. Foreign people taking up residence in Ireland need to give a little towards the locals, and the locals have to give a little towards the new arrivals, and we meet somewhere in the middle that's different and - surely in the beginning - strange towards us both. It's the nature of the new society, but fear of change is different to an inherent self-belief in the superiority of the Irish race (err, about half the conquering races of Northern Europe mixed together, so) over others.

thebman

I don't know why they say Irish people are racist because I don't think we are. We have some stupid old sayings that need to go like "worked like a black" etc... but I don't think younger people say that kind of crap.

I saw a show on RTE one day a while ago that made me laugh saying not sitting beside a black person on Dublin bus was racist. I won't sit beside a lot of people on Dublin bus and it has nothing to do with their skin colour. I always sit on my own, one too many bad experiences sitting beside weirdo's, most were Irish if anyone cares.

darkman2

julep wrote:

what are you talking about? it's already pluralised.

Nce edit - btw I never used 'ppl' for 'people';)

darkman2

Judt wrote:

These liberals ought to be careful, lest somebody decides to get their monies worth and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. People aren't racist, they're afraid of change - it's the "Who moved my cheese?" workplace problem, except we don't call a fear of, say, a new procedure at work racism. Racism is the belief that your race is superior to another one - That is, for example, that white people are better than black people in some way, and so forth. This is different from a fear of a changing face of Ireland - Irish people don't want to wipe out or enslave other people because they consider themselves inferior specimens. They're simply worried about the impact of new people on a traditional society. There's a difference there to racism.

It's a multi-faceted debate. Foreign people taking up residence in Ireland need to give a little towards the locals, and the locals have to give a little towards the new arrivals, and we meet somewhere in the middle that's different and - surely in the beginning - strange towards us both. It's the nature of the new society, but fear of change is different to an inherent self-belief in the superiority of the Irish race (err, about half the conquering races of Northern Europe mixed together, so) over others.

I agree.

RE the earlier pont made about old people. Of course they are going to be more sceptical. They grew up in Catholic Ireland when crime was limited and people had more respect and time and teenagers didnt run wild. They hold that ideal dear and I thnk its unfair to label the older generation racist. In many ways I would say they are scared for the future of the country for plenty of reasons.

Terry

Judt wrote:

These liberals ought to be careful, lest somebody decides to get their monies worth and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. People aren't racist, they're afraid of change - it's the "Who moved my cheese?" workplace problem, except we don't call a fear of, say, a new procedure at work racism. Racism is the belief that your race is superior to another one - That is, for example, that white people are better than black people in some way, and so forth. This is different from a fear of a changing face of Ireland - Irish people don't want to wipe out or enslave other people because they consider themselves inferior specimens. They're simply worried about the impact of new people on a traditional society. There's a difference there to racism.

It's a multi-faceted debate. Foreign people taking up residence in Ireland need to give a little towards the locals, and the locals have to give a little towards the new arrivals, and we meet somewhere in the middle that's different and - surely in the beginning - strange towards us both. It's the nature of the new society, but fear of change is different to an inherent self-belief in the superiority of the Irish race (err, about half the conquering races of Northern Europe mixed together, so) over others.

what the hell are you doing posting this in AAH?
It's far too sensible.
on a serious note, great post.

thelordofcheese

darkman2 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieno-ictmOQ

Just saw this trash today. Firstly I dont believe for a second that Irish people in general are racist. However the amount of ppl on the liberal side telling us we are has increased hugely in recent years. Why do they say things like this? (and its not just silly cartoons I mean) Is it really for the good for immigrants that we are constantly told as a society we are racist? Or is there something actually sinister about making us believe we are racist. I cant understand it really. They dont want Irish people to be racist yet they drill it into us that we are racist - when obviously the vast majority of us are not. This actually annoys me when people get on TV or whatever and tell Irish people (essentially me and you) that we are racist - but we just dont know it yet.

How this helps their cause I dont know. I think these sort of condescending rants just make Irish people annoyed. We are NOT a racist society. We except many more immgrants per capita then practically any other European country and they are looked after very well in comparison. I thnk we deal with immigrants very fairly. OK there are a few bad apples but stop labelling us a racist country. Its getting tiresome:mad:

ahh come on, it's a joke. A poor joke with a lack of wit or originality, but a joke none the less.
Calm the feck down there.

Manic Moran

I think Judt about hit nail on head when he mentioned the question over just what is racism.

