Racism in U.L.

Average Mike

I find that everytime this is brought up people are very dismissive. People ridicule the person brave enough to stand up for their culture and tell them to stop whinging online and go to student services.

Myself and my brother are both black students in UL. In the library my brother had monkey nuts hurled at him and monkey noises shouted in his direction by some bunch of jocks..

On the sunday of the all ireland final myself and my brother and a few more friends were told to we want to take off our Kilkenny jerseys fairly lively before we got a hidin' off some Tipp fans. one of them laughed and said "BLACK cats is right."

completely unacceptable in my opinion.

Agent_99

I feel for you Average Mike, Racism has no right to be anywhere in a modern society let alone a University were you would expect the students would have a level of education to be a bit more advanced than yob culture. I consider that because Ireland has until recently been a "white" culture there are a lot of country fellas that are diversity challenged and first time away from home for the first time, they do not know how to behave, just ask anyone in the student villages.

If you are over weight, wear glasses or have a limp, these same bullies will cause hassle. Report it to the college authorities!
Good Luck

Leroy Lita

hakuna matata

TheTownie

I'm completely supportive of the fact that such events are completely unacceptable but after reading your post I was left thinking what are you hoping to achieve from your post in this particular forum? Is it purely you venting your frustrations?

One thing you must factor in is that getting the qualifications to enter university is a very very limited measure of intelligence, mainly memory capacity so to assume that by attending university all attendees would be sensible, respectful and treat everyone as equals is being plain naive.

Unfortunately there is no way of filtering bullies or racists out of UL before they get there so really the only effective solution is to report the offenders straight away to security and point them out. Obviously thats easier said than done as that could just escalate the problem between you and the offenders. The only thing that is for sure is that it won't be solved by posting on a forum about it but your fully entitled to give your opinion here and vent your frustrations buddy.

Sid_Justice

That **** is unacceptable

decembersun77

Average Mike wrote: »

I find that everytime this is brought up people are very dismissive. People ridicule the person brave enough to stand up for their culture and tell them to stop whinging online and go to student services.

Myself and my brother are both black students in UL. In the library my brother had monkey nuts hurled at him and monkey noises shouted in his direction by some bunch of jocks..

On the sunday of the all ireland final myself and my brother and a few more friends were told to we want to take off our Kilkenny jerseys fairly lively before we got a hidin' off some Tipp fans. one of them laughed and said "BLACK cats is right."

completely unacceptable in my opinion.

Im very sorry about that. That is unacceptable. The best thing you can do is ignore them, don't give in to it and be happy in yourself, don't let them bring you down because that is what they want. Show them they don't matter and be happy and do your own thing.

There is racism here in dublin in the universities some of the people i know who are foreign students here one of them in particular is from india and he gets racism in his college. The people who are racist are scared of differance and maybe they see it as a threat its better to feel sorry for people like that because they are abit ignorant or/and insecure. It might be the way they were raised or other factors also.

skeleton_boy

Agent_99 wrote: »

I feel for you Average Mike, Racism has no right to be anywhere in a modern society let alone a University were you would expect the students would have a level of education to be a bit more advanced than yob culture. I consider that because Ireland has until recently been a "white" culture there are a lot of country fellas that are diversity challenged and first time away from home for the first time, they do not know how to behave, just ask anyone in the student villages.

If you are over weight, wear glasses or have a limp, these same bullies will cause hassle. Report it to the college authorities!
Good Luck

Way to stereotype :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

@ O.P , sorry to hear this dude, it's totally unacceptable.

Mrmoe

Average Mike wrote: »

I find that everytime this is brought up people are very dismissive. People ridicule the person brave enough to stand up for their culture and tell them to stop whinging online and go to student services.

Myself and my brother are both black students in UL. In the library my brother had monkey nuts hurled at him and monkey noises shouted in his direction by some bunch of jocks..

On the sunday of the all ireland final myself and my brother and a few more friends were told to we want to take off our Kilkenny jerseys fairly lively before we got a hidin' off some Tipp fans. one of them laughed and said "BLACK cats is right."

completely unacceptable in my opinion.

On what day/time did this happen in the Library?

CiaranMT

That sounds ridiculous and you should have reported it straight away. There's plenty of security lads around doing nothing much else. Never heard of such blatant racism on campus, worst I've heard are your typical casual racism jokes :pac:

dellas1979

Im sorry you and your brother had to endure that - personally I think it is all our responsibility to ensure things like this dont happen.

If I had been there and heard someone say those things, I would have gone beserk at them. Absolutely beserk. I would have said something. It is ALL our problems and responsibilities to react if someone is saying these things.

cson

I'm tempted to make the call that this may be first post shenanigans but I will give the benefit of the doubt for now.

