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To anyone who thinks Ireland isn't racist, or it's not really a big problem here, let me share my own experiences with you, as a white Irishwoman in her 40s:
Growing up, I heard, all the time, that Irish people aren't racist. Of course, the people saying this were Irish. 1/12
Growing up, I heard, all the time, that Irish people aren't racist. Of course, the people saying this were Irish. 1/12
They didn't think the appalling way they treated Travellers was in any way racist. Travellers were shunned in schools, made to sit separately, not encouraged. They were referred to by horrible names in the house I grew up. Sweeping statements about what 'they' were like. 2/12
In 1993, when I said I was getting married, my mother was appalled. The man I was marrying was not white.
'Ye can't go mixin' the races,' she said.
'It's a really bad idea.'
When I said I was moving to Singapore - where he was from - with him, there was uproar. 3/12
'Ye can't go mixin' the races,' she said.
'It's a really bad idea.'
When I said I was moving to Singapore - where he was from - with him, there was uproar. 3/12
I was asked, in a pub in Dublin city - when my husband when to the loo - why I was 'with that monkey'.
When I left my first husband, people were smugly satisfied - telling me I'd been 'warned' that races can't mix. That 'men from those places can't handle white women'. 4/12
When I left my first husband, people were smugly satisfied - telling me I'd been 'warned' that races can't mix. That 'men from those places can't handle white women'. 4/12
I left my 1st husband because he was a criminal, a psychopath & a violent person: Nothing to do with the colour of his skin, his cultural, or religious backgron. But there was a real bang of 'I told you so' off the reaction I got from family & some friends here in Ireland. 5/12
I remarried in 2001, DD1 was born in March, '02. We came to Europe for Xmas & my family met her for the 1st time. I went to change her nappy & my mother said it must be really hard to know when she was clean. The implication that my daughter's skin is the colour of shit. 6/12
DD2 was born in 2004. A year later, my eldest brother remarked on how beautiful she was 'with her half-caste skin.'
A woman I'd been at school with saw me with DD1 in the supermarket & asked if my other daughter was 'dark, as well - or is she normal?' 7/12
A woman I'd been at school with saw me with DD1 in the supermarket & asked if my other daughter was 'dark, as well - or is she normal?' 7/12
In a bookshop in Dublin, a man in his 30s, heard my DD1 talking Irish (she was about 7) and looked shocked. 'She's talkin' Irish!' he said.
'She *is* Irish,' I responded.
'But she can't be, she's...' I challenged him with a single raised eyebrow, his voice trailed off. 8/12
'She *is* Irish,' I responded.
'But she can't be, she's...' I challenged him with a single raised eyebrow, his voice trailed off. 8/12
Also in Dublin, I was chatting, in Irish, to a friend. A young man saw fit to shout at us 'Fuck off back to yizzer own bleedin' country!!'
Another time, Husband #1 & I were visiting Dublin, & we were both subjected to racial abuse on a bus. 9/12
Another time, Husband #1 & I were visiting Dublin, & we were both subjected to racial abuse on a bus. 9/12
We complained to the driver, who shrugged & said 'what can you do?'
On another occasion, I was in Dublin on my own, wearing a baju kurung, and a young man roared at me for being 'a fucking Muslim' (not that it matters, but I'm not Muslim, nor was I ever). 10/12
On another occasion, I was in Dublin on my own, wearing a baju kurung, and a young man roared at me for being 'a fucking Muslim' (not that it matters, but I'm not Muslim, nor was I ever). 10/12
On a train to KK abt 13 yrs ago, my girls & I were subjected to racial abuse.
Recently, my DD1 heard someone giving out about 'Bloody Pakis'. The man caught himself & said 'But I don't mean you ,of course.'
My girls are often asked 'where are you really from?
11/12
Recently, my DD1 heard someone giving out about 'Bloody Pakis'. The man caught himself & said 'But I don't mean you ,of course.'
My girls are often asked 'where are you really from?
11/12
These are just a few examples, off the top of my head. AND I'M WHITE! My friends of Colour - from Asia, Africa, the US, etc all tell me about the institutionalised racism they encounter frequently. #BlackLivesMatter 
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