I've always considered Irish people to be generally mildly racist, myself included, if only on a subconscious level. Not out of any claims of racial superiority, but simply because the entire concept of a multi-cultural Ireland is pretty much a recent phenomenon. I didn't grow up that long ago, but it would not have been unusual for me to spend a day shopping in Dublin and not see a single black or Asian person. It's simply a matter of 'different to normal', and being uneasy with such change. There's absolutely no rational basis for it, and I think (with absolutely no scientific basis whatsoever to support this claim) that 90% or more of people realise this and don't let it affect their actions, but human nature is what it is. Of course, as he says, the younger you are, the less likely the changes will affect you. I'll lay bets the sub-30-year-olds have no idea what I'm on about.

NTM

DonkeyStyle \o/

The_Minister wrote:

I just ignore them, laugh at them, and hope other people do too.

Mm-hmm.
I've gotten to the point where I don't even care anymore.
The way in which the word 'racist' has been bandied about at every available opportunity by people looking for attention has really taken the edge off the word for me personally.
It's like The boy who cried wolf.

I think there are effective degrees of racism... and I don't think the woman who wonders if black men really do have large penises should be classified alongside someone who actually believes their own race is superior and all the others need to either leave or die.
It's a serious word with serious implications and the more hyper-sensitive we get about it; the more the word is cheapened.
("Bah bah rainbow sheep" anyone?)

At any rate, I'd describe the Irish more as xenophobic with a dash of begrudging... but I won't because that would make me a racist wouldn't it?

Ickle Magoo

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

At any rate, I'd describe the Irish more as xenophobic with a dash of begrudging...

I'd have to second that - I know very few Irish people that I would clasify as racist in the nasty, "I'm better than you" type of way. I'd go so far as to say most Irish I've had the pleasure of meeting are the opposite & don't hold themselves or their country in as high a regard as they should. Some Irish certainly do seem to have an unhealthy fear of change & those who are not the same as they are.

I think Judt's post has it down to a T...:)

Degsy

We're more xenophobic than racist i think.Peopel will say "f uckin foreigners" as a catch-all term rather than singling out any particular ethnic group.Some WILL specialise however,usually based on a negative experience they've had or claimed to have.What annoys the hell out of me ist the coonsatnt "iniatiatives against racism",which are floated every so often by right-on halfwits who really do beleive that foreigners are pursued down the street by baying gangs of skinheads and klu klux klan members in bedsheets.The gradual assimilation of immigrants will take time and there will be problems but groups like RAR shouuld shut the **** up and let the rest of us get on with our lives.

Sam Vimes

"Why are we constantly told from various groups that Ireland is racist?"


saying irish people are racist is a racist comment

Karl Hungus

That cartoon was nothing short of pathetic. It was incredibly unfunny, and didn't actually address anything.

As for being constantly told about Ireland being racist? It makes headlines it seems.

Anyway, I'd agree with Donkeystyle \o/ and his boy who cried wolf comparison. People like RAR are just making so many baseless accusations of racism that it loses its meaning.

justsomebloke

Degsy wrote:

We're more xenophobic than racist i think.Peopel will say "f uckin foreigners" as a catch-all term rather than singling out any particular ethnic group.

I think you forgot about the culchies aswell, oh and also the knackers and the scumbags and the D4 heads aswell surely you haven't forgotten we hate them too.

seriously though Ireland is not a racist country, as we do not discriminate based on colour or ethnic background or religion or county of birth as we hate everyone equally:D

Mrs_Doyle

Judt wrote:

People aren't racist, they're afraid of change - it's the "Who moved my cheese?" workplace problem, except we don't call a fear of, say, a new procedure at work racism. Racism is the belief that your race is superior to another one - That is, for example, that white people are better than black people in some way, and so forth. This is different from a fear of a changing face of Ireland - Irish people don't want to wipe out or enslave other people because they consider themselves inferior specimens. They're simply worried about the impact of new people on a traditional society. There's a difference there to racism.

It's a multi-faceted debate. Foreign people taking up residence in Ireland need to give a little towards the locals, and the locals have to give a little towards the new arrivals, and we meet somewhere in the middle that's different and - surely in the beginning - strange towards us both. It's the nature of the new society, but fear of change is different to an inherent self-belief in the superiority of the Irish race (err, about half the conquering races of Northern Europe mixed together, so) over others.

You summed up exactly what it was that I wanted to say, and you worded it better then I could have hoped to.

