Tuesday 19 April 2011

Immigrants: what have they ever done for us, eh?

Feorag NicBhride (Scots Gaelic for 'Squirrel'!) has quite a lengthy list. It includes basic foods, drinks, the language, law, cutlery, the alphabet, tea, music,  sport, music, politics, religion, the built environment, business, culture…

Sorry, 'English' racists, you're descended from immigrants too, and (brilliantly) there's no way to distinguish between any of the people on these islands: we're pretty much all Celto-Norman-Saxon-with lots of other bits.

This isn't to say that there aren't cultural differences which can be celebrated and enjoyed. But it's a useful reminder that there's no point at which anyone can say there was a 'pure' people or culture no matter what Nick Griffin or the GAA or anybody else says. Quite often the process of hybridisation was violent or involuntary. Get over it.

(Disclosure: I wander the world with an Irish passport).

No comments: