Racism in UCD paper

by SU hack Thu Jan 30, 2003 16:05

SU council voted to call on the editor of the o2 section of the paper to resign. BTW he is the son of our minister of Justice.

A further note, 4 people voted against condemnation of the racist article, including the 2 Labour Party candidates in the upcoming sabbat elections!

by Shane Thu Jan 30, 2003 16:12

Please post the full text so we can see the light-heartedness of it all

by Eoin O'M. Thu Jan 30, 2003 16:25

The Question: which ethnic minority do you hate the most and why?

Elaine Maguire, 4th Mechanical Engineering
The Chinese. They're coming into the country, they're everywhere. They're taking our jobs and they keep mucking up my Burger King order.

Ross O'Doherty, 1st Ag Science
The Romanians. I find that they beg more, and I find that I'm constantly tripping over them.

Yvette Ivers, 1st Science
The Afghans. Becuase the Americans should have done a better job taking them out over there.

David Cahill, 1st Economics and Finance
The Paki's because they smell different

Shane Gallagher, 1st Science
The Bosnians. They keep interrupting Neighbours to come to the door to whinge about their dead families

Claire Feely, 1st Engineering
The Gays. Because they're breaking God's law.

It should be noted that o2 approached this in a light-hearted manner and we are not responsible for the shocking and downright offensive views of some of the student body of UCD. Next issue, the Foreigners Strike Back.

by shane Thu Jan 30, 2003 16:56

Maybe I'm mistaken, but surely homosexuals are not an ethnicity...

by Eoin O'M Thu Jan 30, 2003 18:35

Shane, never mind the inaccuracy of the content: it is all nonsense. I might suggest people contact the president of the Students' Union to voice their feelings on the matter. Aonghus Hourihane is at supresident@ucd.ie. The Observer is the official paper on the Students' Union. I have emailed him asking for the resignation of the editor of the paper, an Enda Curran.

EOM

by kev - sp Thu Jan 30, 2003 21:29

also wondering if Eoin is the same Eoin i've been in contact with bout the site? if so, hello.

by Oisin Kelly - SP Fri Jan 31, 2003 01:36

I think that the article in the 02 section of the Observer cannot be seen as lighthearted. I re-read it a few times and it cannot be seen as such.

The article is clearly a very bigoted piece. The vox-pop question implys that all people have an ethnic minority they hate the most.

I think that the Union should put serious pressure on the Editor of the Observer and the editor of the 02 section (which is a supplement to the paper usually to do with entertainment etc.)

The SU are unwilling to campaign forcefully on this issue. They are essentially full of self-serving hacks that only care for themselves. They have not notion of what a Union should be. A Students' Union is certainly not the kind of organisation that tolerates for one moment the racist abuse of ethnic minorities.

The like of Aonghus Hourihane and his cronies are right-wing, not just on fees, but it is reflected on everything they do. Anything slightly progressive that the Union has done this year, such as the Anti-Deportation Campaign, is due to the CFE SU council members and committed left activists pushing them every inch of the way.

by ucd su member Fri Jan 31, 2003 02:00

i think that the 2 labour candidates in the upcoming sabatt elections should be asked why they voted against the condemnation of the racist article. there will be public meetings with all the candidates and they should be asked to explain themselves.

by pat c Fri Jan 31, 2003 12:25

i think this just exposes the truth that racism is widespread in irish society. usi recently published the results of a survey among students which showed that over 40% held SOME bigoted attitudes.

the anti-gay remarks exposes that persons fear & ignorance towards anything she does not understand.

while this article was published in a hamfisted manner and i have no doubt the journalist & editor responsible are gobshites; we need to have a sense of proportion.

i can see why the labour party reps might vote against calls for the editors resignation:

1. the article represented the views of bigots, not the journalists concerned.

2. these were not full length articles, they were sound bites.

3. a lot of us have different views about what constitutes freedom of speech. (i can remember some debates here)

this should not be turned into a witch hunt against labour in ucd. to do so would be opportunistic. i query the motives of "ucd su member" and wonder about his/her political affiliations.

i reckon s/hes just as genuine as "trowatch".

pursue those really responsible.

by Eoin O'M Fri Jan 31, 2003 13:07

This is not a freedom of speech issue. This is about the legitimacy of the context in which a question like this may be asked and replied to.

Question 1:
Did the journalist ever stop to ask himself: perhaps this question is a little racist?

Question 2:
Did the editors ever question the right to publish such offensive material?

Responsibility lies with those with power. I charge the Observer staff of gross irresponsibility.

by pat c Fri Jan 31, 2003 13:51

read what i wrote.

i condemned the editor & journalisat concerned.

i dont think this article should have been published and i would like to see them go, however i also realise that my opinions are not laws of nature.

i can understand how someone could abhor the content of the article but not think it was a sacking matter for the editor.

this should not be turned into a witch hunt against labour.

by Oisn Kelly - SP Fri Jan 31, 2003 14:56

Pat C, have you read the question that was asked? it asked what ethnic minority do you hate the most.

That is a leading question, it is a question that implies everyone hates at least one ethnic minority. It is grossly irresponsible and it is racist, the editors should be condemned.

I was not at the SU Council meeting. All I heard was that 2 candidates in the SU elections voted against condemning the racist column. I dont now why they didn't vote to condemn the article, let students make up their minds on the issue at election time is what I think is the best option.

by pat c Fri Jan 31, 2003 15:06

i condemned the article & said i thought those concerned should go.

