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hawkwing_lbSo. There was this young Dub on the train today. Talking with his mate, as you do, loudly enough that I couldn't help but overhear. They were talking about 'black people', and the phrase that stands out in my memory is:
"The thing about them is, they're, like, fucking paranoid about racism."
Hello, idiot. What do the words "history of oppression" mean to you? And you know, they really should mean something, because you're Irish.
No? Not coming up with anything? Let's try this for a scenario, then.
Say you wear an Irish football jersey. Say you wear it all the time. Furthermore, say you wear it in parts of England that have a long, long history of hating the 'fucking Paddies'. Oh, they're polite on the face of it, but every so often someone shouts out, "Hey you! Yeah, you, the stupid fucking Paddy. Why don't you go back to your own country and dig potatoes, you bloody mick?" You don't go out late at night without a group of your mates, because someone and his mates might take it into his head to give you a kicking. Because you're Irish. Odds are, you'll find it twice as hard as any of them, the ones who aren't wearing the Irish jersey, to find a professional job and keep it. And while you might be acceptable company for their sons, if any of their daughters brought you home, you'd face a cold, uncomfortable reception, even among the most open-minded.
Is this a pretty picture? Well, hello, Dub, you're lucky. You can take the jersey off if you like. You can choose to let their first impressions of you be defined not by where you might come from, or the colour of your skin, but by who you are.
'Black people' can't. And you wonder why they're, "like, fucking paranoid about racism."
I don't.
"The thing about them is, they're, like, fucking paranoid about racism."
Hello, idiot. What do the words "history of oppression" mean to you? And you know, they really should mean something, because you're Irish.
No? Not coming up with anything? Let's try this for a scenario, then.
Say you wear an Irish football jersey. Say you wear it all the time. Furthermore, say you wear it in parts of England that have a long, long history of hating the 'fucking Paddies'. Oh, they're polite on the face of it, but every so often someone shouts out, "Hey you! Yeah, you, the stupid fucking Paddy. Why don't you go back to your own country and dig potatoes, you bloody mick?" You don't go out late at night without a group of your mates, because someone and his mates might take it into his head to give you a kicking. Because you're Irish. Odds are, you'll find it twice as hard as any of them, the ones who aren't wearing the Irish jersey, to find a professional job and keep it. And while you might be acceptable company for their sons, if any of their daughters brought you home, you'd face a cold, uncomfortable reception, even among the most open-minded.
Is this a pretty picture? Well, hello, Dub, you're lucky. You can take the jersey off if you like. You can choose to let their first impressions of you be defined not by where you might come from, or the colour of your skin, but by who you are.
'Black people' can't. And you wonder why they're, "like, fucking paranoid about racism."
I don't.
