The Irish Travellers - Failures in Education and Health - Research Paper Example

Running head: THE TRAVELLERS The Travellers: Racism in Ireland (school affiliation) Traditionally a nomadic people of Irish origin, the Irish Travellers are not, as many believe, related to the romani, gypsies often found in countries throughout eastern and western Europe of murky decent but thought to have their roots in India. Travellers, or as they are more colloquially called Irish gypsies, to the best of what is known have their cultural roots in Ireland. As a group living within the country but outside of the Irish cultural mainstream, they have been the target of racism--singled out for scorn, ridicule and unequal treatment not only by their fellow Irishman but by Irish institutions, the result of which has been the perpetuation of the perception of the group as a negative influence on the culture. Evidence of this is clear in the way the group identifies itself as opposed to how others identify them. While Travellers call themselves pavees, they are often referred to by their fellow Irishman as pikeys, knackers and gypos—all highly derogatory terms essentially shorthand for pickpockets and thieves. A visitor to Ireland might hear them called “tinkers,” a seemingly benign term but also derogatory in that according to Irish legend tinkers, or tinsmiths were on some level involved in the making the cross of Christ. The actual designation, however, may have more to do with the fact that Travellers to present move from town to town selling and repairing pots among other occupations. Hedican (2000) in his review of Heilleiner writes, “The origins of the Irish Travellers ...are... obscure” (p.1). Using history as a guide, Hedican (2000), as do other scholars, suggests, “One origin myth sees them as the remnants of Irish nobles thrown off their estates by the Cromwellian purge of Irish landed aristocracy...Another account traces their origins to the Great Famine of the late 1840s” (p. 1). Countering the latter theory, legend and history traces the potential origins of the group as far back as pre-Celtic minstrels. Since Travellers have no written history, it is impossible to say, and the debate continues. Though much of what is said and known is peripheral, scholarly studies present clear evidence regarding how and why these nomadic people have come to be singled out in their country, and also the part which racism, in all its forms, plays in that exclusion. Institutional Racism In 2005 the United Nations, concerned about Irish institutional and government policies regarding Travellers, demanded an accounting from the government to the International Covenant for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in Geneva. According to a Pavee Point Traveller’s Centre press release (2005), the UN expressed concern about what it termed “institutional government policies against Irish Travellers as a minority ethnic group...and their (Irish Republic) failure to acknowledge that Travellers experience racism/racial discrimination” (Pavee, 2005, para. 2-3). Among the concerns listed were high rates of unemployment; high Traveller school drop out rate; and the “refusal of many doctors under the health care system to accept Travellers as patients and “lack of government action on this (latter) issue” (Pavee, 2005, para. 4-6). Clearly the fact that the United Nations saw fit to address these issues indicates a strong case that the Irish government itself has been party to policies that show racial bias and discrimination against this already marginalized group. In his paper, McLaughlin (1998) suggests the following which provides insights into the basis upon which racism against Travellers has, through social attitudes over time, achieved institutional status within the culture at large. McLaughlin suggests the following: ...that the modernization and industrialization of Irish society in recent decades caused Travellers to be placed at the ‘hostile’ end of the tradition-modernity continuum. More recently still, it is argued, new strategies of social closure have emerged which are pushing Travellers to the urban fringes of Irish society. Thus quasi-biological constructs of community as ‘kith and kin’ here are not unlike the ‘blood and soil’ nationalism of mainland Europe, and these are aggravating anti-Traveller racism (Abstract, para. 1). The politics of exclusion based on race as it affects assimilation of Travellers into the larger community is discussed at length by Fanning (2002), who found Travellers “have faced deepening hostility since the 1960s when efforts to assimilate them into such communities began” (p. 112). Yet the government persists in its failed efforts at assimilation which essentially as proposed leaves the Travellers without recognized cultural identity. Fanning goes on to say that despite this reality the government has done little to nothing to assess the problem or the roots of “discrimination against Travellers in social policy” (p. 112.). More recent studies promoting monocultural nation building have created an environment that reinforces “the persistence of institutional racism...