Is this racist?
, writing a Good Friday in the Chicago Sun-Times, offers this analysis of the current state of politics in Northern Ireland. A reader brought this to my attention, infuriated by the piece's "unbridled racism". Make what you will of that claim, language does seem strangely anachronistic given the political progress that has been made in recent weeks.
The descendants of the Protestant genocidal colonizers believe as self-evident that they are morally, intellectually and humanly superior to the descendants of the Catholics who were not quite eliminated.
He continues:
"Hence, it is difficult for them to accept any agreement that constrains them to share power with Catholics -- just as whites in Mississippi found it so difficult to share power with blacks. Paisley is very sensitive to the emotions of his hard-line constituents. He knows that he must humiliate the Catholics by cooking up new requirements (added to the substance of the Good Friday agreement) to prove their good faith. The Ulster Protestants share this conviction of the racial inferiority of the Catholic Irish -- slovenly, ignorant, superstitious, lazy, no'count and responsible for all their problems -- with a substantial proportion of the population of Great Britain, including their intellectuals, liberals and academics. There are not many people left that the English can feel superior too, so it's a good thing the Irish are still around. That the standard of living (as measured by per capita gross national product) in Ireland is the highest in Europe (save perhaps for Norway) and higher than that of England has yet to penetrate English consciousness."
Greeley is clearly fond of the broad-brush ideological paint job. But does his own critique amount to racism of a kind?
Comments
I'm not sure it's racist, per se. He's certainly accusing racism. But it's clear to me that Greely doesn't have a damned clue what he's talking about. He implies Paisley's racism by virtue of Paisley's insisting on more stringent requirements than were provided for by the Good Friday Agreement. But Paisley was not a signatory to the Good Friday Agreement, and opposed it precisely because of the things Greely blames on his racism (the logic is that he wants to humiliate Catholics). That's not only inaccurate and ignorant, but unmerited too.
Greeley totally misses the point. That historic meeting between Paisley and Adams was about NOT humiliating anybody. Both sides have been very careful to avoid that kind of language.
Whydoesn't Greeley keep quiet rather than try to re-open wounds and retart the enmity? He's a priest, it's time to behave like one. Make peace, not war.
I am a descendent of the Ulster plantation Protestants who came to Ireland in the 17th century.
I do not support colonialism.
I do not hate Catholics.
I do not believe Catholics are inferior in any way to Protestants.
How can this man generalise so offensively to include all Protestants in his racist rant?
It's a disgrace that a newspaper would allow this attack on a group to be published.
I am a unionist. I support equal rights for every person in Northern Ireland. I am also a Protestant who supports power-sharing with Sinn Fein. No one is humiliated in this process.
Shame on you, Andrew Greeley. Apologise.
doesnt he know some protestants are nationalists? such ignorance.
Colin Graham- I agree, but don't blame the paper. It was an opinion peice, and the guy has the right to an opinion, regardless of its validity or relation to accuracy.
He's a regular columnist for the sun-times. Hiscolumn appears every Friday. The paper has some responsibility here for printing this insulting trash.
The thread "Has Belfast Embraced Darwin" has 50 comments. Where are they?
Michael N. Hull
Michael- I believe the trick is to write something, anything, into that thread, and post it. Afterwards you should be able to see all the comments. Worked for me!
Michael press the review button no need to write anything.
Father Greely can be contacted, should anyone wish to feedback directly to him, via this the 鈥淐ontact鈥 button at the right of this link, which also contains a short bio -
Please feel free also to contact the Chicago Sun-Times direct using this form -
I will be writing to both to express some of the concerns in these comments. This piece is shoddy and disgraceful and misses the point about the progress we've made.
Come off it! - Do any of you lot live here?
I have known - and still do - protestants, both nominal and fundamentalist believing, who would agree with some of the the sentiments expressed by Greeley.
There is no doubt the the DUP have to take these views into consideration in their dealings with republicans.
Greeley quote -
It's partly a legacy of the high unemployment rates, especially among catholics before the civil rights movement and fair employment legislation.
This is the Greeley quote that somehow didn't appear in my last post!
The Ulster Protestants share this conviction of the racial inferiority of the Catholic Irish -- slovenly, ignorant, superstitious, lazy, no'count and responsible for all their problems
I have to say much as it sticks in my craw to agree with my father that there is every chance he is right.
Racism is thriving in NI like in no other corner of the UK.
There is a very significant body of racial "superiority" around in those communities most strongly associated with Unionism. I have heard it and seen it for myself - so don't tell me it's not there.
