The editorial in today's Irish Examiner, is a great example of this.
Could the fact that the population of New Orleans is predominantly both black and poor explain why the city's anti-flood defences were ill-prepared?You want to suggest that poor areas are more prone to suffer in natural disasters, I'm ready to listen. But, to suggest that the people of the United States are so bigoted that they'd deliberately allow their fellow citizens suffer and die because they're black is outrageous. I'm sure there'll be a lengthy inquiry into why those levees failed on Tuesday, but I'm just as sure that the issue of the skin color of the people of New Orleans will not feature. Poverty? Probably, but not race.
I know that the United States has struggled with racial issues. And, despite the progress in the 20th century, race is still a problem, but it's nothing like it was and I'm not sure it was ever as bad as is suggested in this question.
What's more, is that Irish people have their own prejudices. Okay, maybe the people aren't black, but I've heard more than one middle class Dubliner refer to "knackeragua" (or whatever) when talking about the tough, poor urban neighborhoods. To outsiders it may be difficult to distinguish between the people who live in these areas from the rest of the city's population, but one thing I've learned is that middle class Dubliners can as sure as if the others were a different skin color. They can tell by the look, the style or the walk when someone comes from one of those neighborhoods they never venture into.
If there were a disaster that wiped out the social infrastructure on the east coast of Ireland, I'm sure those who live in "knackeragua" would suffer most. It's unfortunate, but true.