(and) longstanding denial of Traveller ethnicity...anti-Traveller racism...racialization of Travellers as a deviant sub-group...” (p. 152). Failures in Education and Health Fanning writes, “The experiences of Travellers in the areas of health, education and accommodation illustrate the failures of social policy...” (p. 161). They experience higher death rates, infant mortality, and their life expectancy is approximately 50 years behind their counterparts. These tendencies show no signs of improving. As previously stated, drop out rates are two-thirds the entire population from secondary school, which supports Crowley’s view that, “Implicit racism (in Irish society) sets strict limits on how much social benefit Travellers could gain from formal education” (p. 135). Initiatives meant to improve the lives of the dominant group (Irish nationals) apparently do not do so for groups including the Travellers still held as outsiders and thus inferior. (Fanning, p. 162) Based on information presented by Fanning (2002), inequalities in the areas of health and education are astounding. Fanning (2002) quotes Niall Crowley, the inaugural Director of the Equality Authority as he describes the inequalities as “graphic evidence of institutional racism” (p. 162). Despite tacit changes in policy, disparities between the general population and Travellers in these areas have not diminished over the years. Despite significant studies pointing to these discrepancies, polices remain geared to the general population and the society in general continues to try to force the square peg (Travellers) into the round hole of overall Irish society, then judge it negatively when results are poor. It is a racist formula based on norms that do not recognize the ethnicity and social problems encountered by the group. Regarding racism and the administration of health services, Fanning points out refusal by doctors to treat Travellers as ongoing despite changes in health administrative policies on a national level that insure doctors will be paid for services. Also according to Fanning, while the government addressed this issue it fails to address what he calls the “fear factor... identified as a (major) cause of discrimination” (p. 163). This fear factor, as stated, is the same reaction experienced in any society where racism and discrimination against an outsider group is entrenched and supports an aversion to that group. Fanning maintains that the government does not do enough to address the issue of social perception that might ally these fears through better understanding and empathy concerning the target group. (p. 163) National Settlement Policies Ireland’s attempt to force Travellers away from there customary nomadic lifestyle into settlements is an interesting study not only in the lack of acceptance of cultural features that define the group, but also as an ill-defined elitist action plan designed to assimilate a group “in need of reform” (Crowley, p.128). In her paper, Crowley details how racist state policies “‘problematized’ the existence of Irish Travellers” and how “it became possible for different authorities...to consider it legitimate and necessary to settle, ‘assimilate’ and ‘rehabilitate’ Travellers” (p. 129). Demonizing the Traveller population was the first step toward the above move, and in the 1950s, when Great Britain as well as Western Europe in general was suffering severe economic setbacks, it was convenient to do this by singling out in racist fashion Travellers as criminals without morals or social conscience, which eventually led to attacks on the entire group. With the advent of Ireland’s new identity as a modern industrialized nation, Travellers and their non-traditional lifestyle became “viewed as a hindrance to progress and modernization, and their increasing...visibility an embarrassment” (Crowley, p. 130). Laws designed to “contain” the group offered authorities powers heretofore non-existent, and Ireland was well on its way toward “facilitating the social isolation and marginalization of Travellers” (p. 132). In the end, the lack of success of the settlements for numerous social and political reasons ironically led to further justification for racial discrimination that blamed “the lack of progress in settling, rehabilitating and assimilating Travellers” squarely on the backs of the Travellers themselves “as a group ‘without value and beyond improvement’” (Crowley, p. 143 quoting Dean (1999) 146). Conclusion In conclusion, perhaps the most straightforward though admittedly non-scholarly commentary on racism against Travellers comes from the publication Red and Black Revolution (1995). The condemnation, evocatively disturbing, reads as follows: The racism practised against Travellers in Ireland is so all pervasive that it is not recognised as such except by a small minority of progressive people...Travellers are marginalised and excluded from all of the institutions and structures of Irish society. The racism they experience operates at both the individual and the institutional level. At an institutional level Travellers have to sign for the dole and for welfare at separate times. In the case of Dublin, Travellers claiming welfare from the Health Board have to do so at a completely separate and segregated clinic. Over the past 18 months, there has been a substantial increase in physical and ideological attacks on them. Incidents recorded include an elderly couple attacked on the beach in Bantry, Co. Cork, by hired thugs...