Wednesday 5 October 2011

I don't Like Black, Asian or Gay People





So I've recently had a conversation, with a friend of a friend. He was such a nice guy until he sprung it upon me the actual fact that he's a rampant racist and is quite comfortable in being so. To some extent I think he was trying to bulk up his personality to come across as cool or opinionated.


Let's set the scene. We're in a bar and the girls are dancing, we're just chilling on the sofas and chatting. He was totally enamoured with my Irish nationality and we got to discussing what we studied at university. He studied sports management; I study Abuse Studies which he screwed up his face at.

He eventually spoke about how he doesn’t really think human rights are relevant and how in the UK our human rights aren’t as good as in other countries. At the time I spent half the conversation trying to source what he meant by Human Rights.

 
He spoke how he thought immigration in the UK should be banned; there were too many immigrants and the fact that he couldn’t wear his hood up to "hide his identity" but “Asians” can wear “head things” to hide theirs. Why is he hiding his identity in the first place? It gets better... He also said he doesn’t like black people because "they think they own the place". Gay People are another "dislike" of his. He doesn’t mind gay people who don’t let people know they're gay. People shouldn’t wear or flaunt their sexuality. They should accept that they don’t have boobs and move on.

 
When I challenged him, his response was that he has some Asian, Black and Gay friends and he doesn’t mind them. But for these groups of people he gave me examples of why he doesn’t like them, these being based on experiences he has had. These experiences were based on a very limited sample of people.

He also gave me a scenario where he wanted a job at his dads work and he didn’t get it because an Asian person got it. I suggested that maybe this person got the job because he was more qualified or suitable for the position. He disagreed and simply put him not getting the job down to him being white.

Me being totally sober I let him rant nodded along. I let him have his space to talk openly. Then it was my turn...

I didn’t see how he could brand a whole race of people based on his experiences of just a hand full of people. He took my point on board but it wasn’t staying on board. It became blatantly obvious that this racist streak was deeply indoctrinated. No matter what I said he came back with a rubbish example of why he doesn’t like “them”. What is them? I think this is the very essence of humanity that we could do without. We brutalise each other’s souls because we fear the unknown. People are different. I think as human beings it’s our duty to step outside our comfort zones, explore the unknown and take each person as an individual. Not what they are or who they are.

Does racism come down to the fact that the individual isn’t that bright and thinks that he is culturally superior to everyone else? It’s a problem we’ve had since the dawn of time. In the new age of diversity and globalisation it’s now more than ever a major issue.

Open your mind but don’t lose sight of your values.
Please leave me your thoughts.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Burnt toast...



Writing your own script is something my best friend have been discussing recently. I think it's an incredibly insightful issue. (The script being the life plan) so here it goes:

He feels like he has this script in his life that he wants to write but instead the push and pull factors in his life can sometimes end up overwriting the script for him. Be it family members, educational or financial choices. To be fair I can only admit that some of these are inevitable, but for those that aren't?

How can we steer away from people making or influencing choices for us based on what they want. Essentially some people who have power in relationships use it to get what they want, this isn't always malicious and it can sometimes simply boil down to the fact that these roles of power are assumed. We can sometimes just take these choices for granted and accept them because we 'have to' or to 'keep the peace'. I think it's important to know when to accept these. If it's possible assertively overcome the things that you don't want to do, and compromise.

I think its relatively easy to get lost in trying to please others and forget about yourself. By no means am I promoting being selfish, but I'm not advocating being entirely selfless either. While its important to be nice I do think there is an altruistic element that people can exploit.

Burnt toast! This usually happens with Female Figures of the family. They make toast for breakfast, bring the toast holder over to the table and even though there is lots of other perfectly edible pieces available. They take the burnt toast so they can assure the best experience for the rest of the family at the breakfast table. I'm being careful not to over generalise but i hope you get where I'm going with this.

When is the last time you had BURNT TOAST?
Feel free to comment or email me ciaranweir91@googlemail.com

Tuesday 26 April 2011

To new beginings parte deux

I haven't posted anything in over a year. My reason? I've moved from Northern Ireland to England for Uni.

When i started this blog i decided it had to have a clear, consistent theme.
I've decided to scrap that theme. Still sticking with the controversial and things that i cant help wondering about. I've decided to draw a more personal touch to the blog.

Feel free to get intouch... www.twitter.com/CiaranWeir

To new beginings Parte Deux