‘What does Irishness look like?’
Nigerian/Irish radio presenter Wuraola Majekodunmi tweets:
I’m so excited to share it with you all! Thanks so much to everyone who helped with it, really appreciate it, The subject matter means a lot to me and many others…
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I must admit when I hear an Irish accent coming from a non white person, I smile. I can see how it can be annoying but the joke is on me because it is so bloody hardwired to assume. I’m not proud of that and I have a non white friend who does likewise but what these guys may not realise is that there is a lot of people who actually like their preconceptions being challenged. We are still on a learning curve here lads, so bear with us.
Either way, good luck to you all.
same here. It’s always such a pleasant surprise.
This was an incredible video! Thank you for doing this, and for sharing.
In a peculiar way I can definitely sympathise. As someone born in Dublin but grew up in Kildare, for some reason I get the same question as people think I have an American accent. I have had this in my home town by people who moved in many years after me. .
And the duality? My grandmother was English, a great grandfather was Scottish: does that make me less Irish than those without such lineage?
And no, I am not trying to steal the issue from them: I never get the looks referred to here.When I explain, people just think I spent time in the US (I did not, really, beyond holidays).
I am Irish! I am proud to be Irish! And I am proud to call all those on this video and those who have come to my country in the last years and gained citizenship, my fellow country men and women!
You make our culture stronger! You make our country a better place to be.
why do you speak with an American accent?
I don’t! But I have spent a lot of time overseas, and I think I may have changed my use of idioms.
Until I get home again for a while, anyway!
people generally can’t believe I’m Irish. it’s my otherworldly beauty, most likely.
That and your natural air of sophistication.
well, that’s not really for me to say… but, yes
They think you’re English?
only that one time i got sozzled and tried to ride a handpuppet in the departures lounge
Sure we’ve all done that. It must be something else.
nice to hear. my nan made a big deal about it.
Ollie Cromwell and Co must ah took a stroke when this thread was pinned up
They’re off there somewhere sloping n’ drooping n’ praying they don’t end up in ‘Vincents
What a fantastic video, I love the diversity.
Sure isn’t it grand.
A multi-cultural society is a wonderful thing.
Excellent video.Well done.
claptrap
we should take back control of our borders and kick out the foreigners
Excellent.
Makes me think of that piece by Louis CK about mild racism: https://youtu.be/yzh7RtIJKZk
The problem is that what they people are describing may possibly be racism or it may just be familiarity. In the centre of Dublin for example, if you meet a non white person you would assume they foreign because they usually are. But if you met that same person in Tallaght or Dundalk, you are much more likely to assume Irish because the probability is much higher.
I’m wary of using the racist card at every opportunity because race is a quantifiable descriptor, just like gender, height, hair colour etc and it’s not all bad. I hung about with someone for years who was from an African background and she dressed very NYC. People were drawn to this ‘exotic foreign looking’ person until she open her gob and the broadest Belfast accent came out. Watching their reactions was hilarious and she definitely played up to it.
I have a family friend who was born what you might term ethnically Irish but has lived the vast majority of his life in Japan. He speaks and writes fluent Japanese and English and works as an interpreter. He celebrates Japanese holidays, has a Japanese girlfriend and enjoys K-Pop. Nevertheless, as he admits himself, there is no way in hell that the typical Japanese person considers him “Japanese”. And guess what, it doesn’t bother him in the slightest and nor should it.
I’m Guatemalan
You’re not Irish if you have no Irish blood, sorry
If people want to be Irish why do they refer themselves as Nigerian Irish?
It always gets me the Italian Americans the Irish American
And how many of them hold dual nationality ?
Irishness is not a badge of convenience