Derry Journal Editorial: Racism is a cancer that turns aggressive and deadly if left unchallenged
In some ways what happened at the weekend was inevitable given the events which have led up to it over recent years and the insidious racism and xenophobia being spread by a tiny but dangerous minority that have undoubtedly found a foothold on this island.
Racism is a cancer and the more it is is ignored the more aggressive it gets. The events at the weekend did not happen in a vaccum, far from it. For years now we have seen immigrants, refugees, people who come here seeking sanctuary or escaping extreme poverty, being scapegoated for the ills of society and political failures and targeted by racists keen to exploit discontent and spread malicious falsehoods.
We have seen it in the attacks on buildings, we have seen its escalation through name calling, casual remarks, physical assaults, graffiti sprayed on homes, death threats, businesses being petrol bombed.
You sometimes hear it too in the blame game when someone cannot get a health care appointment or a house, and that is not restricted to one community or one side of the border. We must challenge this wherever it arises. Migrants and people from minority communities didn’t cause the housing or health crisis. The failure to properly prepare and provide for the future is largely a political one.
Long before Covid, health appointments were becoming as rare as hen’s teeth in many places while the housing crisis has been growing year on year for many, many years.
Mayor Seenoi-Barr is right that the conversation needs to change too. We should expect politicians and others to lead that change, not only to tackle racism, Islamophobia and hate crime and tackle housing and health, but also promote integration, acceptance, inclusion and douse the smouldering sparks this small minority are intent on inflaming.