Keith it appears to me that you know very little about the plight of catholics in the north of Ireland. Just substitute wholly white and hostile police force for wholly protestant and hostile polce force, protestant B-Specials later Ulster Defence Regiment can be substituted for National Guard and State Troopers and then the British Army. How many African Americans were murdered by Security forces? How many Irish catholics were murdered by Security Forces? Not only security forces. How can we forget the Shankill Butchers who killed catholics for entertainment. Then we had the FRU a terrorist organization that comprised British soldiers and double agents who were involved in the murder of numerous innocent catholics and even members of the security forces. How on earth can you make a statement like, "In almost every way their situation was worse than the Nationalists of NI."

Every civil rights march in N. Ireland ended in violence. With the marchers beaten and clubbed by the police, had stones bottles and bricks thrown at them by loyalists and gassed by the British Army. I know because it happened to me.