Breezey

I lived in Ireland for about two years, this was 2001 to 2003. I cant really think of too much by way of specific incidents, but my perceptioin was that the Irish are not racist, but rather xenophobic. They are not used to immigrants, and there was no overtly racist incidents, but rather they were slightly weary of the implications of immigrants. I guess one could look at the fact that th e laws on who is an irish citizen was changed to exclude those born in ireland whose paretns were not irish citizens or in Ireland lawfully for a number of years. When this was being debated it was pretty clear the reasoning behind this was because of asylum (read black, sorry if this sound un PC) seekers coming to ieland heavily pregnant to give birth to new irish citizens.

However, the majority of Irish people are not racist, and as far a xenophobia goes it prbably applies to Polish workers too.

My experience of Oz is even more limited, but I think Oz can be more overtly intolerant of certain communities than they would like the outside world to believe. (Aboriginals and Lebanese in particular) The treatment of Aboriginals has been shocking, on par any day with South Africas apartheid treatment of blacks, a quick search on some of the government policies of the 50s and 60s will show that.

The intolerance of middle eastern communities (and perhaps asian as well) has more to do with the percepton that those communities are "un-australian" and do not want to integrate and embrace aussie values.

The flipside is that if you are willing to embrace the aussie way of life, you will most likely be very welcome.

Just my thoughts, happy to have them attacked if you think im full of it....[/QUOTE]

pretty much what I said

YankeemovingAbroad

newkiwi


No need to worry of being attack for sharing your honest opinion,all though you said it tongue in cheek. The exchange of ideas when offered in a positive manner should be taken for what its worth.We are not responsible for the actions of those who share our same ethnicity,gender,nationality or religion.Sounds like there are growing pains in Ireland between the ethnic majority against the ethnic minority.I can not determine what the situation is with out having experience spending time there as a African American.

But I will say it can be unnerving to be made feel not welcome base on trivia factors as ethnicity. Regardless for the reason(s) of their behavior those on the receiving end will develope the perception that racism is at work.I'm sure inpart that conclusion is true.However, I agree with you that the Irish are not any more accepting of people of color as the newly arrived immigrant of their same color.The Irish have for generations been at war with other whites whether they be Northern Irish or British(excuse me for being so direct).Not to mention there is a big bias against the newly arrive Polish immigrants. Have read about that very thing in the American newspapers a few months ago.


I certainly believe many Irish are in a learning curve when it comes to multiculturalism. More than likely they are behind the curve and will hopefully make the effort to catch up. I like to add that we can't lump everyone together because they share the same nationality or ethnicity. Bias or racism for some people is use to do harm intentionally to others, while certain people relate with those who look different out of ignorance or fear. Hopefully we can try our best to treat every person as an individual while sharing a little bit of our self and time in getting to know them better.

"I lived in Ireland for about two years, this was 2001 to 2003. I cant really think of too much by way of specific incidents, but my perceptioin was that the Irish are not racist, but rather xenophobic. They are not used to immigrants, and there was no overtly racist incidents, but rather they were slightly weary of the implications of immigrants. I guess one could look at the fact that th e laws on who is an irish citizen was changed to exclude those born in ireland whose paretns were not irish citizens or in Ireland lawfully for a number of years. When this was being debated it was pretty clear the reasoning behind this was because of asylum (read black, sorry if this sound un PC) seekers coming to ieland heavily pregnant to give birth to new irish citizens."

However, the majority of Irish people are not racist, and as far a xenophobia goes it prbably applies to Polish workers too.

My experience of Oz is even more limited, but I think Oz can be more overtly intolerant of certain communities than they would like the outside world to believe. (Aboriginals and Lebanese in particular) The treatment of Aboriginals has been shocking, on par any day with South Africas apartheid treatment of blacks, a quick search on some of the government policies of the 50s and 60s will show that.

The intolerance of middle eastern communities (and perhaps asian as well) has more to do with the percepton that those communities are "un-australian" and do not want to integrate and embrace aussie values.

The flipside is that if you are willing to embrace the aussie way of life, you will most likely be very welcome.

Just my thoughts, happy to have them attacked if you think im full of it....[/QUOTE]

Mercedes

I think it often is like anything, I found those who have travelled, experienced other cultures etc tend to be open to meeting others from different countries, especially if you have a great personality etc. The ones who I find are often narrowminded and insular are probably the ones who have never been anywhere and have not embraced other cultures. That can be anywhere in the world. The only time I have found I ever had a problem appearing to being English was in small towns of Australia and that was based on their own prejudices usually as they had based it on my accent alone. Even as a white person, you will get prejudices from others whether it because one hold a British passport or their view the country people is negative. That can also apply to Americans whatever colour they are. In UK, I have many african British friends, and they only place I saw any hint of any possible prejudices was in many small towns if I saw it. My family themselves are racist, but again they have lived in small towns and had a sheltered life from the rest of the World and I escaped it many years ago and love embracing new cultures and people. But my African American friend also says his family is like that also, and they would have been horrified if he had taken a white girl home. So horses for courses. I had aborginal friends who did very well in Australia, many working for government bodies and in the UK I also have african british friends who are high up in their fields. Most decent people don't see looks afterwhile anyway, especially with personalities than shine through, the ones who often have trouble anywhere are the ones who have chips on their shoulders and think the world is against them. In some cases that may be true and in others its an imagination and self esteem. Let your personality shine through and that will be what people see after a while, and if they don't, who gives a damn, because at the end of the day who wants to know them if they are that narrow minded. From the African American friends I have come across they think there is more racism in America than possibly Australia, UK or Ireland. So you should be ahead of the game which ever country you go to.

YankeemovingAbroad

Mercedes

Very well said!