In any case;

"People ridicule the person brave enough to stand up for their culture and tell them to stop whinging online and go to student services."

You have answered your own question there. Whilst highlighting the problem online here will create awareness, a more substantial step in the right direction is to (a) confront the perpetrators - you'd be surprised how quickly some of these tough men will go back into their box when challenged on something like this and/or (b) inform Library/University/Students Union staff as to the issue.

PeakOutput

Average Mike wrote: »

Myself and my brother are both black students in UL. In the library my brother had monkey nuts hurled at him and monkey noises shouted in his direction by some bunch of jocks..

were in teh library and when and who did you report it to?

On the sunday of the all ireland final myself and my brother and a few more friends were told to we want to take off our Kilkenny jerseys fairly lively before we got a hidin' off some Tipp fans. one of them laughed and said "BLACK cats is right."

were did this happen?

of course its unacceptable but i honestly dont believe it happened, if it did report it to someone in authority instead of posting anonymously on teh interwebz

dellas1979

Its posts like the one above, that lets racism run rampant in this country.
It is alive and kicking.

I walked past a man once (a blackman was walking ahead of me) and he looked right at me and said "see those ni**ers? Id string them up by their bootlaces". That was about 3 years ago. Is my story more real because Im Irish?

Its a ****ing disgrace.

munsterdevil

PeakOutput wrote: »

were in teh library and when and who did you report it to?



were did this happen?

of course its unacceptable but i honestly dont believe it happened, if it did report it to someone in authority instead of posting anonymously on teh interwebz

+1

TheTownie

dellas1979 wrote: »

Its posts like the one above, that lets racism run rampant in this country.

Man a minority of morons does not mean racism is running rampant. You show me a country without any form of racism and I'll show you a lier. Its not exactly far fetched to presume Ireland would be closer to the bottom of a list of countries with racism problems than the top. Ireland has never been more multi-cultural. Foreigners wouldn't stay here for long if we had a rampant racism problem. If I got a euro for every time I've been told how welcoming Irish people are I wouldn't be attending UL !

PeakOutput

dellas1979 wrote: »

Its posts like the one above, that lets racism run rampant in this country.

:rolleyes:

im well aware that there is racism in ireland and i have the stitches to prove it, that dosnt mean i believe that people were throwing nuts at people and making monkey noises in the library but even if it did happen, what use is this thread?

fcussen

TheTownie wrote: »

I'm completely supportive of the fact that such events are completely unacceptable but after reading your post I was left thinking what are you hoping to achieve from your post in this particular forum? Is it purely you venting your frustrations?

One thing you must factor in is that getting the qualifications to enter university is a very very limited measure of intelligence, mainly memory capacity so to assume that by attending university all attendees would be sensible, respectful and treat everyone as equals is being plain naive.

Unfortunately there is no way of filtering bullies or racists out of UL before they get there so really the only effective solution is to report the offenders straight away to security and point them out. Obviously thats easier said than done as that could just escalate the problem between you and the offenders. The only thing that is for sure is that it won't be solved by posting on a forum about it but your fully entitled to give your opinion here and vent your frustrations buddy.

You're placing a lot of faith in the general level of enlightenment in this country if you think the security guards are actually going treat incidents like this with the seriousness that they should.

PeakOutput

fcussen wrote: »

You're placing a lot of faith in the general level of enlightenment in this country if you think the security guards are actually going treat incidents like this with the seriousness that they should.

whats the alternative? moan on the internet? personally i wouldnt report it to security unless there was more then verbal abuse but i would be onto the head of my course fairly lively and i know i would not be ignored

padma

Tell them they to go f themselves, and play with their bumbuddies. If they persist say that your well connected in Limerick and any problems Padma will come sort them out.

TheTownie

fcussen wrote: »

You're placing a lot of faith in the general level of enlightenment in this country if you think the security guards are actually going treat incidents like this with the seriousness that they should.

Personally fcussen, I would deal with it myself but clearly the person in question isn't the sort of person to do that or else he wouldn't be posting on a forum about it. Also I couldn't reply by encouraging potentially violent behaviour even though that would have been how I would have solved it. Anyway the security guards would have thrown them out if that happen, for god's sake I nearly get thrown out all the time just for talking never mind throwing nuts! If you've ever been in the library you would know that instead of questioning my original post.

fcussen

TheTownie wrote: »

Man a minority of morons does not mean racism is running rampant. You show me a country without any form of racism and I'll show you a lier. Its not exactly far fetched to presume Ireland would be closer to the bottom of a list of countries with racism problems than the top. Ireland has never been more multi-cultural. Foreigners wouldn't stay here for long if we had a rampant racism problem. If I got a euro for every time I've been told how welcoming Irish people are I wouldn't be attending UL !