When I was a kid, when I saw a black man, I starred. I starred because he was probably the only black man I had seen, and the only one I would see for a while.
When my little sister was a kid, she was scared of black people, and Chinese people, because she had never interacted with anything but white, Irish, Dublin people.
When 2 black girls came to join my school, when I was in second year, people talked about it.
Rumours spread that the girls were Nigerian, Asylum seekers. (They weren't by the way. They were actually from England and had Nigerian parents, and they certainly weren't asylum seekers.)

Now all of this didn't happen 20, 30 or 40 years ago.
This was 10 years ago, 15 at most.

Our Country has changed so much in the past 15 years. Even the very appearance of our country has changed. Our shops cater for our foreign residents, as do our papers, nightclubs, pubs, etc.
Anyone under 30 will have a fairly liberal attitude to this change, as they grew up within a changing Ireland.

Those over 30, 40 or 50, may not be as liberal, as to them, this might all be a case of too much, too fast.

From having starred at the black man in the street, out of nothing but sheer curiosity, to living amongst thousands of foreign people every day, it is a big change, and as you said, people do not like change.

scojones

"Irish people are racist". What exactly does this mean? Every Irish person is racist? And what's an Irish person? Someone born in Ireland right. There are currently a metric fuckton of different races born in Ireland every day. How could Irish people possibly be racist? You cannot generalise an entire country like this. Sure, certain individuals in Ireland, who are Irish, are racist. The nation as a whole is not. I know some racist people, but I'm not racist so this ideaology sucks.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Karl Hungus wrote:

and didn't actually address anything.

I found that was one of the things that annoyed me aswell... it really didn't seem to have a message, a unique take on things or even a point that I could make out.
And it made Ireland seem like it has a bigger problem with racism than it actually does. (at least from my point of view, but then I don't live every day as a minority race in this country, so maybe they know something I don't... which begs the question- why didn't they share this information with the rest of us?)
I think any country could be branded racist if you loosen your criteria enough.

darkman2

I agree with most of the comments: Racism is down to the scale you choose.

Fratton Fred

I wouldn’t consider Ireland to be racist, just not very politically correct. I'd also say that "Older People" here use terms that could be construed to be racist, but they don't know they are (if you know what I mean).

Also, people are very aware of where someone is from, someone is referred to as a culchie, or a Jackean, or a Northerner. If talking about some it will be “He’s a nice man, he’s from Kerry don’t you know”. When I hear Dubs talk about someone from Belfast, they always put on a Belfast accent, when I hear someone from South Dublin talk about someone from North Dublin, they are a “Northsider” and vice versa.

I’m not sure what it means, but it is an observation I’ve made since living here.

Oh, I would also say that Snobbery here is amazing, but that is a different thread entirely.

mickoneill30

Ireland generally is not racist. But we do have some scumbags.

I've lived in Australia for 5 years and came back last April. My girlfriend is Aussie but is of Asian decent.

So far .....
she's had a scumbag follow her for half a mile through an estate shouting at her to f off back where she came from (using language worse than that). That guy chased her and grabbed her bag. He got a knee in the nuts and a box in the face for his trouble. (She's small but not helpless).
she's had somebody push her when a counter was free (enough to knock her over) in a post office and when she gave out to him the guy said that if she couldn't understand that the teller was calling her she should go back to her own country. (Australia?????). The woman behind the guy who pushed her thought it was very funny. The guy behind her though came forward to help her
she's had kids (I say kids but they were about 18/19) follow her in the street making ching chong noises. Hilarious stuff.

Before this I would have defended Ireland totally. I can't do it so much now. It looks terrible when she's telling these experiences to her family. Doesn't make Ireland look too nice.

Edit: These all happened in Swords. Not the nicest place in the world but I thought the people here were better than that. It never happened to her in Australia (we did live in Sydney though).

tba

I enjoy making fun of everybody, but usually behind their back... Im essentially a coward.

justsomebloke

mickoneill30 wrote:

It never happened to her in Australia (we did live in Sydney though).

I have to say I found sydney quite rasict especially against the aboriginies, but this is the thing nearly every country in the world is rasict it is just what they discriminate against is different

mickoneill30

jsb wrote:

I have to say I found sydney quite rasict especially against the aboriginies, but this is the thing nearly every country in the world is rasict it is just what they discriminate against is different

I thought that too. I presumed my gf didn't have any problems there because there's a higher percentage of Asians there. When I was there it seemed to be Lebanise and Muslims that were receiving the brunt of it.

simu

There is some racism in Ireland, alright but I wouldn't say we're much worse than any other country tbh. I'm very sick of all these items in the media of late though, with their breathless "exposés" of racism, hypocrisy etc. It's easy to stand on a moral high ground and denounce this sort of behaviour by parodying it but what does that actually do to solve the problem? Nothing! It just annoys people who are not racist and I don't think it does anything to reform those who are because they probably ignore such pieces anyway.

