Jimmy, this is a tremendous piece of writing, thank you so much. I was just checking out your IG and reading your previous posts on these same topics, but putting all these thoughts into this one succinct article is so important in current climate. The last four months have made it more obvious than ever how Ireland isn't decolonised and how the words "decolonisation" has been taken for granted for the longest time.
I've come (and still coming) across an unbelievable number of comments from Irish people on social media expressing their support for Palestine on the basis of "we know what this is like because of our PAST". Over and over again, colonialism is presented as past; as an almost static event that happened and finished, with the alleged "liberation" of Ireland. Trying to nudge people for unpack what they said more often than not ends up with them screaming at me and/or flat out denying that the Irish minds is deeply colonised. What you're so eloquently explaining would of course fall on the same deaf ears as my own words, but you're making waves, make no mistake. After all, I myself had those deaf ears once upon a time. Colonialism persists and survives exactly because it's so entrenched, to the point a colonised mind can't see its colonised. It's a hard pill to swallow, but change is possible and I can see it happening in Ireland in real time.
There's far more I want to say on this than I could possibly write in comments here, and it's definitely a topic I will write about myself in the future. Once again, thank you for your important work.
The Decolonization in Ireland course is brilliant.
Jimmy, I appreciate the point you make at the end about 'the spiritual empire of the Catholic Church' and the Irish missions being an Irish form of empire -building. This rings true.
This is a really great article and makes a lot of great points, but would it be okay if I asked for clarification on two points (though this will require me to quote my sources to fully elaborate the context [I'll prove sources at the end and any links if necessary])?
Hey, gabh mo leithscéal for delayed response. I had to re-hunt some of my sources and it took longer than I would have liked. Also, the more I think about it, the questions can be boiled down to "what are your thoughts on this?" so here goes.
Okay, so my first question is about when you said "This is why there is no such thing as ‘reverse racism’ against white people, because race only makes historical sense in how it supports and has supported the white European systemic domination of the planet. White people may be able to face discrimination in certain circumstances, but it cannot be racism. "
For a long time, this was the standard I used and would have agreed with this entirely, but one of the books I have been reading recently is "meditations on Frantz Fanon's wretched of the earth" by BLA member James Yaki Sayles and in it he says "As I see it, a "racist" is anyone who holds the belief that the human species is divided into a plurality of "races", some of which are superior to others. If you employ a racialized binary ("black"and "white" or "sun people and "snow people") you're a racist and you practice racism--at a minimum, you mistake the shadow for the body and are wasting energy." This is mirrored by Fanon himself when he says in BSWM "For us, he who adores black people is as "sick" as he who detests them. Conversely, the Black man who wants to whiten his race is as detestable as he who preaches hatred for the white."
As for the second question, in response to "and that by virtue of our phenotypic proximity to what became known as ‘Europeans’, we were afforded an ease of assimilation into the white supremacist structures of modernity that other non-white colonised peoples could never access."
While this is true in a lot of cases and this is admittedly an American example, I was wondering your thoughts on these two essays on how malleable race and whiteness is, quoted here for context: “Of course, while those who suffered under the American racial caste system might become Christian, the one thing they couldn’t become was “white”. Or could they? Well bless my cotton socks. Mr. Falwell’s racism and bigotry seem strange (or not?) when we realise that one of his great-grandparents on his mother’s side was a woman named Judith Goins. A woman descended from the Goins folks who were free PEOPLE OF COLOR from Buckingham County, Virginia.”
and "The new 1834 Constitution of Tennessee reset the limits of the voting franchise, depriving “free persons of color” of their right of suffrage. This one-word change to Tennessee’s first state Constitution brought it largely in line with with the norm in neighbouring states. But why did Tennessee differ in the first place? Why did free blacks have the right to vote under the first state Constitution? BECAUSE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR FORMED A SUBSTANTIAL PART OF THE EARLIEST COLONISERS OF INDIAN LANDS IN APPALACHIA."
Plus, this video essay by Chris Newman is informative(Something Else Podcast: Indigenous History of the Chesapeake, Part. I), because while it's based in an afro-lenape perspective, it's useful in relation to our own gaelic ancestors and the choices they made, including the choice to assimilate into whiteness.
Sources cited:
Meditations on Frantz Fanon's wretched of the earth - James Yaki Sayles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq0sbm6dA1w( Critical Race Is Awesome and Here’s Why | TwinRabbit [This is a long video and totally with it, but if you just want how it relates to Irish-ness and whiteness the first 7 minutes are what's relevant here])
Jimmy, this is a tremendous piece of writing, thank you so much. I was just checking out your IG and reading your previous posts on these same topics, but putting all these thoughts into this one succinct article is so important in current climate. The last four months have made it more obvious than ever how Ireland isn't decolonised and how the words "decolonisation" has been taken for granted for the longest time.
