GARETH MURPHY,
Sir, - I would like to commend John Waters for his column of September 16th. I have just read Mark Twain's anti-racist, anti-slavery classic, Huckleberry Finn, in which the forbidden word "nigger" is used time and again, in keeping with the parlance of the times.
Are we thus to presume that if Mr Kenny had stood up and quoted passages from this book, he would have been spouting racist rhetoric? According to the logic of some journalists in this country, we would be entitled to make such an assumption. This conclusion is nonsense: although one might find the word on its own offensive, it must be analysed in the context in which it was uttered for a conclusion of racist intent to be reached.
Mr Twain certainly did not have racist intent when he uttered the word, and it is quite clear that neither did Mr Kenny. To find otherwise is to ignore the vital concept of the context in which words are used, a concept of which journalists, of all people, should be intensely aware. - Yours, etc.,
GARETH MURPHY,
Ashton Close,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.
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Sir, - Amnesty International's campaign for leadership against racism in Ireland highlighted the lack of initiative among Irish politicians in taking a strong stand against racism. At the time of the campaign we asked the Government to take, and be seen to be taking, a public and unified stance against all forms of racism, intolerance and xenophobia.
Last year, an Amnesty survey on racism in Ireland highlighted the degree of racist harassment on the streets of Ireland, much of it accompanied by verbal insults. There are very, very few contexts in which the use of racist epithets in any form are acceptable. All our political parties have been vociferous in the past in condemning racist jokes and racist slurs against Irish people, and rightly so.
Language is part of a power structure which gives one group privileges over another. This is why, in seeking to build a truly egalitarian society, we should signal loudly and clearly what is offensive and what is not acceptable. If we are to quash racist harassment on the streets and uphold human rights for everyone regardless of their ethnicity, we also need to do so in the corridors of power.
It is now time to ensure that there is no tolerance for any kind of racist language in Irish politics. This means that all political parties should make clear that any racist allusions, jokes, slurs or innuendo will meet with the censure and suspension of the individual followed by a formal inquiry into the matter. - Yours, etc.,
KATRINA GOLDSTONE,
Anti Racism
Policy Officer,
Amnesty International,
Fleet Street,
Dublin 2.