It's better to tell people to cop on and stop being muppets when they act in a racist manner and so on imho.

ismynametoolong

If having a dislike of rather large rude black women, Travellers who seem to be accountable to nobody for their actions Eastern Eurpoeans who drive their uninsured foreign cars while pissed ! Then yes I must be a Racist !

netwhizkid

We are told every day we are racist so as to slowly brainwash the society we live in, into becoming a multicultural society. Take for instance the Coca Cola "Designated Driver Campaign" The PC brigade put in the Black guy holding the coke, ah bless, we won't see him DUI I guess, Having Him hold the beer would make Coke Racists. (oh my god I said black, I must be a huge bigot racist)

I have very strong views on Immigration and Multiculturalism, but the way the liberal left behaves on this issue is appalling. It is always the same strategically positioned foreigners in TV shows and that one black person who happens to be in the stand at the 5 a side over 75's all priests indoor charity match will be shown on TV just simply because he happens to be black. Happens everywhere.

The true racists in my opinion are the people who constantly tell us we are racist, these people are racist against Irish people. They would even tell us we owe all nationalities a debt over the Slave trade. The Only slavery I know in Ireland was a village of people in South Cork was kidnapped by Moroccan traders in the middle ages. It is total crap to be honest and racism is to generalised a term anyway. In America for instance black people sing and call each other the word "nigga" but when a White person says it he is a huge racist. It is rather stupid. One thing for certain is that I can see Immigration coming close to the pinnacle of the Agenda next May and this will be the true test of whether or not we are a Racist Nation or not.

I was once asked was I racist, Jeez I never ran a race in my life. However what I have discussed above is great for comedy, damn greeks they invented gayism, Fr. Ted was great. Fascists wear black and tell everybody what to do while priests..... More Drink!!!

Andrew 83

darkman2 wrote:

RE the earlier pont made about old people. Of course they are going to be more sceptical. They grew up in Catholic Ireland when crime was limited and people had more respect and time and teenagers didnt run wild. They hold that ideal dear and I thnk its unfair to label the older generation racist. In many ways I would say they are scared for the future of the country for plenty of reasons.

In fairness crime etc was bad back then, people just didn't talk about it and there was no public debate on it.


I think there is a clear racist streak in a large number of people in this country and that it is unhealthy the way a lot of people deny this to be the case (I used to as well as I'm not etc). The fact is though that you hear a lot of racist jokes, you hear a lot of comments being made towards those who look different, and the fact is that life is not always easy for those who do look different. Many immigrants, and Irish people who look different too, constantly experience negative comments, assaults, and so on purely for the way they look. This is fact and just because it is an uncomfortable fact, or that it happens to a greater extent in other countries, doesn't make it ok.

We should all do everything we can to try and tackle the racism that is present in this country whenever we can. This could even be in small measures like not laughing at racist jokes and making clear that this kind of thing is unacceptable.

It's not just a problem with 'older people' either, I work with children and I find secondary school age children can be particularly bad in this regard.

Hobbes

netwhizkid wrote:

We are told every day we are racist so as to slowly brainwash the society we live in, into becoming a multicultural society.

I'd say its nothing to do with that at all and more to do with the fact that a lot of Irish people have no concept of different cultures outside of Ireland/England (and a weekend in spain once a year doesn't count). Until you have actually lived in different countries you wouldn't experience it either.

That would be the majority of it. No malice, just lack of experience.

There is some level of racism in Ireland but I wouldn't say it is on the grand scale and you also have to factor in if it is a hate crime or not.

Lets see, one English guy I worked with (black) routinely got aggro from people in Dublin. He had bricks thrown at his car, he had one group of guys tell him to go back to where he came from :rolleyes: he got aggro in shops and one time got aggro off a gardai who was quite an asshole to him saying he would have him deported until he realised where he worked and then got all apologetic. So it certainly goes on.

So it certainly exists, but lets face it most forigeners have jobs here or study here, so if it was a predominatly racist society that wouldn't be happening.

The PC brigade put in the Black guy holding the coke

NWK I don't know what medication you are on but you need get off it. The picture is called a "Stock photo". Basically advertising company goes to another company like say Shutter Stock, type in a search term then buy the picture and photoshop the rest of it.

