Sir, - Kevin Myers is a little naive in his view of racist behaviour if he believes that institutions which hold power over individual lives do not interfere with the aspirations of ethnic minorities. It is within such institutions that effective racism can be found.
I lived in London all my life until last year. During that time I naturally worked and socialised with many people of differing ethnic backgrounds. Sometimes these people would be the victims of casual racism from ignorant people. Occasionally they would even be physically attacked, though this was extremely rare. I also knew many white people, Irish and English, who expressed unpleasant racist sentiments when out of earshot of any black faces. However, it was discrimination by employers, police authorities, media representations and educational establishments which were the real cause of concern to black people in London. A casual racist remark can be ignored or confronted according to the situation; a job rejection or a false arrest is of an entirely different quality. It is an event which may alter that individual's entire life.
Mr Myers comments that racist behaviour is prevalent at football grounds. This may be the remnants of racism from the 1970s when it was commonplace for whole football grounds to reverberate to the sound of monkey chants when a black player got the ball. At that time a black player was a rarity because football clubs were inherently racist. These days such behaviour is far less common. What has happened is that the institutions (the football clubs) have rooted out the racism and black players are now represented in virtually every professional club in England. When the institution changes, the individual behaviour changes. If Ireland is to become an ethnically diverse society free of racism it should learn this lesson first. - Yours, etc.,
Andrew Kiely, The Grove, College Wood Park, Clane, Co Kildare.