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Afrophobia in Ireland Racism Against People of African Descent

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Afrophobia in Ireland Racism Against People of African Descent Racism against people of African descent Lucy Michael Contents Foreword 4 1 What is Afrophobia? 5 2 The ENAR Ireland data collection process 6 3 Everyday racism 3 ‘Old’ and ‘new’ racisms: understanding Afrophobia People of African Descent in Ireland 4 Overview 12 5 Assaults with injury 12 6 Endangerment to life 17 7 Assault without injury 17 8 Harassment and verbal abuse 17 9 Public shaming 19 10 Racism by children and in schools 22 11 Racism and entertainment 23 12 Discrimination and the rental housing market 24 13 Racism and businesses 25 Discrimination against consumers Employees experiencing workplace abuse 14 Public Transport 28 Racism in the Taxi industry Racism and public transit 15 Racism and public services 29 16 Incitement to Hatred 31 Web and Social Media Graffiti in public and private spaces 17 Policing and discrimination 32 Discriminatory and disproportionate policing Failure to respond to racist incidents against people of African descent Understanding non-reporting of racist offences to An Garda Síochána 18 The impacts of Afrophobic racism 35 Impacts on people targeted by Afrophobia Everyday fear Assertions of rights Western Afrophobia Impact on witnesses to Afrophobia 19 The role of witnesses 39 Interventions by witnesses 20 Conclusion 39 The impact of Afrophobia Making sense of Afrophobic harassment Afrophobia in an Irish dialect Hate Crimes Discrimination Meeting the challenge to address Afrophobia Appendix 1: Survey Questions on reporting to police and other organisations 43 Afrophobia in Ireland Racism against people of African descent Dr. Lucy Michael, Ulster University November 2015 Published by ENAR Ireland, Dublin 2. ISBN: 978-1-78280-673-8 Institute for Research in Social Sciences (IRiSS) ENAR Ireland and iReport.ie are supported by: Foreword Racism against people of African descent is not a Dr Lucy Michael’s timely and essential ‘Afrophobia in Ireland’ is the first of ENAR Ireland’s “thematic” reports new phenomenon at all, but using data from the iReport.ie racist incident reporting system, launched in 2013. It complements the quarterly one which has failed to be and half-yearly ‘Reports of Racism in Ireland’, delving in recognised by the State and depth into Irish manifestations of the increasingly recog- nised global phenomenon of Afrophobia. Where our ro- wider society, even as it has bust ‘Reports of Racism in Ireland’ continue to contribute significantly to a growing acknowledgement of racism, evolved from colonial times ‘Afrophobia in Ireland’ starkly illuminates the granular detail of one key dimension of Irish racism. In holding a a point when this discussion appears, lamentably and in- mirror up for all to peer into the Irish face of Afropho- explicably, to have fallen down the Government’s agen- bia, the report complements the work of our partners in da. July this year saw the launch of ‘Legislating for Hate the European Network Against Racism, whose reports on Crime in Ireland’ by University of Limerick’s Hate and Afrophobia collectively provide a Europe-wide view. Hostility Research Group and a consortium of NGOs led by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Just days after the Afrophobia is a relatively new term used to denote key spe- launch, Rebecca, an African-born working mother living cific forms of global racism which people of African de- in West Dublin, reported through iReport.ie, detailing a scent have experienced throughout the history of racism. years-long pattern of repeated racist harassment, threats In Ireland, as this report demonstrates, racism against and criminal damage, culminating in her young family people of African descent is not a new phenomenon at all, fleeing their home and neighbourhood. but one which has failed to be recognised by the State and wider society, even as it has evolved from colonial times. Reviewing the media coverage of the Rebecca case, it be- Afrophobia has contributed to the racialisation of Irish comes clear that the racism experienced by her and her identities, both in Ireland and overseas, resonated with children embodies in many ways the phenomenon of anti-Traveller racism at home, and found fertile ground Irish Afrophobia now described in this report; the focus in specific phenomena and events, for example in what on women and their children as particular targets of Junior Minister for New Communities Aodhán Ó Ríordáin scorn, the combination of old and new forms of racism has called “our love affair with incarcerating people” and racist abuse, the inadequacy of the responses of the (from the Industrial Schools and Magdalene Laundries to criminal justice system, local agencies and wider society. Direct Provision), or in the political expediency manifest It is as though we are more inclined to criminalise People in the 2004 Citizenship Referendum. of African Descent, than the Afrophobia they experience. The timing of ‘Afrophobia in Ireland’ is significant. Its Using the data from the iReport.ie questionnaire, this re- publication coincides with the