Declan Chellar February 6th, 2008
I have been pondering this question ever since that dreadful piece of voyeuristic garbage Big Brother raised the Jade Goody / Danielle Lloyd / Shilpa Shetti controversy in 2007.
The Cambridge Dictionary definition of racism is the following: “The belief that people’s qualities are influenced by their race and that the members of other races are not as good as the members of your own, or the resulting unfair treatment of members of other races.”
The Merriam Webster definition is “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”
Personally, I prefer the Cambridge definition because it addresses behaviour and not just belief. To my mind, it’s not enough to have racist beliefs to truly be a racist, one has to act accordingly. In a sense, one could argue that a person who harbours racist beliefs but who refuses to put them into action is to be admired.
So what kind of action or behaviour consitutes racism?
I feel it’s all too easy to confuse bullying and racism. I don’t believe it’s racist to call someone names based on their ethnicity or the colour of their skin. Sure enough, racists are often bullies, but not all bullies are racists. I am fully entitled to this opinion, being half Caucasian and half Asian. As a child, I lived in rural Ireland where anyone darker than the background to this web page really stood out. I was called everything… blackie, nigger, nig nog, Chink (bizarrely). Oddly enough, I don’t ever remember being called “wog”, which my very dark father would say stands for “Worthy Oriental Gentleman”.
But that wasn’t racism. I was just being picked out by bullies because I stood out in some way. I was being isolated. The same would have happened if I had been white but with green hair.
Spanish sports fans have been known to hurl abuse at athletes on the basis of their ethnic origins. Making ape-like gestures and wearing black make-up are some examples. However, many in Spain regard this behaviour simply as tasteless and abhorrent, but not actually racist. I agree. I don’t see why there should be a distinction between abuse and racial abuse. It’s not that I think racial abuse isn’t that bad (remember, I put up with it for a long time… strangely until learned to fight). I think abuse is bad… full stop. I think shouting “Bastard!” at someone is just as bad as shouting “Black/White/Pikey/Paki/Fenian bastard!” Though not all at once, I imagine (not meaning to ignore anyone out there who is part black, white, traveller, Pakistani and Irish). Hmmm… if I went to Glasgow and met a black Rangers fan, he might call me a “Honky, Wog, Fenian bastard!”
Is it racist to label an entire ethnic group in a particular way? I suspect many would be tempted to say that it is.
But what if I label an entire ethnic group as follows? “Those XXX are very hardworking and capable.”
Is that any different from saying about another ethnic group “Those YYY are lazy and unreliable” ?
I would argue that it isn’t if both are the result of real-world observation and experience. This isn’t simply an academic exercise. These days in Ireland there are people of many ethnic groups living and working. Some have developed a reputation for hard work while others have developed a reputation for laziness. Is it racist to observe that members of a certain group tend to be lazy? No, it’s human nature.
For me, it is racist when you harm someone because of their ethnicity, or you deny them equal rights because of their ethnicity. I am reminded of an anecdote from years ago when a conference on racism was being held in one of the Dublin 4 hotels; a representative of the Traveller community was denied entry by the doorman. Ironic racism, the very best kind!
I also remember an incident when a friend of mine, who was a school teacher (but is now a stuntman – go figure that one out), and I were walking up O’Connell Street and we came across a student of his who happened to be from Africa. The lad was distraught because some guy had been giving him abuse further up the street. We accompanied him to investigate and the gentleman in question proceeded to attack the boy with a six foot iron bar. Now that’s racism. Be at ease, dear ballogees, my friend and I disarmed the miscreant and handed him over to the Guards. No children were harmed in the making of this anecdote.
I don’t envy the employer in Ireland who is faced with two candidates, one from a generally perceived hard-working ethnic group and one from a generally perceived lazy group. That would test the integrity of the most inclusive of minds.
I feel an interviewer should be blind to a person’s ethnicity during the recruitment process, regardless of what the generally held opinion is. If the candidate is hired and turns out to be lazy as an individual, then steps should be taken to fire that person.
However, I am pretty certain that many people in Ireland would tolerate a lazy worker from an ethnic minority for fear of being labelled racist. But not firing a useless worker because of their ethnicity is, perversely, racism in another form.
I’m keen to hear what Rowan Manahan has to say about that.
I’ll finish with an odd twist. I know a fellow in Dublin who is a skilled tradesman. Recently he went about finding himself a new piece of work and saw a sign on one site that stated: “No Irish” (I am hoping to obtain a photo of that particular sign). Prejudice against the Irish in Ireland. Where else would that happen? It raises an interesting question: In multi-cultural Ireland, are the Irish perceived as lazy?
I’m also keen to hear what Irish bloggers Michael Nugent and Twenty Major have to say on the subject.
Some related, external articles:
Anger at ‘lazy’ Roma remarks
Black Africans most likely to suffer racism in Ireland
Racism in Ireland – TRAVELLERS FIGHTING BACK
Poles in Ireland don’t want to be slaves