A chara, - John Waters raises thought-provoking questions with his customary eloquence in his column of September 16th, "Lost for words over attacks on Enda Kenny".
A chara, - John Waters raises thought-provoking questions with his customary eloquence in his column of September 16th, "Lost for words over attacks on Enda Kenny". I write in support of his withering criticism of "small-town gobshitery of the lowest order" (a turn of phrase that deserves a place in any book of Irish quotations). I do so because I do not think that we should ever take a backward step from the ugly face of racism in all its odious guises.
The history of the word "nigger" is much more complex than our would-be legislators of good taste are willing to allow. The students of English whom I teach at Trinity come to us with little knowledge of their own history, and it goes without saying that they have no Latin (and less Greek), though, unlike Queen's University, Belfast, we make excellent and successful efforts to teach them the classical languages and literatures.
I called one of my friends at Monmouth School ager as soon as we learned the Latin for "field" and in the same way Guy Gibson, V.C., called his beloved dog "nigger" because it was black (Lat. niger). Are we then to censor the film of The Dambusters ? The English can hardly be held to account for the racism of the American South.
Perhaps the answer is repeated showings of The Dambuster on RTE, for then we shall see that Guy Gibson's dog was called "nigger" because it was black and beautiful, and as such it was the object of universal love and affection. - Is mise,
GERALD MORGAN, FTCD,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2.