by Adam Halpin
Ireland is not the most
diverse of nations, with less than 5 per cent of the population being of an
ethnic origin other than white. As a result, one would expect a low level of
discrimination and racism. In my opinion, while racism in the sense of colour is
not a massive problem in Ireland, there seems to be a lot of discrimination
based on origin. I find that people often comment and complain when they hear
an accent from overseas as they immediately associate that accent with
preconceived notions of a particular nation. These generalisations need to stop
and as a nation we need to become more open and accepting, we are not all the
same, but we are all human and share many similarities. I’m glad to say that I
haven’t witnessed many racist acts in Ireland, but unfortunately they do happen
and are mostly based on traditional stereotypes.
To be honest I feel
that overall Ireland is a very welcoming country and most people will treat
people with culturally diverse backgrounds in a respectable manner. In my
opinion, most racism in the world can be dealt with through education, as once
people know more of the world and its people they will be less likely to
discriminate against those from elsewhere. Currently Ireland seems to have a
system of cultural integration in that immigrants tend to respect the cultures
and traditions of Ireland while keeping their own beliefs, cultures and
traditions, as opposed to cultural assimilation which sees national identity
forced upon all citizens. While at the outset, a clear national identity may
seem favourable, in some cases it may result in negative outcomes, for example
in France, where cultural assimilation has led to many racist attacks in the
past. The first extreme case of racism that I have encountered occurred in
France when I was 16 as part of a cultural exchange program in Transition Year.
My exchange student had racist views, believing that all black people and
“Arabs” were thieves who wanted to take over France. While comments such as
that were disturbing, I was even more shocked when he told me to put my hands
in my pockets whenever anyone that wasn’t white passed us. Attitudes like this
need to disappear and can only do so if cultural diversity is respected and
accepted. If that experience taught me anything, it is that as world citizens
we need to be open to different cultures and look at what makes us similar
rather than what sets us apart.
Last summer, I worked
in Orlando, Florida in the United States as part of a J 1 programme and was
pleasantly surprised to see how well racism is dealt with in America. While on
the outside America may seem similar to Ireland, it is a much more culturally
diverse nation and has often been seen as a melting pot of culture as all
cultures tend to exist together. This was particularly evident to me when an
African American colleague jokingly asked me if black people existed in
Ireland. My immediate response was that they did exist in Ireland, but not as
they do in America, as I would consider most black people in Ireland as Irish.
Whether or not this is a good thing I do not know, but I do find it very
interesting that cultural diversity is
treated differently in different parts of the world. I find America
particularly interesting in how it treats multiculturalism. Minority or ethnic
groups are established, e.g. Italian American, Irish American, Asian American
and African American which differentiates these groups from the rest of the
population. As a result, the majority of these groups keep traditions from
their place of origin, often creating their own communities which led to the
development of ghettos or “China-town” like areas where people of the same
ethnic origin live together. While these minorities may be accepted now, it has
taken a long time for America to overcome discrimination and it is still a work
in progress, with racism still occurring in some areas.
It is difficult to say
whether integration or a “melting pot” can deal with multiculturalism
adequately, as there are even more ways that other nations have dealt with
cultural diversity. While the melting pot of the United States celebrates the
different cultures of American citizens it also creates minority groups, which
separates them from the wider society, in a way alienating them. On the other
hand, cultural integration also has its issues in that people are forced to let
their heritage become more refined in order to respect the national traditions
of the new country. As a result it’s
hard to say if either is suitable for a world without racism, but a mixture of
both could allow ethnic cultures to better blend in with mainstream culture.
It may take a long time
for racism to vanish, but in my opinion, Ireland has already taken small steps
which could be built upon. In general people need to become more informed,
whether this is through school or public information campaigns, everyone needs
to be encouraged to be more open in their outlook of the world and its people.
It is clear that people may have established judgements which may negatively
influence their actions. However, if people know more about different cultures,
they may be less likely to make racist comments or attack people out of
discrimination. A recent experience which has allowed me to see the
similarities of cultures was last week, when I visited a mosque for a college
assignment. During this visit it became clear to me that Islamic beliefs are
not that different from Christian or Jewish beliefs with many more similarities
than differences. I found this particularly surprising with the amount of
violence cause by Islamic extremists which shows that even minor differences
can cause disruption. These differences really shouldn’t separate the world,
but unfortunately they do. In my opinion if we all embrace our similarities
rather than differences we may be one step closer to a world without racism.
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