If it was all PC ask yourself why isn't there any Chinese in that picture?

Sam Vimes

netwhizkid wrote:

We are told every day we are racist so as to slowly brainwash the society we live in, into becoming a multicultural society.

your problem with that being....

netwhizkid wrote:

(oh my god I said black, I must be a huge bigot racist)

no, calling a black person black does not make you a racist, however calling him a n*gger as you suggest below most certainly does

netwhizkid wrote:

I have very strong views on Immigration and Multiculturalism, but the way the liberal left behaves on this issue is appalling. It is always the same strategically positioned foreigners in TV shows and that one black person who happens to be in the stand at the 5 a side over 75's all priests indoor charity match will be shown on TV just simply because he happens to be black. Happens everywhere.

so what? what's your problem with that? they don't want to be seen as racist so they put black people in their ads. would you prefer if black people were portrayed as the bad people in all the ads, lest they offend you?

netwhizkid wrote:

The true racists in my opinion are the people who constantly tell us we are racist, these people are racist against Irish people. They would even tell us we owe all nationalities a debt over the Slave trade.

nobody in their right mind has ever blamed the irish for slavery

netwhizkid wrote:

racism is to generalised a term anyway. In America for instance black people sing and call each other the word "nigga" but when a White person says it he is a huge racist. It is rather stupid.

n*gger is a term that was used to belittle black people for hundreds of years, then they started to use it themselves as a way of defending against it. can you honestly not see the difference between using the word as a term of endearment and as a racist insult?

think about it this way.imagine you and your mates were down the pub and having a laugh about what alcos the irish are and some english guy overheard and started agreeing that the irish are all alcoholic wife beaters. can you see the difference there?

Thirdfox

I don't think Ireland had a huge problem with racism (nor does it currently have)... I'm of Asian descent - immigrated here 11 years ago (just before the Celtic tiger sprang ) People were really welcoming then - my little sister used to get cooed at by all the people walking down the street (much like a "western" baby would in China).

11 years on I'm now in college in Ireland - society has changed (it would be ridiculous to expect it not to); I have only experienced the slightest of racism (I can count these experiences on one hand) However I find it sad that sometimes the children in primary school don't realise what the things they say can be quite hurtful "White skin people are better than brown people" as my tearful sister once told me

My impression of Ireland is very good, compared to England - Ching Chong Chinaman remarks were all too common there (I was too small to realise those remarks were meant to hurt me ) But maybe I'm not comparing like with like - I lived in what would be the equivalent of Swords (no offence meant to the good residents of Swords) back in England... nowadays it's all tea, crumpets and golf courses in my area (I wish!).

Something that is present is stereotyping (but I wouldn't call this racism):
Taxi Driver: "Oh so your parents work in Ireland...own a restaurant?"
Me: "Professors in a university actually."
TD: "Oh..."
but hey every ethnic group has its stereotypes (when I introduce myself as Irish abroad the first reaction is that "you couldn't be!" (that's a bit hurtful sometimes) and secondly "why aren't you drunk yet?" )

I agree with a point that has been made earlier that it's not necessarily racism that's present in Ireland... more like a fear that since the bubble's burst someone, anyone could come and take away your bread and butter. It helps to tell "pure" Irish people (since apparently I'm not "really" Irish in the eyes of some people) that you plan to contribute to the society. And hey maybe they have a point... I'm <only> a naturalised Irish - but that should say something about how much I love this country and want to be part of it that I would actively choose to become a citizen of it!

I find that Asians are normally not picked on by society as stereotypically they are seen as harmless restaurant owners/workers who are hardworking... People from Romania etc. do not get such a favourable stereotype though.

It'll be quite a few years before Ireland becomes the bastion of Stormfront organisers yet!

Fratton Fred

Thirdfox wrote:

My impression of Ireland is very good, compared to England - Ching Chong Chinaman remarks were all too common there (I was too small to realise those remarks were meant to hurt me ) But maybe I'm not comparing like with like - I lived in what would be the equivalent of Swords (no offence meant to the good residents of Swords) back in England... nowadays it's all tea, crumpets and golf courses in my area (I wish!).

I'm surprised about that. My friend is married to a Thai girl and apart from th few wisecracks he gets such how much did she cost you etc, she is surprised at how readily she has been accepted, but the area I am from (Between Slough and Reading) was very multicultural.

