Racism Against Africans in Ireland

Photo Credit: m.luas.ie

Racism can be blatant, although many try to be more subtle in how they exhibit their racist actions. This describes racism in Ireland against Africans. Many Africans will tell you that even the more subtle forms of racism in Ireland still come across as blatant because racism appears to be rooted in the "soul' of the nation. It is astonishing that this day and age can witness such blatant display of ignorance from some Irish people.

The European network against racism (ENAR) through i-reports on racism in Ireland (done quarterly) tells us explicitly that 148 racist incidents were reported in the first quarter of 2015. This is the tip of the iceberg because their analysis shows that these reports have been consistent for the past three years and in every quarter. The people carrying out racist activities have evolved to using social media especially Facebook to express their hate and ignorance. The reports also indicated that people from ‘black African’ background (Afrophobia) are the most vulnerable and most affected. All these reports are considered the “tip of the iceberg” says its chairman Shane O’Curry because the reporting system since 2013 is relatively new.

During same period and through same means, Twenty-five serious offenses were reported, including 11 assaults with injury. Racist language was used in seven of the 11 incidents classified this way. All of these incidents meet the criteria for punishment under the Non-Fatal Offenses against the Person Act, 1997; eight of these were committed by strangers, ten by male perpetrators. A further 11 assaults without injury were reported, six perpetrated by strangers and four threats to kill and cause grievous harm. This sounds more like the 16th and 17th century and not today.

This is not only a call for concern but a sad case; the lack of progress and the ‘appalling silence’ (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) by most mainstream media to talk about this and policy makers to tackle this is infuriating.

We are glad to see associations like ENAR take a stand and continuously speak out against racial issues. We too have to do more daily; what if we each began to insert discussions on racism into the threads of every day conversation and when our conversations about racism hit the brick wall, instead of turning away from it as we always have, we instead continue our conversations about racism until they actually climb over the wall and others become engaged in the same dialogue until they too begin to discuss racial issues with one another. We have brushed it aside for too long in the world in general and Ireland in particular. It has to stop because no one is born racist we learn it one way or another.

References:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/black-africans-face-most-racist-abuse-in-ireland-says-report-1.2146079

http://enarireland.org/

http://enarireland.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/iReport78.pdf

__________________________

Ernie J. Burgher is a bi-lingual freelance journalist and author, and speaks English and French. Ernie writes for SitiTalkBlog.

Copyright SitiTalkBlog. All rights reserved.

SitiTalkBlog is focused primarily on Africa's socio-economic and political issues, scientific and medical topics, as well as global current issues and news. SitiTalkBlog also highlights positive entertainment as long as it has the potential to cause us to think and take positive actions. The blog is geared towards sensitizing people to take constructive actions and engineer practical solutions

Reprint and Re-distribution Permission: Any and all parts of this original article may be reproduced as long as the author and SitiTalkBlog and References and links are cited and maintained as in the original publication. No part of the original article may be modified or used for commercial purposes, and no additional authors may be added or cited except as indicated “Ernie J. Burgher and SitiTalkBlog” in the original article