"let students make up their minds on the issue at election time is what I think is the best option"

i agree. i'm sure you wont use this to indulge in a witch hunt against labour. i am quite certain you will also call on "ucd su member" to declare their political allegiances.

by Eoin O'M Fri Jan 31, 2003 15:54

This should not turn into a witch hunt of any party, let alone a sort-of left party in UCD. Perhaps the message was misconstrued as taking you up on a semnatic point. We both agree, let's get on with the task at hand and get those racists out of that job. Oisin agrees too and he too will assist you and me both.

Have a good weekend.

E

by Oisin Kelly - SP Fri Jan 31, 2003 16:15

I dont know the full facts on why certain people voted the way they did. If students want to bring it up at the SU election hustings they should be allowed to. That ain't a witch-hunt Pat C!

by pat c Fri Jan 31, 2003 16:34

be a witch hunt,if students were to raise sp/sy positions on garvaghy rd, holycross school, bursaries being named after pat finucane in qub, british army recruitment stalls in qub.

what goes around, comes around.

by Eoin O'M. Fri Jan 31, 2003 16:38

Now you are both missing the point. I'm getting right tired of this bickering on indymedia in general and this posting now as well. Common enemies have been identified, for all our sakes, let's take them on, regardless of positions on this that or the other. I'm beginning to regret engaging anyone in this matter right now.

by Roxie Fri Jan 31, 2003 16:54

Both of you!

Pat and Oisin your last 2 exchanges were taking away from the main point.

by Eoin O'M. Fri Jan 31, 2003 16:59

Good stuff Roxie. Likes yer style.

Anyone care to devote some time to composing a letter to the SU president to be signed on the concourses next week? Ought to contain the following:

call for resignation of both o2 editor and observer editor
statement by SU that this is not an acceptable question to be asked
an apology to everyone who read it, not just those offended

Anyone? Anyone

by Oisin Kelly - SP Fri Jan 31, 2003 17:04

I'm not bickering to be honest, look back and you will see it not me raising points about Garvaghey road etc. I think that attacking Labour members is a bit stupid, i dont know why they voted the way they did, and if someone has a problem with them i'm sure they will raise it with them.

The main point is that the SU newspaper published a blatently racist piece. It should be opposed and I think that the SU should be a campaigning force against racism and homophobia.

The bunch of self-serving hacks that run the SU at the moment are people that are unable and unwilling to take a lead on anything. Even when it means securing their own privileges they cant even give a lead! (eg recent USI referendum and Ents referendum)

by Donal OLiathain - Socialist Alternative Sat Feb 01, 2003 13:32 zedonaldo at elvis dot com

After reading through the replys I figured Id better clear up some details.
First off there isnt two Labour candidates, theres only one.

Secondly the two in question voted to condem the artical, mandated the paper to publish an apology but voted against demanding the editor-in-chief's resignation. For reasons already gone into. At least get your facts straight before you publish...
Also Paul Dillon and Aidan Reagan (the two mentioned above) have done more for the anti-deportation campaign then a lot of people writing on this list, so to imply that they are somehow racist is downright moronic.

Also for those of you who haven't heard the anti-deportation campaign destroyed approx. 1500 copys of the Observer on the day of its publication, when Paul Murphy (SP) was asked if he wanted to help with the destruction, he declined stating that he didnt wish to lose his weekly column in the paper.

By the way SU hack, please do not deface the Anti-Deportation campaigns material, Im busy enough without having to sort through the postcards removing the ones calling him a bastard. If you want to call him a bastard fine, in fact I agree he is. But do it yourself and dont fuck up a campaign with your petty name calling, (also dont deny it was you, because the editor of O2 is his nephew NOT his son yadda yadda yadda). By the way I cant help noticeing how your hand writing is very similar to one of the millies (Socialist Party)....strange that

Also (sorry bout all this) Claire Feely (the last student asked) has also gone on record stating that she didnt say anything to that effect. She claims the reporter made it up and she understands that homosexuality is not ethnicly based.

And one last thing The Anti- Deportation Campaign has absolutly no connection to the CFE. It wasnt proposed by CFE councilors, it has no over lap on the committee and is out for completly differant things

Well Im sure some further discussion awaits....

by Oisin Kelly - SP Sat Feb 01, 2003 19:43

At no point did I say that anyone voted on a racist basis. I heard it all second hand, all I said here is that if someone wants clarification on how someone voted a certain way they shold ask them. I dont think that Paul and Aidan are racists, as you say they are involved in anti-deportation stuff.

There is an implication in what is written above that SY have not engaged in anti-racist campiagning. We have go quite a lot on our plates, inside and outside UCD, so we have not devoted as much time on the anti-deportation campaign as we would have liked to. Similarly there are a load of other things in UCD we would have liked to got more involved in, but couldn't because of other commitments.

I know that CFE is not the same as the anti-deportation campaign. The point I was making was that the SU hacks have been pushed a lot by CFE councillors AND other genuine people.

I dont know who "SU hack" is, you seem to imply that it's a member of SY in UCD. If you have a problem with the work of SY in UCD why not talk to us in person.

by Socialist Alternative Fan Sun Feb 02, 2003 06:38

I hear some rumours that Socialist Alternative are supporting Labour canididates in the UCD students union. Are you going to be out campaigning for Labour Youth candidates for SU positions? That wouldn't be very "revolution, anti-capitalism and socialism from below" now would it?