All black people in Ireland had experienced some form of racism against them ranging from name-calling to physical abuse, an African-Irish man told an anti-racism conference yesterday.
Mr Sahr Yambasu, from the African Solidarity Society, said tackling racism effectively would benefit all people, not just ethnic minorities, "because the whole process will make us more human and we will see that we belong together".
In an impassioned address to the Dublin conference charged with taking the first steps in drawing up a National Action Plan against racism, Mr Yambusa said: "There is not one single black person in Ireland who has not experienced some form of racism against them in terms of name-calling and physical abuse."
"Cultural racism" was a subtle method of endorsing the superiority of one culture over others and was the most "deep-seated" challenge facing us in addressing racism and promoting an inter-cultural society, he added. Mr Yambasu stressed the key role of education in tackling racism.
Earlier, delegates heard from Mr Michael Farrell of the Human Rights Commission that while there had been a growth in racism, it has not yet got a stranglehold on Irish society and could yet be defeated."That's why we need a national action plan. It is a serious problem, it is a potentially devastating problem. We don't want to go down the road of other countries in Europe."
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue, told the conference that Irish people must embrace people from different races and cultures who have been drawn here by the economic boom. "The challenge facing Irish society is to integrate the significant minority born outside Ireland, coming from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds," he told delegates.
"For some in the majority community, the pace of change in recent years has been unexpected, bewildering and unsettling. Some have expressed fears and anxieties, some others unfortunately have reacted, to people of colour in particular, in a hostile and resentful manner." He said the Government last year paid grants totalling €635,000 to 300 community projects in 23 counties under the Know Racism national programme.
The National Action Plan Against Racism arises out of commitments made at a UN world conference last year and is due to be submitted to government by November.
Delegates at the conference endorsed a criticism of the deportation of six men to Nigeria. "A conference on racism must be concerned about the implications of an asylum policy which affects ethnic minorities in our midst," said Sister Anne Scully, who is involved in a support group for asylum-seekers in Limerick.