White Irish... excuse me?
Opinion: It is important to acknowledge people's difference on the basis of culture and identity.
I recently read an article by David McWilliams called 'A glimpse of Ireland’s future' on The Post.ie. The article was from a few years ago, but it is on a topic that is current, and will be current for some time. While I was intrigued by his description of the NCB report into how Ireland will look in the next 20 years, I found some of his terminology confusing and potentially offensive. Because of the nature of the topic, I felt that I must object to the use of certain terms used by Mr. McWilliams and other writers in Ireland.
Firstly, I wish to convey my sense of identity to better clarify my position. I am Irish by virtue of my genetic heritage. The majority of my ancestors were of Irish stock. I am a citizen of the Irish state, so I acknowledge its government as my own. I live in Ireland, meaning the country known as Ireland.
As far as I can determine, in the English language the word ‘state’ refers to a government or the territory of a government. The word ‘country’ means land that has historical or natural boundaries or is a territory belonging to a people. And the word ‘nation’ is supposed to be used to describe a people, distinct from others.
As an Irish person, I feel very strongly that terms such as 'white Irish' are offensive. I am Irish. My skin colour is not in question.
Such terms are used to highlight a racial difference between someone with white skin and someone with skin of a different hue. I do not object to any person wishing to identify themselves as 'white Irish', nor do I object to anyone calling themselves 'black Irish', '’yellow Irish', 'red Irish' or 'Johnny big moon man'. That's their business. But I dislike when anyone purports to classify a group of people as anything other than that which they wish to be called.
So far as I am aware, no survey has ever taken place to establish what native Irish people wish to call themselves. Therefore the term ‘Irish’ is the only appropriate term.
Before mass immigration to Ireland, no one ever referred to me as ‘white Irish’, so why should they do so now? I do not identify myself in opposition to anyone, or any other group of people and I think it is wrong for public figures to do so.
The use of such terms implies acceptance of UK and US racial categorisation, something that I feel has no place in Ireland. If we wish to live in harmony with immigrants and their descendants, I see no reason to pretend that they have all become Irish through the simple matter of relocation, or by being born here. Acknowledging people’s difference on the basis of culture and identity is far healthier than creating an imaginary identity for them, even if lumping them together and calling them ‘new Irish’ is more convenient for some writers.
In this article, Mr. McWilliams mentions that we should learn from the experiences of our neighbours, in particular the United Kingdom and France. The UK government and the government of France have failed to effectively integrate immigrants and their descendants successfully into their societies. There have been race riots and terrorist activities by immigrants and their descendents in both states that prove this. Why? Because these governments ignored that the immigrants were not English, or French and attempted to assimilate them by ignoring their cultural differences. They shied away from multiculturalism and attempted the intercultural model instead. In doing so, they also took the imperialist view that people living in their state should want to identify as other people in their state do. It didn’t work. We have an opportunity to do things differently here, to avoid the bleak racist future that this NCB report predicts. We now have a multi-cultural society in Ireland. Let us accept that fact.
McWilliams also makes reference to a prediction by the Central Statistics Office that: “by 2021,112,000 white Dubliners will move out (10% of today’s population), to be replaced by 250,000 immigrants (25% of today’s population).” Although he is referring to middle-class Irish families, there is a lot of confusion in this statement because by using the term ‘white’, he also unconsciously implies that immigrants, such as those from central and eastern European countries, will also move away from Dublin to escape the ‘non-white’ immigrants. Thus he lumps all ‘whites’ together in a most unnatural fashion, assuming that they will find more in common with each other than they would with people genetically from other parts of the world. This may not be so.
What I am getting at is that a writer in the public eye has a responsibility to the society he or she is writing for. The term 'white Irish' supports the failed model of inter-culturalism and restricts the truth of the situation here. I hope that he, and other writers like him, will re-evaluate their use of such terms.
By: Joseph Cully
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