And a quotation totally incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain in their homage to Red Hand icons. Most of the world is paying zero attention to what's going on in Northern Ireland--yours is an important attention-getter.
He will be in Belfast in August as a guest speaker for people who can do (expensive) retreats. He does other events & I follow his writings. He recently wrote on Frederick Douglass who fled to Belfast and was memorialised there. He wrote of the dissonance of that time & now. Interesting man. As are you.
Important and good to see this is being written about by someone as incisive as yourself. You touched on it but while not as overt, there is a deep racism and conservativism amongst white Irish CNR as well. During the pogroms last month there were images of CNR standing side by side with PUL "anti migrant" "protestors" - hatred of others crossing the sectarian divide.
There's a lot I could write here but most relevant is firstly the demographic of those PUL involved in these marches and bonfires. Expression of Orange culture, while not my cup of tea, has a right to be expressed. In a united Ireland, Orangemen will likely want to parade down O'Connell Street and people - particularly Southerners - will have to hold their noses and accept it. Orangeism is a part of the fabric and culture of this island - there has been great work done by some community volunteers to make the 12th more family friendly and outside of Belfast, there is rarely any hassle. Country Orange marches and marches in Donegal are largely friendly and community focused. There is a distinction between the vile and abhorrent racism we saw in Moygashel and for example the rural Orange parades. Again - it's not my cup of tea, but that community does have a right to have their parades.
What the PUL and CNR - and any community - don't have the right to do is to enact racism and incitement. And you're quite correct in all you have said about Moygashel and the reprehensible pogroms. So much of this is a perfect storm of the hangover of Empire, a peace process founded in neoliberalism where activists have been NGOized and community work has been (especially in the PUL community) delegated to paramilitaries and drug dealers. Notice how Sinn Fein bring ex combatants into the fold, having them as elected reps or Special Advisors. In the PUL community "big house" middle class Unionists take power and give money to the working classes - never empowering them to progress any further than taking handouts, rather than learning how to find and empower themselves. This has led to a very closed siege-like and insidious manipulation of people who are actually extremely vulnerable. Those recent Belfast pogroms saw teenagers - particularly teenaged boys - being dropped off to riot to pay off drug debts by these paramilitary community leaders. Young PUL men have the lowest rates of education in the region (yes, an intersection here is the lack of guaranteed jobs in shipbuilding etc that were historically always there). So you have this young cohort of non educated teens, getting into drugs and being fed right wing lies, riled up and taught to hate their neighbour except this time it's migrants and people of colour.
Many PUL communities view the peace process as a sell out - they don't have the veneer of supremacy anymore (even though the working class Catholics and Protestants have so much more in common than what pulls them apart) because they haven't been given a stake in society. They are handed money but never learn how to apply for grants themselves. When "big house unionism" needs them to go out and riot, they send teens out who then get criminal records and feel even more disenfranchised and become even more radicalised to hate.
There are absolutely no excuses for racism and I stand firmly with my brothers and sisters of colour who are welcome here. I see this situation as white supremacy, but also the exploitation of working class PUL by paramilitaries and big house unionism, and the end of Empire and associated poverty and (fake) sense of disenfranchisment this brings.
Long winded comment from me, suffice to say as a white person from the north, I feel that knee-jerk outrage over this situation only feeds more into PUL feeling under siege and isolated, adding petrol to the fire of their hatreds. If we are to be serious about a united Ireland (because I don't think anything will change under the current constitutional setup) white catholics like myself need to be involved in creating conditions where PUL folks feel like they have a place on this island. Because the vitriol and race hate espoused will only stop when these people feel that they have a place in society.
Appreciate this thank you. Only thing I’d add is that Orange culture is going to have to do a hell of a lot more to disentangle itself from the more problematic (to put it mildly) elements. I have no problem in saying that it’s possible. It’s just not there. Maybe it will be, but right now it isn’t, and as a person of colour I absolutely do not find it to be a welcoming space at all.
Oh I totally agree and a recent interview with the Grand Lodge "master" shows a complete unwillingness to reflect and make change in any way. I think the point I'm trying to make is that: it exists, for those of us white CNR opposed to the racism and disgraceful practices, it's our work to have the door open to working with them for change. There has been a real Kneecapification of Irish Republicanism and Irishness which sees many of us absolve ourselves of racism and disengage with moral superiority. The bonfires and OO are a problem - no doubt about it. I would say the white CNR community needs to be less smug and more proactive, the goal not really being to support the OO or bonfires but to ensure our brothers and sisters of colour aren't subjected to these behaviours and attacks year on year.
Where is he? I would recommend him asking locals - just act like a lost tourist - if there are places where it could be riskier. All of this is out in the open so locals have developed ways to adapt
Growing up here in the 1960s, there was a very simple way of judging ‘foreigners’. No matter what their creed or colour, they had to state if they were a Protestant (Muslim/Buddhist/Jew/whatever) or a Catholic one. That was the mentality then. The ignorance remains.
Gosh. I'm really saddened to read this. I didn't realise that the hatred in NI was still so strong. But I guess fascism is spreading rapidly once again. The likes of farage and his cabal are spreading hate everywhere. And then there's the US - a hotbed of vile hateful vitriol and getting worse.
And a quotation totally incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain in their homage to Red Hand icons. Most of the world is paying zero attention to what's going on in Northern Ireland--yours is an important attention-getter.
I wonder Elia, if you are familiar with Bayo Akomolafe https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/tag/thoughts
He will be in Belfast in August as a guest speaker for people who can do (expensive) retreats. He does other events & I follow his writings. He recently wrote on Frederick Douglass who fled to Belfast and was memorialised there. He wrote of the dissonance of that time & now. Interesting man. As are you.
