AS THE 50th anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King Junior’s “I Have a Dream” speech is commemorated across the globe today, we have an opportunity to reflect on a message which is just as relevant now as it was when it was first delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
The most memorable part of Dr King’s speech was not planned but came when he deviated from his script and outlined his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred.
The result was a speech that became iconic for a generation and has been deemed the most important delivered in America in the 20th century.
Five decades on, it is unfortunate that there are parts of his dreams which have not been realised, not just in the United States but also here in Ireland.
Dr King envisioned a time when ‘little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers’. However when we look at the rapid changes in our own country over the past 15-20 years, can we honestly say that they have been matched with proper integration?
In the past 12 months the Immigrant Council of Ireland has responded to 120 incidents of racism and provided support, advice and assistance to victims. While the incidents cover a broad spectrum, more than 1-in-10 (11 per cent) involved actual physical violence while a further 7 per cent involved the threat of violence.
We have responded to cases where victims have been subjected to unprovoked attacks on the street; to families who have returned to their homes to find them broken into, daubed with racist graffiti and slogans; to people subjected to verbal abuse in their own communities, at sports grounds, on public transport.
These are incidents which should be from a different era – they were unacceptable when Dr King spoke on 28 August 1963 and they are unacceptable now.
Often our reports on racism are dismissed, with some people arguing ‘harmless’ or ‘innocent’ remarks said in the heat of the moment are blown out of proportion. However, instead of looking at such incidents from the point of view of the perpetrator, we would ask that they would be examined from the view of the victim.
These remarks often delivered over a sustained period can create an air of intimidation, heighten division and have a psychological impact.
No-one is arguing that Ireland is a racist country. On the contrary we have escaped the right wing extremism which has re-emerged in large parts of Europe and which has also drifted into mainstream politics.
However, there are warning signs for Ireland which do require closer examination, changes in policy, and a more robust response.
Complacency and lack of awareness allow racism to fester.
Earlier this year, in order to overcome barriers which were preventing people from coming forward to report racism, we, together with public transport partners, mounted an extensive awareness campaign.
The impact was immediate, we saw the number of incidents we respond to rise from an average of one a week to eight a week at the start of this summer.
The figures speak for themselves and show that there is something amiss in Irish society which we would ignore at our peril.
We have made a number of recommendations on the back of the figures, including the establishment of a national database which will quickly highlight policy areas which require action.
We are also calling on agencies of the State to introduce procedures to ensure that a message goes out loud and clear that there is no acceptable level of racism.
At the Immigrant Council we also working with the politicians, the Gardaí, Dublin City Council and many others to ensure that each has a robust response to the problem.
Today we will remember Dr Martin Luther King Junior. No doubt through media you will at some stage during the anniversary hear and see his remarks. We ask that you don’t view them as part of the past, but look at them in terms of where Ireland is today and the lessons we can learn from those historic words.
Denise Charlton is Chief Executive Officer of the Immigrant Council of Ireland.
She has previously worked as the Director of Women’s Aid, Dublin; was the country coordinator for an EU observatory on human trafficking; and was the Irish expert to the European Women’s Lobby Observatory on violence against women for many years.
If you see or experience racism you can report it to: stopracism@immigrantcouncil.ie
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