Racism means discriminating against people based on their skin colour, race, ethnic group or nationality, using the difference as a reason for the discrimination. Overt racism can take the form of actual physical abuse, verbal abuse, written material or just plain rudeness.

Racism is based on the false belief that "some" races are inherently superior to others because of different skin colour, nationality, ethnic or cultural background.

Racism deprives people of their basic human rights, dignity and respect. It can exist in everyday practices and is often expressed and reinforced by individuals and groups unintentionally. In Ireland, it is experienced in many settings and occurs today with alarming regularity, as our society becomes more and more multicultural, and the mix of peoples in our towns and cities become increasingly different. Most racist incidents take place in public places, on the streets, in shops, pubs, clubs and banks, and are targeted against Black and ethnic minorities - including Roma, Black Africans, Black Irish, and Travellers.

Another form of discrimination is institutional racism. This takes place when a service meets the needs of the majority culture and does not take into account the needs of ethnic minorities. It is typically experienced at the hands of various organisations such as government departments, educational institutions and businesses. This can sometimes be attributed to unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages ethnic minorities.

In Ireland, the people most likely to suffer racist abuse are asylum seekers, refugees, international students, tourists, foreign workers, members of the Traveller community, and other Irish citizens singled out for abuse because of their name or skin colour. In many cases the racism stems from ignorance, or from people being unnecessarily afraid of what they are not familiar with or know little about.

At a recent meeting, a local Minority Ethnic Group member pinpointed a barrier to consultation: “You seem to be frightened to speak to us, to ask us what we think. You'd rather send a consultative questionnaire to thousands of people, than come and speak to one person. We won't bite you!”

Thus even where there is a large minority community it is important to speak to individuals:

We have to go where people are, not expect them to come to us.

We have to find bridges to meet people.

We need to recognise the problems of isolation:

Being the regular butt of graffiti, attacks, and exclusion.
Lack of support groups.
Few people ‘like us'.
Lack of cultural or shopping facilities.
Being invisible.
Recognition of needs.
Wide spread collusion by majority community with racism.
Lack of understanding by majority community of our concerns.

How Do We Approach Anti-Racism Work?

There are a number of approaches to dealing with racism. These can be represented on an Equality Scale as follows:

The focus is on cultural diversity, where it is recognised that there is a need to encourage and support Traveller, Black and Minority Ethnic cultures and traditions, but the existence of racial discrimination or harassment is ignored, particularly by the majority of the community.

This authority tries to ensure that the workforce and service provision reflects the multi-racial nature of Irish Society and tries to develop effective policies and procedures to deal with discrimination and harassment, challenging colour-blind assumptions.

This happens when our organisation has eliminated racial discrimination in membership, employment and service delivery.

What is Racism?

At a recent meeting, a local Minority Ethnic Group member pinpointed a barrier to consultation: “You seem to be frightened to speak to us, to ask us what we think. You'd rather send a consultative questionnaire to thousands of people, than come and speak to one person. We won't bite you!”

Thus even where there is a large minority community it is important to speak to individuals:

We have to go where people are, not expect them to come to us.

How Do We Approach Anti-Racism Work?