This has to be one of the most naive and ignorant things I've ever heard.

There is no major racism problem in Ireland because there are foreigners living here? Is that why the Jim Crow laws and Ku Klux Klan managed to force all the black people out of the southern states of America? Do you remember when all the non-white South Africans emigrated during the apartheid era? Irish people are "welcoming" towards wealthy tourists who preferably have the same skin pigment as us. The way we behave towards people who move here because they want to live and work is another story.

TheTownie

fcussen wrote: »

This has to be one of the most naive and ignorant things I've ever heard.

There is no major racism problem in Ireland because there are foreigners living here? Is that why the Jim Crow laws and Ku Klux Klan managed to force all the black people out of the southern states of America? Do you remember when all the non-white South Africans emigrated during the apartheid era? Irish people are "welcoming" towards wealthy tourists who preferably have the same skin pigment as us. The way we behave towards people who move here because they want to live and work is another story.

So you're trying to say on a worldwide scale, Ireland has a terrible racism problem... I was referring to Ireland in the grand scheme of things but clearly you can't look at the situation beyond the end of your nose. Buddy your way out your dept to start talking about the KKK, those blacks you refer to were natives of the south and forced out it. How could you ever compare that to people emigrating to Ireland. People deciding I WANT to LIVE in Ireland, their not being forced to live here, their not natives being forced out. Again I repeat in no other point in history has Ireland been more multi-cultural and AGAIN everywhere has a certain level of racism which is inevitable when you live amongst millions of people! Just the shear probability of it makes it a fact.

fcussen

I think you might have missed the sarcasm: black people continued to live in Southern USA despite being actively discriminated against, black South Africans did not leave South Africa despite being treated like ****. You seem to believe if racism was really bad in Ireland, then people wouldn't immigrate here, I'm arguing otherwise.

TheTownie

Its as simple as this, I want a yes or no answer, Is Ireland rampant with racism??

fcussen

Yes. The mayor of Limerick recently called for unemployed EU-nationals to be deported from the country. The taxi drivers union in Cork refused to allow non-nationals to join it last year.

I hear racist comments and see dirty looks being given towards Eastern European and non-white people every day; I'd like to know what kind of enlightened modern-thinking social circle that you move in where you don't.

TheTownie

So Limerick Mayor comes out and makes a statement like you just said without giving any reasons?? or did you just read the headline and make a premature judgement? I haven't seen that article but I know there would be uproar if he actually said something that was unjustifiable like that. Yet your the only one condemning him... If a non-Irish person abuses the system they deserved to be punished as much as an Irish person does. They don't get off the hook because of being afraid of being called a racist. Unions, Mayors etc say these things because they have valid reasons. As for what you see everyday, if you look hard enough for anything you'll find it. Why don't you focused on bigger problems like Ireland's drugs problem rather than trying to inflame a problem that ISN'T rampant in Ireland. Its a pity people like Malcolm X are not around to experience Ireland today. He would think Ireland is a utopia compared to what he had to put up with.

fcussen

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Mayor-of-Limerick-Send-home.5814604.jp

There was uproar regarding it and he had to backtrack. http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Mayor-Kiely-clarifies-position.5821108.jp

TheTownie

Thank you for coming back with the full details on that issue. He was the master of his own downfall there as he didn't put his views across in the right way but that doesn't make his actual point wrong nor a discriminator. There are abusers of the social welfare system both Irish and non-Irish so it is a constant battle to try to prevent those from doing so. He was ask a question, he gave an answer... just not a very well thought out one. We are all guilty of choosing the wrong words from time to time that doesn't make him a racist. In a nutshell he had a valid reason.

antidark777

Integration with other cultures and nationalities with native Irish was never gonna go smoothly in this generation, and has even being recieved with outright bitterness or hostility cos some think its being forced upon them or its happening too fast.

TheTownie

Thats all well and true but thats not racism. In the majority we do not think we are a superior culture. The majority of Irish people do not walk around thinking other cultures should worship the ground they walk on. I just think over the years the definition of racism has been diluted to the stage where a dirty look is considered racism which is just ridiculous. You could be just looking at a person who is a p***k, of which there are many around tbh.

neil_

fcussen wrote: »

Yes. The mayor of Limerick recently called for unemployed EU-nationals to be deported from the country. The taxi drivers union in Cork refused to allow non-nationals to join it last year.

Neither of those things are at all related to race.

dellas1979

Are you yanking my chain???

Rascism is beyond rampant here...

The fact you would not believe the OP as to what he experienced would only serve the fact that Irish people choose to ignore the issue "ah shur he was over reacting" "ah shur why would that bother him" "ah shur they should go back to their own country" I could "ah shur" all night.

