DukeEngage participant Cara Peterson relates her eye-opening experiences of attitudes to diversity and integration in Ireland today
I knew the first week of DukeEngage Dublin was bound to put me into a bit of a whirlwind of new information, as all truly educational experiences should. Our group of eight students, who had come to Ireland to work with migrants and refugees, met with a host of various local professionals and scholars on topics relevant to the work we would be doing. Together we tried to understand the changing Irish social landscape and then explored topics like discrimination, the Irish economy, race, immigrants, religion, and working with separated children seeking asylum without parental guardians.
We also participated in more immersive activities, such as an observation exercise where we broke into pairs and were assigned a diverse area of Dublin. We were to observe our surroundings and to strike up a conversation if the opportunity presented itself. One pair of students talked with a group of Nigerian men working in a hair salon, while another pair undertook a social experiment in which they pretended to be a biracial couple to gauge reaction. When we gathered back together as a group to discuss afterwards, the second pair shared – with considerable surprise – that local people would often do double takes or walk past them twice. One man even covered his face with his hand!
As a group of eight students from the US, mostly from cosmopolitan cities like New York and Washington DC, we are so used to having a multi-racial, multi-ethic population that the sight of a biracial couple does not appear very shocking or even strange. Yet we realised from these personal accounts, and the history we are learning, that immigration into Ireland is a relatively new phenomenon. Ireland is a country that’s still adjusting from a relatively homogeneous population to a more diverse one. Therefore, discrimination on the basis of race is a new problem in Ireland, whereas in our country – often referred to as a melting pot – it is an issue that has been continually, if inadequately, addressed over a long period of time. The US and Ireland are at different stages.
While this was eye-opening, the most thought-provoking experience of the week was another immersive assignment: a trip to the Clonskeagh Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre. After almost accidentally walking straight into the male prayer section of the centre, as a group of three girls we were still welcomed warmly and showed around by a nice man at reception. After about half an hour of answering questions, he took us to an administrative office to meet Dr Ali Salim, a teacher and author.
The first comment he made was in response to a question about the process of integration for his congregation. He said that ‘integration’ was an older word that he would not use to describe the experience of the Muslim population he worked with, because they no longer considered themselves immigrants. They had moved to Ireland during the economic boom because they were mostly highly skilled professionals drawn to the area for economic opportunity. They had settled and raised families in Dublin and considered themselves part of the population. In a word, they were Irish.
Dr Salim also provided my favourite quotation of our first weeks in Ireland: “When you hold power over people in your hand, what do they hold for you in their hearts? Too often it is hatred.” He was speaking in reference to actions and symbols of religious intolerance, such as the ban of headscarves in France, but his words struck a chord with the themes we’ve been considering since we arrived.
Fidele Mutwarasibo of the Immigrant Council of Ireland spoke along the same lines when talking about his work and personal experiences. He said that when a portion of the population is treated like second-class citizens – whether it be by charging them a much higher fee for education, or simply by shouts of racial slurs on the street – that group will almost certainly grow spiteful. This should concern us all.
Cara Peterson is a student at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in Ireland as part of the DukeEngage programme.