Thirdfox wrote:

but hey every ethnic group has its stereotypes (when I introduce myself as Irish abroad the first reaction is that "you couldn't be!" (that's a bit hurtful sometimes) and secondly "why aren't you drunk yet?" )

I've had a few wisecracks about being English. I usually ask the person if they can give me some advice on tarmacing my drive.;)

Sam Vimes

Hobbes wrote:

If it was all PC ask yourself why isn't there any Chinese in that picture?

his point was that it was "PC" because the black guy had the coke and not the beer, rather than just being in the ad. he's still wrong though

imeatingchips

Commander Vimes wrote:

"Why are we constantly told from various groups that Ireland is racist?"

saying irish people are racist is a racist comment

haha funny cos it's true ...

and what's more, most people don't see the irony in the statement. it's prejudice, just like:

"all the nigerians are scam artists"
<add more here>

Thirdfox

Fratton Fred wrote:

I'm surprised about that. My friend is married to a Thai girl and apart from th few wisecracks he gets such how much did she cost you etc, she is surprised at how readily she has been accepted, but the area I am from (Between Slough and Reading) was very multicultural.

I'll just put it down to living in the rough part of the council estates then... the English are very nice on the whole!

Never heard of the tarmacing stereotype though... how much do you charge by the way?

*edit: whoops mis-read the bit about the tarmac... so which ethnic grouping should I ask to tarmac my drive then?

lostexpectation

the 1,00,000 that march last year re the irish ferries,

racist, protectionist, xenophobic,(international solidarity? larf) pick your choice

tba

Judt

I wouldn't mind kids (up to secondary school age and into college) making wisecrack comments - if they're not bullying the black kid then they're bullying the kid with glasses, it's a phase that wears off. It's the adults who take it into later life with a bit of a problem - but again, it's fear of change rather than a self-belief of racial superiority we're talking about. There's a distinct difference, in that one is easier to combat than the other, and the former doesn't involve us gassing the population of a named racial minority in this country.

TBH, you're always going to have bigotry at some level - before we had foreigners we had different elements of Irish society all pissing all over one another. Replace Kerryman with black man in a number of Irish jokes and suddenly its racism, if you get my meaning.

The majority of Irish people are not racists. I would guesstimate that the majority are wary of foreigners, but that doesn't equate to "Let's pass the Nurenburg laws double time." There's a distinct difference, as I've said.

Killaqueen!!!

I thought Ireland was supposed to be the most racist country in the world. Can't remember where I read it and what sort of statistics there were, but it was probably a stupid arguement.

Though I do think we are very racist. Not in an extreme way, just that we're not 'politically correct' (I hate that anyway...I'm never politically correct apparently).

A lot of my friends are 'racist' but I don't see the racism in Ireland as a huge problem because it's more or less just racist jokes and a lot of people are way too sensitive about that. Just as there are racist comments, there are sexist and ignornat comments - if they're funny I'll laugh at them.

What I (obviously) wouldn't tolerate is racist bullying or abuse. And I haven't seen/heard much of this, although there obviously are such racial crimes in this country as is there everywhere you go.

The problem is people are too sensitive these days. For example, my friend (who is white) is friends with this black dude. My friend said 'Whassup nigga?' to his black friend, mocking him, one day (I've been told he does this sort of thing all the time with him) and the black guy just laughed. He can take racist jokes. Wheras, one day when we were out and I brought a long one of my friends from school, he did the same sort of thing and MY friend got offended but the black guy didn't. She got in a piss and later on went on about how racist the guy was, when the black guy didn't care.

I've been told I've been racist by over-sensitive goodie two shoes who can't take a fricken joke.

Plug

When you work with forners there not so bad, just as lazy as us tbh!

Captain Trips

Mordeth wrote:

most Irish people I've met are pretty racist, but then most people are pretty racist so I suppose it all evens out in the end

That's the whole truth of it. People like things that are familiar to them, that look like them, act like them and that is the same as much in Ireland as in China or Africa.

As long as you live in a wealthy nation and are white, you are racist until proven otherwise. As we can see in South Africa, Zimbabwe and in Canada now, the reverse is just as true with anti-white racism being common; likewise, Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls in Meyerton, SA is a modern example of this.

When asked am I racist, I can only answer that I am no more racist than you!

Hobbes

Commander Vimes wrote:

his point was that it was "PC" because the black guy had the coke and not the beer, rather than just being in the ad. he's still wrong though

Looking at the stock photo it was more likely he was the easiest to photoshop in the bottle.