"You Don't get to be Racist and Irish"

[Robert]

Here's a poem by Imelda May the musician....

You don’t get to be racist and Irish

You don’t get to be proud of your heritage,

plights and fights for freedom

while kneeling on the neck of another!

You’re not entitled to sing songs

of heroes and martyrs

mothers and fathers who cried

as they starved in a famine

Or of brave hearted

soft spoken

poets and artists

lined up in a yard

blindfolded and bound

Waiting for Godot

and point blank to sound

We emigrated

We immigrated

We took refuge

So cannot refuse

When it’s our time

To return the favour

Land stolen

Spirits broken

Bodies crushed and swollen

unholy tokens of Christ, Nailed to a tree

(That) You hang around your neck

Like a noose of the free

Our colour pasty

Our accents thick

Hands like shovels

from mortar and bricklaying

foundation of cities

you now stand upon

Our suffering seeps from every stone

your opportunities arise from

Outstanding on the shoulders

of our forefathers and foremother’s

who bore your mother’s mother

Our music is for the righteous

Our joys have been earned

Well deserved and serve

to remind us to remember

More Blacks

More Dogs

More Irish.

Still labelled leprechauns, Micks, Paddies, louts

we’re shouting to tell you

our land, our laws

are progressively out there

We’re in a chrysalis

state of emerging into a new

and more beautiful Eire/era

40 Shades Better

Unanimous in our rainbow vote

we’ve found our stereotypical pot of gold

and my God it’s good.

So join us.. 'cause

You Don’t Get To Be Racist And Irish.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Interesting poem Robert.

I assume this is related to Irish living in the UK and facing racism.

Things are nowhere as bad now but Irish are still stereotyped as alcoholics, angry people etc. Its always the governments who demonise people for their own politicdal gain, and it leads to hate & discrimination.

 

[sweep_shot]

I didn't get the message of this poem. Is it referring to the oppression Irish people faced?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

The Irish people are one of the gems of this world.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I didn't get the message of this poem. Is it referring to the oppression Irish people faced?

In the 70s'/80's its alleged some bars , public venues and even peoples homes had signs outside ' No Irish, No Blacks, No dogs'. Due to the brutal British attacks on Ireland the people were demonised.

As Deadlyvenom said, the Irish are incredible people.

 

[sweep_shot]

In the 70s'/80's its alleged some bars , public venues and even peoples homes had signs outside ' No Irish, No Blacks, No dogs'. Due to the brutal British attacks on Ireland the people were demonised.

As Deadlyvenom said, the Irish are incredible people.

Thanks.

I am glad those days are gone.

 

[Abel Reames]

Thanks.

I am glad those days are gone.

Thanks to the 'woke' people of those days.

 

[sweep_shot]

Thanks to the 'woke' people of those days.

"Woke" people in those times were genuinely "woke" people. They fought racism and I respect that.

Today's woke is not real woke. They are lame. They turn simple issues into complex issues.

 

[Robert]

Interesting poem Robert.

I assume this is related to Irish living in the UK and facing racism.

Things are nowhere as bad now but Irish are still stereotyped as alcoholics, angry people etc. Its always the governments who demonise people for their own politicdal gain, and it leads to hate & discrimination.

It means that the Irish were oppressed by the English for 400 years, disposed of their land and starved into emigrating en masse, so Irish people should not not in turn be racist to other races coming to live in Ireland,

Sadly, the writer has received death threats from some Irish people who are racists, since publishing the poem.

 

[Robert]

In the 70s'/80's its alleged some bars , public venues and even peoples homes had signs outside ' No Irish, No Blacks, No dogs'. Due to the brutal British attacks on Ireland the people were demonised.

As Deadlyvenom said, the Irish are incredible people.

It’s not alleged, it was real. My old Dad saw those signs in the 1950s.

As though human beings were on the same level as dogs.

 

[Robert]

Thanks.

I am glad those days are gone.

They are coming back. Our awful government and their right-wing press allies are happy to demonise anyone Other, to distract people from realising that the government is at fault for causing poverty and cutting public services.

 

[Robert]

The Irish people are one of the gems of this world.

There are good and bad ones, same as any other nation.

Their culture has produced a lot of excellent writers, musicians and actors.

Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, CS Lewis, John Le Carré, Iris Murdoch.

Van Morrison, U2, Sinead O’Connor.

Peter O’Toole, Cillian Murphy, Aiden Gillen, Ken Branagh, Michael Fassbender.

 

[Technics 1210]

But will the Irish denounce the IRA?

In your dreams.

 

[Robert]

3500 new Irish citizens were sworn in last December. The following is revealing….

Addressing the new citizens at the ceremony, Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Anne Rabbitte, said:

"Ireland is a place of great diversity and openness. We do not ask of you to relinquish or replace your own sense of identity associated with your homeland when you become an Irish citizen. We want you to bring your culture, history and traditions with you. By sharing them with us, Ireland is richer for it.”

No requirement for ‘integration’ there.

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release...onferred-with-irish-citizenship-in-killarney/

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

"Woke" people in those times were genuinely "woke" people. They fought racism and I respect that.

Today's woke is not real woke. They are lame. They turn simple issues into complex issues.

Lol funnily enlighten the ‘anti-woke’ brigade of the time said the same things as you here

 

[Robert]

Lol funnily enlighten the ‘anti-woke’ brigade of the time said the same things as you here

Of course they did. Morality evolves in the West.

Ireland is in some ways a more liberal nation than England: see the Minister's speech above, and that trans rights are more advanced there too. It's extraordinary, given that thirty years ago a conservative Catholic church had such a massive role.

Ireland's thirty-year success story has been based around EU membership and de-emphasising religion.

 

[ElRaja]

It means that the Irish were oppressed by the English for 400 years, disposed of their land and starved into emigrating en masse, so Irish people should not not in turn be racist to other races coming to live in Ireland,

Sadly, the writer has received death threats from some Irish people who are racists, since publishing the poem.

just because a peoples were marginalised doesn't mean they can't be racist, it's not one person who felt the pain of racism and was racist themselves, people are all different, and generally, all have a significant propensity to hate when cajoled and encouraged in certain ways.

 

[Robert]

just because a peoples were marginalised doesn't mean they can't be racist, it's not one person who felt the pain of racism and was racist themselves, people are all different, and generally, all have a significant propensity to hate when cajoled and encouraged in certain ways.

The writer’s point is that the Irish should learn kindness and respect from their centuries of oppression. Not all do, of course. Evil politicians still try to persuade us to hate.

 

[ElRaja]

The writer’s point is that the Irish should learn kindness and respect from their centuries of oppression. Not all do, of course. Evil politicians still try to persuade us to hate.

yeah I got the point, ive just seen way too many racist people of all colours and backgrounds, shallower minds, for different reasons, tend to seek comfort in superficial similarities.

 

[maverick85]

Connor McGregor and his cohort beg to differ