IRSP Anti Racist meeting in Belfast last Tuesday

antrim | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Monday February 09, 2004 05:53 by Irp

IRSP Anti-Racism Meeting (and the elusive Davy Carlin)

The IRSP held a very successful meeting on racism in West Belfast last Tuesday where over 30 people heard a very interesting discussion on racism in Ireland. Unfortunately the invited speaker, Davy Carlin from the Anti Racist network cried off sick (we were delighted to see that Davy had recovered sufficiently to attend the ARN meeting on Wednesday).
In Davy¹s absence a member of the IRSP Ard-Comhairle led the discussion. He pointed out the links between sectarianism and racism and traced anti-Irish racism back to the 12th century. He drew out the racism behind the attitude of the British ruling class during the Great Famine and explained how one of the driving forces behind the Ulster Unionist case against Home rule was racism and how some unionists regarded the ³ Irish² as inferior beings to the white Anglo-Saxons.
The notion that republicans and nationalists could be smug about racist attacks in Loyalist areas was strongly knocked on the head. All of us could be liable to racist attitudes and republican socialists needed to start challenging sexism, anti-gay prejudice and racism in their daily lives. We had to live our personal lives by practising our beliefs and challenging prejudice wherever we find it. But we also needed to engage in mass political action against racism and so we should be standing shoulder to shoulder with all those under attack from the low life reactionary storm troopers.