Racist attack on Indian cricketers in Ireland

[DomainK]

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakin...46&n=185777600
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/n...nd/5073148.stm
http://www.4ni.co.uk/news.asp?id=52434

Unfortunate. First in Australia and now in Europe. I guess its one of those rare instances in which a handful get the opportunity to let everyone down. I dont know how racist issues stands in the area in question. May be the locals can throw some light.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Naomi Long (cross-community Alliance Party Assembly member)

“This is another reminder of the need to destroy the scourge of racism in our society. This sort of incident merely backs up our reputation as Europe’s racist capital [...] This kind of anti-social behaviour is becoming so common as to almost be acceptable in some quarters

I'm not a local but this fits with what little I know of the situation: overstated, perhaps, but the reputation for racism (and homophobia) goes back as far as I can remember.

[BarmyBarmyArmy]

It's always going to happen while we have those 'chavs' roaming the UK. Sad to hear that it's happened but it's getting pretty common these days, needs to be sorted out.

[Victor Frankenstein]

The irony of a DUP member denouncing intolerance...

I'd like to say this was shocking but from Belfast i'm not really surprised, not that a lot of other UK cities are much better, but Scotland and NI do tend to be the worst by far for racism sadly.

[Aussie-Yank]

This, as far as I am concerned, is the same type of thing that occurred in Australia with South Africa. A small (narrow minded) group of people who act out side the majority's morale standards. And in doing so gives all the people in the area the same black eye.


I will take my experiences in traveling, firstly when in Edinburgh for the festival. I was walking down the main street when a Scotish youth came up to me and started verbally abusing me (I was wearing an English hat). It was not until I started talking that this person relised I was not English that he started talking normally to me and then said sorry to me, but said that I shouldn't wear the hat around here.
The second occassion was in Belfast, I was walking towards the door way of a Pub (Not sure what they called it there) and just before I got there with My wife and daughter (aged 8 at the time) the Publican screamed at us saying "we don't serve kids here, so you can't come in" and if you could see the way he said it you would see he did not want us in there if we had our child or not and then turned around and walked away without waiting for any reply from us. There was however a customer sitting near the door way who turned round and said to us, "you can go around to the other side of the building and go up the stairs and thats where you can be served food as a family". Once again the preception was that we where English, and once someone relised we where not the preception changed.

Now living in the United States you get even more negative responses from people until they relise you are not American. The funny thing is that you get people living here (not born here) that are so negetive American you really wonder why they are actually here - oh thats right they have no rights where they came from.

So if I was the type of person to judge a country on the way I was treated by those couple of people, and forget all the lovely people we meet through our trip our preception of the place would be very negative indeed. Unfortunately through media we are only hearing the negative stories of the country and not the full image of the country. We as a society needs to sort this problem out - but I believe that it never will be. It is extremely difficult to change a persons perception of others. This preception is then passed onto there children and then they have this same perception. When certain events occur they can then use these events to show that they where right about those people and confirm there belief.

[BarmyBarmyArmy]

About the bit about people in America hating America. It happens in England too, i know a lot of Asian guys at school and a few of them say how much they hate England. Also the illegal immigrants that come seem to hate England yet they come for a safe place to live - we let anyone in these days. Also these extremists who live here, work here and are kept alive here who are threatening to blow the west out of existance. People don't seem to get that if you live somewhere you clearly don't hate it yet it happens all the time. Racism is really a big problem!

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by BarmyBarmyArmy

Racism is really a big problem!

Racism is not just in cricket by a long chalk, nor even in soccer with Racist chants.

It happens in day to day matters an no-one bats an eyelid, the best example is the stupid anti US sentiment Europe wide, that is just as much racist with even the burning of the Stars And Stripes.

Racism has to be looked at world wide, and then the tatty little racist like the subject of this thread-would probably not exist.

[DomainK]

Well, amazingly, even in India I come across so many immigrants who live here and still hate the place and the people. I know many people who openly celebrate when India loses a game and thereby creating possibilities of riots. Unfortunately, when they celebrate, they dont break any law- everyone has the freedom to celebrate whatever they like. Whenever someone objects to the such celebrations, it is labled racism. They deliberately provoke the the people to be racists.

That certainly happens, but is not the reason for racism. Unfortunately there exist people who have a dislike for people of another color or religion or something else. I think the attitude of the society has been changing really fast, things have really improved over the last 4/5 decades. Though no one can say that racists will be extinct one day, but they will be reduced to a very small no for sure.

[Vrock]

Racism is one of those things which will always exist as long as there are different cultures and so on. Maybe that is me being a little too expectant of many to be racist (however it wants to be termed - racism is such a general term) but I think it will always exist.

Maybe, in sport, racism can be sky rocketed in how we view it because it is not the fact that where someone is from as a reason to dislike them but purely because they are facing you and you want to beat them. There are, obviously, cases where just because you are facing a side doesn't count and it is because where they are from. But sometimes I think things are suddenly taken too greatly.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Originally Posted by Rachael

I'm not a local but this fits with what little I know of the situation: overstated, perhaps, but the reputation for racism (and homophobia) goes back as far as I can remember.

Really dont think we are any worse than any other country. Where you have any large population of white, unemployed/ or low earning working class white folk who see or "hear" of asylum seakers, economic migrants getting money dished out, better housing, skipping nhs queues etc, racism will exist, in any country, certainly if you have a right wing press prepered to stir it all up.

And thats gets passed down, unfortunatley its the only way it can spread. Its something thats taught to you, rahter than something you're born with.