Racist thugs a scourge on our society - Editorial
The sickening racist attacks in Derry’s Waterside over recent days are the latest in a long line of similar horrific instances stretching back years.
Most of us cannot fathom what it is like to live every day knowing that some people you pass by on the street will judge and pass sentence upon you because of the colour of your skin.
We have mouthpieces spouting vile racist hatred and seemingly allowed to do so in public and online without consequence, without being held to account for the vitriolic lies they spill forth or the violence that their words can incite.
We have cowardly gangs roaming in the shadows – and this is particularly, although not exclusively, the case in Loyalist areas – who think nothing of attacking a person they know nothing about simply because of their skin colour, religion, ethnic background or place of origin.
While a small minority, their actions are a scourge on our society, a malignant growth and anyone protecting such people should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Anyone who finds themselves agreeing with the racist rhetoric of little Irelanders online likewise needs to take a long, hard look at themselves.
Everyone should feel safe here. It is a privilege and a compliment that people from differing walks of life want to make their home here, raise a family or work in this city. Some people have ended up here fleeing persecution, war and extreme poverty. How we treat them and how we treat each other is the true measure of who we are as human beings. Not one less.
- Brendan McDaid
Editor, Derry Journal.