Cead Mile Failte
'Half-Cast' is still a word that makes my blood turn cold. A small incident that occurred when I was a shy ten year old stayed with me for much longer than it should have. The person who described me using 'that word' is actually now a good friend. I've never brought it up because i know that it wasn't what she really thought of me, it was how society had taught her to label me. It didn't stop it hurting at the time though. I remember the feelings of pure hurt, anger, frustration and sadness. One word. I'm half Irish and half egyptian, but I am as they say 'as Irish as they come.' I love tea, I can pull a decent pint of Guinness, my family grow potatoes, i broke the pledge the day I made it, and my answer for just about everything is "ah sure it'll be grand". Yet despite this, growing up I without doubt experienced a somewhat mild form of racism(believe it or not in a small country school ten years ago a Yasmin stood out on the role). Nothing major - just small comments like the one mentioned above, being made feel just a little bit different. My primary school days made me develop a skin tough as old leather and for that much, I am thankful. Things have definitely changed since then. Today, in multicultural Ireland, foreign nationals make up almost 15% percent of the population, only a few years a go we saw 4000 people gain Irish citizenship. Ireland - We are a nation that welcomes, that embraces new cultures, and this has been proven to some extent to be true. But the question still stands - Does racism exist in 2016 Ireland? And in my opinion the answer is yes. Yes it does. We might not hear racist remarks roared across the streets, or scrawled along the walls of our towns and cities. It is an unconscious racism. Perhaps not seen, perhaps not heard, but felt by many. Last summer, I worked as a bartender in Temple Bar. A young eastern-european girl who collected glasses and did stock takes had very little english and few of the other staff bothered to speak to her. On a break one night to her surprise, I made her a cup of coffee and got her talking.She was here working to make money for her, her baby and her fiance whom she was due to marry and move home to next year if she could afford it. She absolutely hated it here(the ignorance of strangers, the anonymity), but said that thoughts of her family kept her going.What I'm trying to say is that everyone has a story, everyone is on a journey, and everyone deserves to be shown interest and compassion in their lives. Nobody is a robot.I know for a fact that a lot of people show disrespect towards others that they may feel are beneath them. They do it unconsciously, caught up in their own rat race, not even realizing at all that they have just treated a fellow human being like shit. I'm very patriotic and I love Ireland, but I find that some Irish people tend to be of the opinion that we are somehow a superior race of some kind. A friend once said to me, and I find this particularly amusing "I couldn't go out with a guy who wasn't Irish. Why?? I don't know, I just couldn't!" I've heard men say the same with regards to women also, and I honestly find it just hilarious. Talk about thinking highly of yourselves! People don't realize that statements like these sound ugly, arrogant and well, downright stupid. Since moving to Dublin two years ago, I have met, worked with, and become great friends with people from everywhere - Eastern Europe, China, Africa, Brazil and many more. They are some of the best and most talented people I know and some will probably even disagree with my views here. Someone recently gave me a really fresh and promising opinion when I questioned him on this subject - I've found that no matter what you look like, if you show that you are good at something and are determined, people generally respect you for it. Ireland has come a long way as far as racism goes, even in the last decade, the progression has been very clear and very sudden. Maybe the changes have come too soon for some? Maybe as a nation we're still in transition? What is clear to me is that this country still has a way to go to stand true to its reputation of Eire - Cead Mile Failte.
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