PC brigade are stifling proper debate on racism

Sunday Tribune 15 November

It was the image of the week. Alan O'Brien's face contorted with rage as he pierced the air with his finger and berated Pat Kenny on The Frontline. "Six hundred thousand pounds!" he roared, confusing currencies in his condemnation of Kenny's wages.
His outburst was so forceful, unexpected and prolonged that it had a surreal quality to it. At first I thought it was a comedy interlude. It soon became apparent, however, that this was no parody. O'Brien was as stable as the price of trophy houses in south Dublin.
The following day it was revealed that O'Brien was a former psychiatric patient. A "nutter" as the red tops put it. On Wednesday, the headlines screamed that the "nutter" was also a "racist". He was once convicted for incitement to racial hatred after verbally abusing foreigners on Grafton Street.
Commentators justified calling this mentally ill man a "nut" by counterbalancing it with the PC word "racist". You can get away with most things if you call someone a racist.
O'Brien says he's not racist: "I'm a white b****rd myself." He may have a point. The fact that he's a 'nut' weakens the racist tag. Being mad, he's not responsible for what he says, is he? I don't know if he's really a racist, although the words he used on Grafton Street certainly were.
Is the mayor of Limerick a racist? Last week, FG's Kevin Kiely was called one for saying that newly-arrived EU nationals should be deported if they haven't found a job within three months. This would stop them "abusing" the dole. The howls of "racist" were deafening. Is it racist to suggest we stop dole fraud?
Is Judge Aingeal Ní Chondúin a racist? Two weeks ago, comments she made in the Children's Court were criticised for reinforcing racial stereotypes. She said the Roma community seemed to raise their children to steal. At the time she was dealing with a Roma teenager who admitted theft. Is it racist to suggest that Romas raise their children to steal when there is evidence that some do?
There have been no satisfactory answers to any of the above questions, because there has been no debate about them. Just the predictable PC scramble to be heard crying "racist".
The opportunity to engage in a meaningful discussion about these issues has been squandered again. Ní Chondúin's remarks were ill-judged because they were too general. An entire community can't be bred to thievery. A proportion can, though, ie, a majority or minority. Many condemned her, but no one was brave enough to analyse what she said.
Ní Chondúin is an expert on children and crime. No one asked how many Romas she deals with in her court. Are we being overrun by Roma thieves? Or is it just a matter of one or two? Anyone who believes that no Roma children steal is as ignorant as Mayor Kiely.
Like the judge's comments, Kiely's were condemned but not analysed. There's a warped logic to what he believes. Our dole bill is crippling and some non-nationals are scamming the system. Last July, the Department of Social Welfare revealed that from a sample number of non-nationals claiming benefits, 11% were not living here. Kiely is right: cheats, like Roma thieves, do exist.
While the PC brigade branded him a racist, no one attempted to educate Kiely and people like him. To dispassionately point out that the authorities are pursuing dole fraudsters. To allay fears that all foreigners are potential cheats. To explain that the EU is trying to help us deal with unemployment among non-nationals. Last month, it granted us €600,000 a year from the EU Return Fund to help hard-up immigrants return home – if they want to.
When his party colleague, Leo Varadkar, suggested something similar last April he, too, was called a racist.
When you shout the word 'racist' without stopping to examine what's being said, you blur the lines between incitement and honest social commentary. There was a fine example of the 'race' word being used out of context in Joe Duffy's Irish Mail on Sunday column last week, calling a negative description of Ballyfermot, by an author, "racist rubbish". Racist? Are the people of Ballyfermot a new ethnic group?
This kind of kneejerking is dangerous. It stifles debate through fear. Fear breeds resentment. Resentment breeds racism.
Subconsciously, we might also be afraid of debating racism because this would be an admission that some Irish people are racist. We never colonised anyone – the Irish can't be racist, can we?
By making PC noises and not discussing the problems that come with racial integration, we are ignoring a time bomb. The country is boiling with anger: public sector v private, both sectors v the government. Who will the mob turn on next?
The budget is weeks away and the Christmas social-welfare bonus is being axed. It doesn't take a genius to see how this could create further tensions.
It's critical that we discuss all sides of the integration issue. People like Kiely must be made see how their generalisations are wrong. Not just told they're wrong.
Kiely must be made understand that his half-baked notions are far more dangerous than the racist ravings of Alan O'Brien on Grafton Street. People sometimes heed politicians. No one heeds nutcases.
Unless they're ranting about Pat Kenny, of course.

dkenny@tribune.ie

November 15, 2009