Sir, - There has been something of a furore about Amnesty's billboard campaign on racism. Under photographs of Bertie Ahern, Mary Harney and John O'Donoghue, an anonymous text tells us that "some say they are involved with racism; some say they are against it." Like many others, I don't know what this means or whether it is intended to suggest that these people are racists. I don't think they are and I feel that the campaign was misconceived and misguided.
This is not to suggest that politicians, and the rest of us, are not guilty of racism, whether deliberately or through sins of omission. Last Wednesday's first paper in the Leaving Certificate, on the theme of "Irishness", is a classic example. Quotations from six white Irish individuals did at least include one emigrant, both sexes and people from various parts of the country. But there was little trace, in the choice of speakers or the content of the excerpts used, of the diverse Ireland in which we live today.
Imagine a paper on "Irishness" with six male individuals holding forth on the topic; there would rightly be an uproar (a notorious tourist publicity poster on "Famous Irish Writers", all of them male, comes to mind). Imagine you are an Irish person of Somali, German or mixed ethnic origin. Imagine you are a new citizen of this country, irrespective of your place of origin. Imagine you are a Traveller. You would find no resonances in the extracts used.
Yet it is impossible to exaggerate the significance of role models in validating a person's own sense of identity and acceptability in society. I feel that the choice of a theme such as "Irishness", if it is to avoid being merely mawkish, can be justified only if it really challenges received ideas about our society and culture. This year's Leaving Cert question on the topic did not do this.
The education system is central to the transmission of our core values as a society. We need, not billboard campaigns, but a root and branch reconsideration of the content of core curriculum subjects taught in our schools. The aim should not be to jettison our traditional cultural values, but to view them and value them within the contemporary context of a vibrant, multicultural Irish society. - Yours, etc.,
Piaras Mac Eininri, Director, Irish Centre for Migration Studies,University College, Cork.