Thanks for the recommendation. I only know him a bit but I’ll check out his work
We are seeing this growing in scotland as well,mainly among unionists,but with input from the general far right and "football lads" elements....
Important and good to see this is being written about by someone as incisive as yourself. You touched on it but while not as overt, there is a deep racism and conservativism amongst white Irish CNR as well. During the pogroms last month there were images of CNR standing side by side with PUL "anti migrant" "protestors" - hatred of others crossing the sectarian divide.
There's a lot I could write here but most relevant is firstly the demographic of those PUL involved in these marches and bonfires. Expression of Orange culture, while not my cup of tea, has a right to be expressed. In a united Ireland, Orangemen will likely want to parade down O'Connell Street and people - particularly Southerners - will have to hold their noses and accept it. Orangeism is a part of the fabric and culture of this island - there has been great work done by some community volunteers to make the 12th more family friendly and outside of Belfast, there is rarely any hassle. Country Orange marches and marches in Donegal are largely friendly and community focused. There is a distinction between the vile and abhorrent racism we saw in Moygashel and for example the rural Orange parades. Again - it's not my cup of tea, but that community does have a right to have their parades.
What the PUL and CNR - and any community - don't have the right to do is to enact racism and incitement. And you're quite correct in all you have said about Moygashel and the reprehensible pogroms. So much of this is a perfect storm of the hangover of Empire, a peace process founded in neoliberalism where activists have been NGOized and community work has been (especially in the PUL community) delegated to paramilitaries and drug dealers. Notice how Sinn Fein bring ex combatants into the fold, having them as elected reps or Special Advisors. In the PUL community "big house" middle class Unionists take power and give money to the working classes - never empowering them to progress any further than taking handouts, rather than learning how to find and empower themselves. This has led to a very closed siege-like and insidious manipulation of people who are actually extremely vulnerable. Those recent Belfast pogroms saw teenagers - particularly teenaged boys - being dropped off to riot to pay off drug debts by these paramilitary community leaders. Young PUL men have the lowest rates of education in the region (yes, an intersection here is the lack of guaranteed jobs in shipbuilding etc that were historically always there). So you have this young cohort of non educated teens, getting into drugs and being fed right wing lies, riled up and taught to hate their neighbour except this time it's migrants and people of colour.
Many PUL communities view the peace process as a sell out - they don't have the veneer of supremacy anymore (even though the working class Catholics and Protestants have so much more in common than what pulls them apart) because they haven't been given a stake in society. They are handed money but never learn how to apply for grants themselves. When "big house unionism" needs them to go out and riot, they send teens out who then get criminal records and feel even more disenfranchised and become even more radicalised to hate.
There are absolutely no excuses for racism and I stand firmly with my brothers and sisters of colour who are welcome here. I see this situation as white supremacy, but also the exploitation of working class PUL by paramilitaries and big house unionism, and the end of Empire and associated poverty and (fake) sense of disenfranchisment this brings.
Long winded comment from me, suffice to say as a white person from the north, I feel that knee-jerk outrage over this situation only feeds more into PUL feeling under siege and isolated, adding petrol to the fire of their hatreds. If we are to be serious about a united Ireland (because I don't think anything will change under the current constitutional setup) white catholics like myself need to be involved in creating conditions where PUL folks feel like they have a place on this island. Because the vitriol and race hate espoused will only stop when these people feel that they have a place in society.
Appreciate this thank you. Only thing I’d add is that Orange culture is going to have to do a hell of a lot more to disentangle itself from the more problematic (to put it mildly) elements. I have no problem in saying that it’s possible. It’s just not there. Maybe it will be, but right now it isn’t, and as a person of colour I absolutely do not find it to be a welcoming space at all.
Oh I totally agree and a recent interview with the Grand Lodge "master" shows a complete unwillingness to reflect and make change in any way. I think the point I'm trying to make is that: it exists, for those of us white CNR opposed to the racism and disgraceful practices, it's our work to have the door open to working with them for change. There has been a real Kneecapification of Irish Republicanism and Irishness which sees many of us absolve ourselves of racism and disengage with moral superiority. The bonfires and OO are a problem - no doubt about it. I would say the white CNR community needs to be less smug and more proactive, the goal not really being to support the OO or bonfires but to ensure our brothers and sisters of colour aren't subjected to these behaviours and attacks year on year.
They are building Apartheid America here, and Musk is shit stirring things in NI. Don't count out the US Republicans. It's all related.
Fxxk me Elias. As we say in Australia when something is really really bad. We take a breath & say "fxxxk me" its THIS BAD?
My nephew is currently over the border, & I worry for his safety for your safety and what the hell do I do??? What the fcxxk do I do?
My tears mean nothing from this place of privelige.
Thank you for writing. Take care.
And yes.that tv series of which you note- yeah.
Where is he? I would recommend him asking locals - just act like a lost tourist - if there are places where it could be riskier. All of this is out in the open so locals have developed ways to adapt
Thanks Elias. Tex is down south, a tiny town in Galway area. His partner is Irish Australian so they are staying/journeying on that side.
Tex read your article. He took the “black cab tour” when he first went to Ireland and had the same sentiments as you.
Growing up here in the 1960s, there was a very simple way of judging ‘foreigners’. No matter what their creed or colour, they had to state if they were a Protestant (Muslim/Buddhist/Jew/whatever) or a Catholic one. That was the mentality then. The ignorance remains.
Gosh. I'm really saddened to read this. I didn't realise that the hatred in NI was still so strong. But I guess fascism is spreading rapidly once again. The likes of farage and his cabal are spreading hate everywhere. And then there's the US - a hotbed of vile hateful vitriol and getting worse.
Muck savages