Tomorrow marks the 61st anniversary of the day police opened fire killing 69 people and injuring 180 others during a peaceful demonstration against apartheid in a township in Sharpeville, South Africa. Six years after that, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination every year. Few would argue with the need for such a day or the importance of condemning racial discrimination wherever it rears its ugly head. Sometimes, however, we are all too willing to wave banners aloft and decry racism against minorities while ignoring the enduring prejudice faced by Irish Travellers on a daily basis. In this paper yesterday, Rose Marie Maughan, human rights activist, wrote that Mincéir/Traveller mothers are still raising their children to face hate.

Source: Irish Examiner March 20, 2021 07:18 UTC