PolSoc2022

Offline there are many systematic problems disproportionately affecting POC, cases of police brutality and violence have taken the spotlight in recent years. It is only now that people are really taking notice and fighting against institutionalised racism.

To stop hate crimes, many organisations have begun releasing resources and reports about racism in their areas to bring awareness to the people in their communities. 

natThe INAR is a national network of 160 civil rights organisations in Ireland. Their mission statement is

‘As the national collective voice for building solidarity among groups challenging racism, INAR will fight all forms of racism by providing analysis and tools to empower those who experience racism to take action.’

They monitor racism through iReport.ie. It is a confidential network where you can report incidents of racism. They use this information to put together reports to monitor the rate of racism in Ireland.

On their website they have information and resources about Racism in Ireland and how to respond to it. 

https://inar.ie/

They have many members, one of which being the Irish Refugee Council.  They focus on providing support to people seeking protection in Ireland. They work with people who had fled their home countries for safety reasons, most of the refugees fleeing to avoid war but many fleeing  after experiencing torture or being on the receiving end of death threats, and violence because of their identity or actions. 

Their priorities on their website are;

Deliver high quality support and advice to people in the protection process and people who have been granted status

Provide holistic integration supports from the day a person arrives in Ireland

Support and protect children and young people in the protection process

Raise public and political awareness and advocacy

Evidence based research and policy

Pilot best practice models

Build capacity among key actors to bring about positive changes in practice and policy

https://www.irishrefugeecouncil.ie/

The Irish Traveller Movement is also a member of INAR. They represent 40 national and local traveller groups in Ireland. 

Their vision is to create ‘An Ireland where Travellers are proud of their identity and with their identity recognised, can achieve their fullest potential to play an active role in Irish society.’ 

The promote traveller pride and identity, they also work to achieve equality socially between travellers and non-travellers. They also want to create diversity in amongst the traveller community and give a voice to LGBT+, women and young travellers.

Psychologists have been trying to understand what makes people join Racist groups, most research suggests that members of hate groups either grew up with parents involved or they joined to gain a feeling of power after experiencing trauma or bullying.

"I felt power where I felt powerless. I felt a sense of belonging where I felt invisible," Tony McAleer, 49, said to US news live, of the pull of the white nationalism that convinced him to spend more than a decade as a skinhead recruiter and an organizer for the White Aryan Resistance.

Hate groups have been on the rise since the 2016 presidential election, the majority of these groups being alt-right groups that were anti-Semitic and white nationalist.  The use of the internet has turned most of the groups from loud, public groups wearing capes or hoods into more subtle acts of violence in online forums.

The treatment of George Floyd during his arrest and his subsequent death in May 2020 in Minneapolis resulted in public outcry and sparked an upsurge in the Black Lives Matter movement. George Floyd, a black man, was arrested after a store clerk alleged he had passed a counterfeit $20 bill. A white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for a period initially reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

 Chauvin was arrested and charged with the murder of Floyd, after a two week trial. He now faces up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder and up to 10 years for second-degree manslaughter.

Breonna Taylor was murdered in March 2020 in her home in Louisiana. Breonna Taylor was a 26 year old black woman, during a raid on her apartment where two plain clothed officers forced entry into her apartment in relation to drug dealing charges on her boyfriend. The officers fired 32 shots, six of them hitting Taylor and killing her. 

The officers involved were initially charged with attempted murder but these charges have soon been dropped.

The Order or the Silent Brotherhood was a white supremacist group active between 1983-1984. It was founder by Robert Jay Matthews, leader of an anti-communist militia in Washington. Their goal was to rebel against the government which they believed was ‘cabal of prominent Jews with internationalist and Jewish-racial loyalties, rather than loyalty to the American nation.’ They wanted to create a nation without Jewish or not white people. They funded their actions through investing in oil and, lumber-jacking and timbre contracts, they also committed robberies and created counterfeit money.

Notably they murdered radio host Alan Berg, who was outspoken in his liberal views.

Their downfall came from betrayal in the group. Tom Martinez, an Order member volunteered to be an informant for the FBI. 10 members were convicted under RICO (Racketeering influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act) and under charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and civil rights violations, in the case of the murder of Alan Berg. Robert Jay Matthews was killed in a shootout and fire at his home

The stop AAPI hate reporting centre was created on march 12 2020 to fight hate against Asian American Pacific islanders. It was founded by the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy council (A3PCON), the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University along with Chinese for affirmative action (CAA).

Led by Manjusha J Kulkarni (A3PCON), Cynthia Choi (CAA) and Russell Jeung PhD (San Francisco state University) their approach as stated on their website is to;

·       Serve as the leading aggregator of anti-Asian and anti-Pacific Islander hate incidents

·       Offer multilingual resources for impacted community members

·       Provide technical assistance from rapid response to preventative measures

·       Support community-based safety measures and restorative justice efforts

·       Advocate for local, state, and national policies that reinforces human rights and civil rights protections

Stop AAPI hate aims to track incidents of racism against Asian Americans, they then pass this information along to government agencies and work with them to support their communities.

They work in schools and community groups to inform students of hate incidents happening around them that they might not be aware of.

Stop AAPI works against ‘hate incidents’ As a hate crime is something you can be arrested for but they want to stop incidents that are not crimes but are still hurtful and traumatising to the victims.

#BlackLivesMatter was created by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in protest against the acquittal of George Zimmerman after the murder of 17 year old Trayvon Martins in 2012.  According to their website ‘Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.’ They hope to create spaces in the black liberation movement for black women, queer people and transgender people and anyone else excluded from past movements.

The hashtag is used to organise events such as marches and protest and also to give a space for black voices.

Currently they are pushing to ‘Demilitarize our neighborhoods and end 1033.’ The 1033 permits the transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, including school and campus police. Their original goal was to end 1033 before Biden’s 100 day in office, as transfers have accelerated under his presidency. #End1033 is so important as civilian deaths rise when military spending rises.