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I want to tell you a story. A sad story. I'm going to follow that story up with something you don't want to hear. Something you know to be fundamentally true, but you rationalise your way out of it. Leave now, if you don't want to hear it.
A few weeks ago, I was driving home when a puppy ran out on the road. I saw a little boy jump up and run after him. Thankfully the little boy stopped at the edge of the road. Unfortunately for him, he witnessed his faithful puppy being mowed down by a Landrover. The SUV kept on going, seemingly oblivious to the destruction it had just caused.
I pulled over. The little boy ran out and grabbed the already dead puppy with his little hands and started sobbing. I opened my door and was about to get out when he ran back across the street with his precious puppy in his arms. It was absolutely heart breaking. He must have been about seven or eight and to see his dog effectively murdered was probably extremely traumatic. My heart went out to him and it has been killing me ever since.
I have told numerous people this story in the last week and all of them were understanding and sympathetic.
As a social experiment I then rewind. I tell them the puppy and the boy dashed out of a halting site, which they did. All of a sudden a previously tragic incident becomes funny. "Well, why didn't you say it was a knacker puppy?" That sickens me.
The Ireland I left in the eighties was a very conservative society. It has done an about face today and has become incredibly liberal. The younger society is extremely progressive, passionately speaking against homophobia, atrocities abroad, racism and fighting for what's right. However other than fat people and smokers, there is one group of people that are discriminated against constantly. The travellers.
I brought the Yankee husband to visit Ireland shortly after we were married. We went to lunch with my Nana and her sister and brother-in-law. Himself just about fell off his chair when one of them muttered something about black people being the dirtiest of people. I had to restrain him. They didn't mean any harm, they seriously just knew no better. They're in their late eighties and arguing with them at this point was not going to help.
Himself was shocked by this for many years. When we moved over he was also shocked at how people treat the Travellers. How could any group of people be singled out in such a way? He's American. They don't operate like that, see.
Being just nine when I left, my only contact with travellers had not been good. Growing up in Clonsilla, we were always told to bring our toys in at night in case "the knackers would take them."
Having spent most of my life elsewhere I too took a liberal stance when we moved back and was appalled at how they were treated. The funny thing is, I still feel that way - himself, however - does not. He works in retail and has seen the worst of them. They steal, they cause fights and generally make his day harder. He generalises and stereotypes them like the best Irishman. I can't fathom this change of heart.
But he most certainly isn't alone. I bring our old clothes to St. Vincent De Paul and have been told by numerous people that I shouldn't because "it just goes to the knackers."
I know it's true that statistics aren't on their side, but the same can be said of many minority groups. In the United States statistics show that more violent crime is committed by black people than any other race, yet that doesn't allow people to blatantly discriminate against them, nor should it.
The same should apply here in Ireland. I also can't help but think it's a vicious cycle. It goes back to basic psychology. If you tell someone they are bad and unwanted, they start to believe it and act out accordingly.
What really kills me though, are the children. That little boy with the puppy was a LITTLE BOY! He has his whole life in front of him. Think of the things he could do with it. But society is preventing that. These children are not being given the same opportunities that our children are and that is wrong. I understand that a lot of responsibility lies with the parents, but we have to step in at some point.
The main halting site here is across from the school. As far as I'm concerned, some government official should be at that halting site everyday dragging those kids across the road to school. We owe it to these kids to break the cycle.
I know this post is likely to bring about a lot of "But they fill-in-the-blank" type comments, but I don't care. We are being hypocrites. We scream and shout about the injustices that other minorities suffer, we yell about atrocities abroad, yet we constantly abuse and bash travellers here at home. What is human about that? Where is our pride and dignity? It's time we put our money where our mouths are. Do we really believe in liberty and democracy? Well, then surely it applies to everyone.
That is all.
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