I've come (and still coming) across an unbelievable number of comments from Irish people on social media expressing their support for Palestine on the basis of "we know what this is like because of our PAST". Over and over again, colonialism is presented as past; as an almost static event that happened and finished, with the alleged "liberation" of Ireland. Trying to nudge people for unpack what they said more often than not ends up with them screaming at me and/or flat out denying that the Irish minds is deeply colonised. What you're so eloquently explaining would of course fall on the same deaf ears as my own words, but you're making waves, make no mistake. After all, I myself had those deaf ears once upon a time. Colonialism persists and survives exactly because it's so entrenched, to the point a colonised mind can't see its colonised. It's a hard pill to swallow, but change is possible and I can see it happening in Ireland in real time.
There's far more I want to say on this than I could possibly write in comments here, and it's definitely a topic I will write about myself in the future. Once again, thank you for your important work.
The Decolonization in Ireland course is brilliant.
Jimmy, I appreciate the point you make at the end about 'the spiritual empire of the Catholic Church' and the Irish missions being an Irish form of empire -building. This rings true.
Thank you Rionach :)
This is a really great article and makes a lot of great points, but would it be okay if I asked for clarification on two points (though this will require me to quote my sources to fully elaborate the context [I'll prove sources at the end and any links if necessary])?
Sure, fire away, I just can't promise when or how quickly I'll get back depending on how involved the questions are!
Also, one more source I forgot to mention is the essay "Race: A shadow longer than Modernity" by Phila M Msimang.
https://www.academia.edu/29817126/Race_A_shadow_longer_than_modernity_2015
Another one of the sources I for to mention: https://beforewewerewhite.podbean.com/e/episode-13-black-paddywhackery-part-2/ (this is a long one, considering that with the part before this, it is almost 3 hour podcast and also relevant to the Chris Newman podcast and The Brilliant podcast I posted.)
Hey, gabh mo leithscéal for delayed response. I had to re-hunt some of my sources and it took longer than I would have liked. Also, the more I think about it, the questions can be boiled down to "what are your thoughts on this?" so here goes.
Okay, so my first question is about when you said "This is why there is no such thing as ‘reverse racism’ against white people, because race only makes historical sense in how it supports and has supported the white European systemic domination of the planet. White people may be able to face discrimination in certain circumstances, but it cannot be racism. "
For a long time, this was the standard I used and would have agreed with this entirely, but one of the books I have been reading recently is "meditations on Frantz Fanon's wretched of the earth" by BLA member James Yaki Sayles and in it he says "As I see it, a "racist" is anyone who holds the belief that the human species is divided into a plurality of "races", some of which are superior to others. If you employ a racialized binary ("black"and "white" or "sun people and "snow people") you're a racist and you practice racism--at a minimum, you mistake the shadow for the body and are wasting energy." This is mirrored by Fanon himself when he says in BSWM "For us, he who adores black people is as "sick" as he who detests them. Conversely, the Black man who wants to whiten his race is as detestable as he who preaches hatred for the white."
As for the second question, in response to "and that by virtue of our phenotypic proximity to what became known as ‘Europeans’, we were afforded an ease of assimilation into the white supremacist structures of modernity that other non-white colonised peoples could never access."
While this is true in a lot of cases and this is admittedly an American example, I was wondering your thoughts on these two essays on how malleable race and whiteness is, quoted here for context: “Of course, while those who suffered under the American racial caste system might become Christian, the one thing they couldn’t become was “white”. Or could they? Well bless my cotton socks. Mr. Falwell’s racism and bigotry seem strange (or not?) when we realise that one of his great-grandparents on his mother’s side was a woman named Judith Goins. A woman descended from the Goins folks who were free PEOPLE OF COLOR from Buckingham County, Virginia.”
and "The new 1834 Constitution of Tennessee reset the limits of the voting franchise, depriving “free persons of color” of their right of suffrage. This one-word change to Tennessee’s first state Constitution brought it largely in line with with the norm in neighbouring states. But why did Tennessee differ in the first place? Why did free blacks have the right to vote under the first state Constitution? BECAUSE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR FORMED A SUBSTANTIAL PART OF THE EARLIEST COLONISERS OF INDIAN LANDS IN APPALACHIA."
Plus, this video essay by Chris Newman is informative(Something Else Podcast: Indigenous History of the Chesapeake, Part. I), because while it's based in an afro-lenape perspective, it's useful in relation to our own gaelic ancestors and the choices they made, including the choice to assimilate into whiteness.
Sources cited:
Meditations on Frantz Fanon's wretched of the earth - James Yaki Sayles
https://beforewewerewhite.com/2023/06/17/god-mammon-and-race-politics/
https://beforewewerewhite.com/2020/09/19/old-data-new-data/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiYG5gvAXLY (Something Else Podcast: Indigenous History of the Chesapeake, Part. I)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq0sbm6dA1w( Critical Race Is Awesome and Here’s Why | TwinRabbit [This is a long video and totally with it, but if you just want how it relates to Irish-ness and whiteness the first 7 minutes are what's relevant here])
https://thebrilliant.org/podcast/episode-nine-indigineity-ii/ ( Let me know if you want me to quote the relevant bits, since the podcast is afull hour but the relevant part happens from 27 minutes onwards.).