(para. 3-5). Granted, the report above is just that, and we are now fourteen years from these events, the reality that racism against Travellers continues in Ireland. The Irish government’s refusal to recognize the group as a separate cultural unit allows it to also deny charges on that basis of racial discrimination. McVeigh found it “a shocking announcement to many who were hopeful Irish Government policy towards Travellers... seemed to be incrementally if slowly improving since a 1995 Task Force Report” (McVeigh, p. 90). McVeigh argues that Irish ethnicity denial sets a dangerous international precedent – especially since the Irish example is never grounded empirically, but is rather a simple assertion of ‘view’” (p. 90). In short, it is a convenient stance that essentially absolves the Irish from admitting that the Travellers can legitimately and legally be victims of racism. The consequences of this position is obvious in that it allows the Irish government to continue its policy of forcing the group along with its ethnic traditions into a mold that suits the national identity to which Ireland is committed. The group, then, if not completely assimilated into Irish culture is doomed forever to live on its perimeters--despised, mistrusted and in many instances abused by both government and citizens. McVeigh further questions whether what he terms ‘ethnicity denial’ “...can ever guarantee protection from racism” (p. 91), and, as one might rightly conclude, whether the government or the country in general is even interested in the latter when concerning Travellers. McVeigh (2007), quoting from a Commission for Racial Equality Traveller strategy paper provides an up-to-date picture of racism against Travellers that is ongoing and pernicious. All the evidence shows that Travellers and Gypsies are some of the most vulnerable and marginalised ethnic minority groups in Britain. ‘No Travellers’ signs in pubs and shops can still be seen today, and councils no longer have a statutory duty to provide sites for Gypsy and Traveller families, spending small fortunes each year evicting them, instead. Gypsy and Traveller children are taunted and bullied in school, local residents are openly hostile to them, and scare stories in the media fuel prejudice and make racist attitudes acceptable (p. 121). It is a situation one would hardly think existed in a modern nation such as Ireland. Yet, the fate of nomadic peoples everywhere may depend upon future decisions regarding the Travellers as an example of racism by any other name, so to speak. To engage in cunning verbal nuances in an effort to deny the existence of racism within a culture is a dangerous practice, one that no matter how prosperous or progressive the nation will always prevent its acceptance in the international community as one dedicated in good faith to the welfare of all its people. References Crowley, U.M. (2005). “Liberal Rule through None Liberal Means: The Attempted Settlement of Irish Travellers (1955-1975).” Irish Geography, 38:2, 128-150. Retrieved from http://www.ucd.ie/gsi/pdf/38-2/travel.pdf Fanning, B. (2002). Racism and Social Change in the Republic of Ireland. Manchester, England: University Press. Hedican, E.J. (2005). Review: Helleiner, J. “Irish Travellers: Racism and the Politics of Culture.” The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 42:1, 117+. Retreived from www.questia.com. MacLaughlin, J. (1998). “The Political Geography of Anti-Traveller Racism in Ireland: The Politics of Exclusion and the Geography of Closure.” Political Geography, 17:4, (May, 1998), 417-435. Available online 11 June, 1998. doi:10.1016/S0962- 6298(97)00023-1. Retrieved from:  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VG23SX88M9 3&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ searchStrId=1113187193&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_ version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=62b8ca0a00edf445c577c441bd75 9f5b McCarthy, P. (1995). “Travelers Fighting Back.” Red and Black Revolution, Vol 2, 22. Retrieved from http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/rbr/travrbr2.html McVeigh, R. (2007). “‘Ethnicity Denial’ and Racism: The Case of the Government of Ireland Against Irish Travellers.” Translocations, 2:1. Posted from Translocations: The Irish Migration, Race and Social Transformation Review. http://www.translocations.ie. Retrieved from http://www.dcu.ie/imrstr/volume1issue2/volume1issue2-6.pdf Pavee Point Travellers Centre. (2005). Promoting Travellers Human Rights Press Release: Irish Government Policy on Travellers under Scrutiny at United Nations. http://paveepoint.ie/press_feb_05_02.html . Read More