Irish Travellers: Media coverage racist, unresearched

South Bend Tribune ^ | October 7, 2002 | Sheila Flynn

[jordan8]

"The last time I remember reading this type of language was when the Nazis were rounding these people up to throw them into ovens," says Larry Otway, a political scientist who has studied Travellers and fought for their rights since the 1970s.
Really? The Nazis rounded up Irish Travellers and threw them into ovens. Quite a trick.

And I've only made comparisons to the Holocaust maybe two or three times in my life.
At least one-third of these comparisons was bad.

Is the question, 'I just wanted to know if, from your experience, it is considered OK in (the Traveller) culture for parents to beat their kids so mercilessly?' one you would ask of a Chinese, or a Mexican, or a black under the same circumstances?" he asks. "Then why us?
This is a fair question. However, the real debate that has been slightly stirred up here is not whether Travellers are more prone to beat their children (probably are since they are a criminal sub-culture and are rather unlikely to be much influenced by the ideas of, say, Dr. Spock). The real "debate" that was opened by this incident is about the bizarre and criminal nature of this subculture in general, not whether they are more inclined to child-abuse

Many accusations are brought against members of the group simply because they are Travellers, Otway says.
How would the homeowners who bring these complaints know they are Travellers? Do they wear a sign?

The police have the idea that these are fly-by-night businesses. This is not reality. They are nomadic businesses.
Bwahahaha, this is a classic. Reminds me of the line from the band manager in "This is Spinal Tap" that their venues are not getting smaller, just more selective.

Many Travellers acquire long rap sheets because, after being falsely accused of crimes or faced with overblown charges, they post bail and leave, Otway explains. . . . They pay it back in order to go on with their life and their career, and then they develop these long rap sheets.
Bwahahahah. . . Oh stop, you're killing me! But seriously, this is a real problem. I know that down through the years many of my friends and acquaintances have been falsely accused of bogus crimes and have been forced to skip-out on bail thereby accidentely aquiring a long rap sheet. This has forced them to obtain, through no fault of their own, several false driver's licenses and other papers.

I said above that this incident has slightly stirred up debate about the Travellers, but this is an exaggeration. Most of the few press articles have been similar to the one above, rank apologism for this group. Understand the truth, the root of this apologism is a genocidal, racist hatred of traditional Western, socially Christian America. Like Mencken's anti-bear-baiting Puritans, the establishment press will side with any group in conflict with traditional white society especially if that group claims to be a "minority" group, no matter how bogus such a claim might be. To admit that the Travellers are an group that commits crimes on an ethnic basis is to admit that their overwhelmingly white victims might have an ethnic grievance, and that can never be admitted. White society must always be the victimizer, never the victim, no matter what the facts are: The maintance of liberal power depends on a ceaseless offensive on this front.

[dennisw]

bookmark

[Rodney King]

LOL. Great post, and right on the money. Every legitimate businessman in the world knows the value of deveolping a long-term customer base. There is a reason why people who own hardware stores don't close down every two months and re-open in a new town. The only reason why a businessman would skip town every two months is because he was ripping people off.

[Guillermo]

My guess is that they ALL are.

The mother is and the husband is. The husband himself said that EVERY man he knows does the same thing.