Racism may not correlate with religion necessarily. But having lived through countless interminable "teas" with my close and remote County Down plantation stock family I can tell you that the anecdotal evidence is pretty strong. My own grandmother told me with a straight face that "those Cotholics - they have too many discos you know" amid other less humurous remarks. And all this on the way to Newcastle Baptist Church for a touch of blood and thunder.
The notion that genearations of plantation induced hatred has fused with idealogical differences is very hard to resist. Unpalatable, but hard to resist.
Comments?
I see that Geely, on his own website, begins his biography by describing himself as:
"One of the most influential Catholic thinkers and writers of our time..."
I think this shows how much credibility he has.
Gee Dubyah wrote: Comments?
Nice trolling.
I wonder if he would get away with pouring out this kind of hate language against Afro-americans, Jewish people or members of the Gay community?
Op - ed or not, in a newspaper that purports to be serious about what it does, the journalism should surely be reasoned and responsible; and this is neither. This is just an extemist rant.
Would we be comfortable if this appeared on a weekly basis in the Belfast Telegraph?
Christian Hippy #9- Michael and myself have tried simply refreshing the page many times; if it were that easy Michael wouldn't have asked.
John
I think Chippy means the Preview link with nothing in the comments frame. (He missed the Pee)
Thanks, everyone, the problem on the disappearing comments seems to have resolved. I guess it is part of the 大象传媒's continuing website problems. I sometimes see in the 'Being Discussed Now' section that I can buy several Sony products.
As to the discussion on racism it can't possibly beat what is going on in New York at the moment where one of the top radio hosts referred to a women's basketball team as 'nappy-headed hos'.
More here:
Nothing much else has been on cable TV for the past week!
Regards,
Michael
The first question one has to ask is whether or not there is a basis in fact for what Greely says. Of what little I know about NI's politics, it seems to me that the marching of the Orangemen through Catholic neighborhoods every year is deliberately intended to antagonize and humiliate the people who live there. As I understand it, this practice has been continually defended by extremists like Paisley. Also, isn't there a form of social segregation and mutual hostility for which little has been done to systematically expose the attitudes and discrimination this fosters. Has there been anything like the civil rights movement in the US to attempt a long term effort at social cohesiveness and reconciliation? I seem to remember a typical incident not so long ago where Catholic schoolgirls were harassed just walking to school everyday through a Protestant neighborhood. That's the image the outside world gets even if it's wrong. From what I can tell merely acknowledging that a serious problems in this regard exists has not gained widespread acceptance. Didn't a prominent European someone or organization recently call NI the most racist nation in the EU? Tell me I've got this all wrong and it "ain't so."
Even if this is all true, I think that the term "racism" is not appropriate. I'm assuming Greely is Caucasian just as NIers are. The hatreds and actions are the same, only the word is not technically correct.
Comparable prejudice exists in many places in Europe such as in France where it really is racism. Let's not forget that Nicolas Sarkozy who is leading in the polls to become the next President of France referred to the Moslem North Africans and Arabs and their French born descendants who live in France as "racaille" during the riots which loosely translated means rabble. One look at a resume in France with the name Mohammed on it on an application for a job lands it in the trash bin no matter how qualified the applicant. And then there's Le Pen who could easily pass for a Klu Klux Klansman. There's racism in Germany, Spain, Turkey, Sweden, The Balkins, Denmark, among others. Ukraine is divided in two by it. People in two adjacent countries my ancestors came from reportedly treat each other very badly. Not knowing which side too root for, I hope they all kill each other, I certainly want nothing to do with any of them.
Just because people sign a treaty or a piece of paper called a law doesn't change attitudes and the way they treat each other. Are there laws comparable to the US Civil Rights Act making discrimination based on religion a punishable crime subject to fines on the books in NI and are they enforced? Would such laws even be considered with anything less than alarm?
From what I can tell looking at their biographies, Greely and Paisley are cut from about the same cloth. Four hundred years of hatred isn鈥檛 going to vanish overnight and anyone who imagines it doesn鈥檛 exist or has been left behind in the space of a few short decades is only kidding themselves. From what little this observer knows on NI politics, to at least some degree, the Catholics have some valid grievances about the way they鈥檝e been treated and their anger is understandable even if some of their actions are inexcusable and heinous crimes.
RE 15.
Dear Yer Man,
I am not trolling - I am a regular contributor to online discussion here thanks very much. These are my honest opinions.
What are yours?