Its not good enough.

OP Ill tell you, as a proud Irish woman, if I had over heard what they said to you, I would have stood up, not only for you, but for the decent Irish people, who actually do give a crap what is going on in their country. Shame on any Irish person who would stand there and listen to someone being deflamed like that.

I went to UL and did a post-grad about 10 years ago, and there was a black guy on the course. He left Limerick within 2 months of the course starting. He had been harassed so flippin much. He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. What a horrible horrible thing to happen on this soil - a nation of so called "a 1000 welcomes".

mulner92

i'm sorry to hear about that. It's not fair to anybody to get that kind of abuse, i'm lucky since i arrived a few weeks ago, i haven't experienced any abuse or bullying. I was surprised by it actually but i feel it a lot more friendly place than the secondary school i came from

TheTownie

No one has said they don't believe the OP, its just hard not to be skeptical when two days and 31 replies later their hasn't been sight nor sound of the OP. His first ever post and quite possibly his last by the look of things. Many people's issue with the OP is why he chose this forum instead of acting upon the incident as it happen but the OP hasn't logged in since so I guess we will never know.

Tbh dellas1979 its sounds like you have a bigger problem with Irish people than just this particular issue because to come out and condemn the nation like that there must be long running anger on several issues.

I've never said "ah shur" does that make me non-Irish??

DJCR

Lock it!

Nothing but generalisations and general slander + misconceptions.

No one addressing the issue.

TheTownie

DJCR wrote: »

Lock it!

Nothing but generalisations and general slander + misconceptions.

No one addressing the issue.

Exactly which is why we question the OP's decision to post in the first place. This is just a bunch of people giving a bunch of exaggerated opinions.

dellas1979

I dont have any problems I assure you. I can only talk from my own experiences, of which I have seen and heard loads and the reason for me saying it is alive and kicking. It seems from your experience, or therefore lack of, you dont see a problem here. I dont know how you have never experienced or seen any rascism in this country and it is rather worrying.

Address the issue? What do you propose then seeing as you actually contributed nothing?

Standing up to people or defending those who cannot defend themselves would be a start.

Edit: Townie, you are just reinforcing and proving what I am saying with your attitude to lock the thread. Of course the OP is exagerating their claims, I am exagerating my claims, other posters are exagerating their claims. For the second time in this post, I assure you my claims are not exagerated. So, for the sake of humanity, can you stop with the bullish attitude.

TheTownie

Well dellas1979 if you bother to read my posts you will see on several occasions I acknowledge racism does exist in Ireland but people claiming it is rampant in Ireland is ridiculous. I'm just going to start quoting myself to respond to post as I'm starting to repeat myself for those too lazy to read and as a result don't understand my viewpoint.

P.S. when I say OP I'm referring to Original Poster just to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

dellas1979

Not lazy, just dont get your confusing point of view.

If you want to start slinging mud at me or make smartass comments for having a different point of view, go ahead.

Prove its not rampant in this country then...

Stuxnet

Who eats monkey nuts before Halloween ?

baldbear

Racism is a sad fact of life.It exists in all countrys. There are always going to be a small minority of morans out there but when decent people stand idly by and say/do nothing when these people make racist remarks then thats sad.

When these idiots made monkey noises and threw nuts did someone not do or say anything? i'd be surprised if no one said anything. Or were you and your brother on your own? Terrible experience anyway.

TheTownie

How could anyone prove anything from just personal experiences?? hence why all this time I've just given my opinion which is based on my experiences. OK so I will break down my point of view.
1. Originally read about nuts been thrown in library. I believe thats wrong (if its even true)
2. Only way to address that (without getting violent) is to inform security. (Going up to the offenders and shouting or telling them off would result in laughter or them ignoring you as they wouldn't care what you think.)
3. I believe racism is a problem amongst a minority in Ireland.
4. I think the word racism is thrown about too much as people have this diluted definition of racism.
5. Racism is not rampant throughout Ireland (when you compare it globally).

In a nutshell that's what I'm saying.

sceptre

Guys, this is basically a re-run of a thread started last year, probably by the same hit and run poster. It smelled of troll then and it smells of troll now, there's a high degree of probability that it's being posted from the same computer.

Sure, there's racism about. Doesn't make it right, in fact it makes it quite wrong. If you see obvious racism I suggest making a complaint to the college or through the SU (assuming it's in UL - if it's outside, you've got your own voices, anti-discrimination laws and plenty of media that will happily get involved). I left it open in case there was some sense to be had in a UL context. For a general discussion of racism etc, I suggest the Humanities forum (you'll discover it under the Soc heading).

But as for this thread, obvious troll in obvious trollery, people who remember the last effort at this will see the same patterns in the story.