Subject: RE: Not bad for an Irish woman
From:
Jim Carroll
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 03:59 AM
Guest,
You are right - the 'The English' have been victims of much abuse - by 'The English' - establishment, that is.
From the beginning of this topic (set to run longer than 'The Mousetrap as things stand at present), the implication has been that the remark was a racist one (the terminology has altered along the way, but the analysis remains the same, 'one of our own was deliberately insulted by one of them').
As a Brit living in Ireland, this appears to me to be utter nonsense - and the original poster really should know better, being in a similar position to me.
The remark is of the type I hear regularly in my local bar; "not bad for an Englishman, Kerryman, Dub, Langer (now there's a term that could give offense if taken seriously), or even in my case a Mullagh Roader (my address)".
As a Northern Englander living in London I heard similar comments about 'provincials', 'Scousers', 'Northerners ("often described as anybody living north of Watford")'... or people like me who lived 'South of the Thames' on a daily basis. Had I taken any of these remarks as anything other than a bit of repartee I would have lived in a permanent state of paranoia - as it was, I considered it as an acknowledgment that I had been accepted enough by the people I lived among for them to feel confident of my reaction. That is pretty much how I feel now.
The original remark was made one-to-one to the Cap'n's face; if it was made behind his back, or even as a public announcement from the stage (and even then there would have been doubt as to its malicious nature), there might have been grounds for complaint, but, if we are to take the Cap'ns description as a guide - it was a harmless remark addressed to him with no wider implication whatever. He is, of course, entitled to take the remark seriously if he so wishes, but, unless he can show otherwise, that offense must be directed at the speaker, not her countrymen (unless he or anybody can provide examples of any widespread anti-Brit activity here).
As I have said before, we have been living here for ten years and visiting for over thirty. In that time we have NEVER encountered an example of hostility because of our origins. To my knowledge, neither has the Cap'n, who is in a similar position to us.
The nearest thing to abuse we have ever received is to be referred to as 'blow-ins', a term applied to any outsider, be they from London, Kuala Lumpur, Washington, or a few miles outside of the town. It is a term we are comfortable with, and so is the Cap'n as he uses it himself; it describes our position perfectly and is always delivered in the same, good natured manner.
Attitudes such as have been displayed on this thread (thankfully by a minority), stand to do a thousand times more damage to our relationship with our hosts in this country than any flippant remark possibly could - it makes us appear hostile, over-sensitive outsiders. They are, in my opinion, extreme displays of 'Little Englanderism' part of the bequest left to us from our 'glorious Empire on which the sun never set' days - if anything, it is they which are racist, or can generate racism.
If 'not bad for an Englishman' is part of a wider concept that the English can't sing - I've never come across it before - has anybody?
At the present time racism is very much on the increase in Ireland - directed almost exclusively towards asylum seekers and economic immigrants (and Travellers). Garbage such as this serves only to fuel it rather than confront it; thank god it's confined to a handful of cranks.
Jim Carroll
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