beginning of the Unit- port makes informed, practical recommendations for im- ed Nation’s International Decade of People of African proving Garda responses to racism. Implementing these Descent, providing an opportunity for us to examine recommendations would mark a significant step in im- Afrophobia in Ireland in the context of the wider life proving the experiences of people like Rebecca. But as the experiences of people of African descent, in Ireland and Rebecca case and this report makes clear, what is needed is | ENAR Ireland globally. In just one example of this report’s relevance to a National Action Plan Against Racism, encompassing Hate this discussion, Dr Michael’s findings in relation to the ex- Crime Legislation, flanked by root-and-branch reform of periences of the self-identified “Mixed-Race Irish” offer a all areas of state policy, its agencies and their practices. compelling challenge to the view that the UN Decade is The time to act on this report and the wider snowballing somehow less relevant to an Irish context. evidence of racism is now. Let us both face up to the rac- ism present in our society, and to the challenges this pre- The report also provides a welcome contribution to the sents us. The kind of society we are building depends on it. Afrophobia in Ireland in Ireland Afrophobia discussion of Hate Crime and Hate Crime Legislation, at Shane O’Curry, Director, ENAR Ireland 4 as discrimination and racist violence on the basis of a 1 What is Afrophobia? person’s skin colour, ethnic origin, and nationality”.3 This year marks the start of the International Decade Like other forms of racism, Afrophobia also intersects for People of African Descent, proclaimed by the United with other grounds for prejudice, such as sexuality, reli- Nations General Assembly, following the 2001 Durban gion, gender, age, class and disability. The way in which Declaration and Programme of Action and the recom- these intersect can produce varying forms and levels of mendations of the Working Group of Experts on People discrimination for people of African descent. Multiple of African Descent which has been working on this is- discrimination can make identifying Afrophobia diffi- sue since 2002. The purpose of the International Dec- cult in individual cases both for those people experienc- ade is to provide a framework within which the United ing it and those investigating it, but patterns can be ob- Nations, Member States, civil society and other relevant served across larger groups of people, and international actors can work with people of African descent to iden- comparison is particularly useful in this regard. tify and address problems of recognition, justice and development. Afrophobia describes the Afrophobia is a means of identifying prejudice directed hostility, antipathy, contempt at a particular group which dehumanizes the group and denies their humanity, their dignity and personhood1. and aversion expressed Although not widely used to date, the term Afrophobia facilitates the specific analysis of negative attitudes directly and through and feelings towards black people or people of African institutional and legal means, Descent around the world. These can result in limited access to quality education, health services, housing towards people with a and social security, and discrimination in access to justice, with racial profiling and high rates of police background in sub-Saharan violence. Low political participation and opportunity Africa or who belong to the results from and reproduces these forms of discrimina- tion. African diaspora Afrophobia describes the hostility, antipathy, contempt and aversion expressed directly and through institu- Since 2013, the highest number of any single group target- tional and legal means, towards people with a back- ed in the incidents reported to ENAR Ireland has been from ground in sub-Saharan Africa or who belong to the people of African descent, including African migrants, African diaspora. It “manifests itself for example as their children, Europeans and mixed-race Irish. Incidents verbal abuse, spatial segregation and physical attacks have included political hate speech, racist crimes, racist vi- as well as systematic racial discrimination within areas olence, intimidation, racist bullying, illegal practices and such as employment and housing”2, and “is observable discriminatory treatment in housing, education and ser- vice provision, poor policing practices and poor respons- 1 Like Islamophobia, Afrophobia is a term which has been re- es by Gardaí to racist crimes, lack of access to healthcare cently adopted in order to distinguish racism against a particular and employment and persistent and repeated racial har- targeted group. Distinguishing the patterns of racism against particu- lar groups is helpful in identifying the social and linguistic contexts assment. This report describes and explores the range of | ENAR Ireland which facilitate the oppression and violation of the target groups, de- incidents and types of discrimination and exclusion that veloping targeted interventions and measuring the effectiveness of reflect Afrophobia in order to illuminate the experiences those.
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