Sheikh Shaheed @Large
A few weeks ago Toyosi Shitta-bey was brutally killed in Tyrrelstown, which is close to where I live and where I spend a lot of time in the community. Like others, I also visited the house and sympathised with the family on their sad bereavement.
This was a crime alleged by some to be motivated by racism. But was it? Certainly the victim was black and of Nigerian ancestry, but just because a person with black skin is murdered does not in and of itself define the crime as racist.
However, some in the media – this paper included – seemed to judge the attackers as racist before they were charged with any offence. But why?
The definition of what constitutes a racist crime varies widely. The NCCRI defined it as “violence that is in part or in total motivated by racism against the person or property”. Far more broadly, Derbyshire police in the UK define a racist incident as “any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person”. These are vastly different criteria; one deals with motivation, the other with perception. There is no easy definition.
This does not get away from the fact that the killing of Toyosi was a heinous crime under any circumstances, or that Toyosi’s family are devastated beyond description, probably for many years to come.
In 2009, according to the Central Statistics Office, there were 53 murders in Ireland. Obviously all of these were tragedies for the victims and their families, but how many were racist? Or indeed, does the motivation for such a crime even matter?
Is Toyosi’s killing any more heart-wrenching than the murder of Ronaid Murray, from Glenageary, who was stabbed to death at the age of 17, or Melissa Mahon from Sligo, who was strangled at the age of 14 by her ‘lover’, a man in his 40s? What marches were held in their memory?
Certainly some media reports alleged that Toyosi’s killing was racist and that racial epithets were uttered against the young man during the incident. But in what sense did this tragedy warrant a march and endless media coverage of the so-called threat against immigrants?
I raise these questions following the scathing attack on Imam Shehu Adetola Adeniji in this very paper, on the basis that he was not in favour of the march for Toyosi. Nobody is above criticism, but the nature of the attack was quite unfair. Metro Éireann does make great efforts to portray the immigrant community as very diverse, but as soon as one prominent member of that community dares to give a point of view at odds with their consensus, she or he is demonised.
Imam Adeniji was not the only one who had concerns about the appropriateness of the march. It is not as if Toyosi’s killing was one in a series of racist murders; by all accounts it was an isolated incident, even if it is eventually proven to be racist.
There is racism in all countries, but racist incidents in Ireland are quite rare, certainly compared to our EU neighbours. That is not to underplay the level of racism that does exist, but to put it into real perspective.
To be continued…
Dr Shaheed Satardien is imam of the West Dublin Islamic Society, president of the Muslim Council of Ireland, chairman of the European Muslim Council for Justice, Peace and Equality, co-ordinator of the Interfaith Roundtable and the 2006 Visionary of Peace Award winner
sheikhshaheed@gmail.com
