Racism is in fact wrong - but being Romanian or Roma isn’t an excuse for anti social behaviour. I don’t think just chalking this up to “racist behaviour” is productive.
Stop this. Or wait for some animals to burn your house because you are wrong colour/religion/nationality/sex.
Bloody hell. No. Keep your degenerate USA logic out of here. Focus on your own problems with the orange madman you elected. You’re the one descending into fascism.
“I think something should be done to help make communities safer and prevent stuff like this happening again”
This is what I’m saying. We can’t ignore problems and chalk up any outrage about it as just “racism”. The article mentions how Filipinos generally were avoided, so it wasn’t pure racism.
If there is a group of people causing problems, something should be done about it no matter the race. Or else nasty stuff like this happens.
They literally said that their children didn’t feel safe on the streets and that they were problems beforehand.
Just fucking stop. There are bad people and good people, blaming “Romanians” as a population is racism - and BTW your comments are also sounding very similar in tone.
Why not? This was hardly an isolated incident. The media is taking it out of context. Whenever authorities neglect communities, stuff like this happens. It also happened last year.
Bring up that it was our cousin and not us. Also hold the cousin accountable within the family. Work with the people who are pissed with the family for a resolution.
If my cousin raped a child, I wouldn’t really have much sympathy for what happens to my cousin tbh.
You don’t think that the Romanians and Roma have tried that? It was all them that were ethnically cleansed. Not just the bad ones. We have the police when people commit crimes. Forcing people out of a certain ethnicity is never a solution.
At no point did I say that what happened was okay. But I know that it was boiling for a while, from people who lived in the area. Somebody wasn’t stopping something that shouldn’t have been happening. Whether the family tried or not isn’t relevant, as the outcome of what happened shouldn’t have happened either way.
Are you seriously defending a pogrom? And to preempt your ‘but I said violence is bad’ response, you’re still defending the logic of pogrom, that it’s OK to paint an ethnic minority by the actions of its worst. The absurdity to suggest that these people had ‘valid concerns’ and weren’t just racists who already hated the Roma and are using thinly veiled excuses to do what they always wanted, ethnic cleansing.
No. I’m saying the government should do something about crime to prevent people from resorting to violence in the future. The violence wasn’t okay, but something should still be done to stop it from happening again instead of just dismissing it as “racism”
weren’t just racists who already hated the Roma and are using thinly veiled excuses to do what they always wanted, ethnic cleansing.
I heavily doubt that’s the full story. Especially since I know people who live in Ballymena and they’ve said that there were problems, even talking about it long before it happened. I don’t think everyone in Ballymena are racists making stuff up.
In fact, how do I know that you’re not being prejudiced against people from Ballymena by just assuming that they are all racist? There is a pattern to these comments such as “Unionist racism” and a media narrative somehow that the Ulster Scots people - who are a national minority themselves - are mainly a bunch of racist bigots. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
But once again, I cannot stress enough that I do not defend this. But our takeaway from this should be that communities need to be developed more, not just “them racists at it again”
What I am actually saying is that this should be framed as an anti social behaviour problem. Not a race problem - and by all sides, the people complaining about it as well. In many places there are similar problems but with white British or white Irish kids. And when someone does something about it, it scarcely makes national headlines.
In fact, how do I know that you’re not being prejudiced against people from Ballymena by just assuming that they are all racist? There is a pattern to these comments such as “Unionist racism” and a media narrative somehow that the Ulster Scots people - who are a national minority themselves - are mainly a bunch of racist bigots. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Fuck off, calling a bunch of people celebrating the ‘amazing atmosphere’ after getting rid an ethnic minority racist is clearly not racist in and of itself. God, this so typical of you and your privilege. We shouldn’t analyze a literal pogrom through the lens of race, but calling people who did one racist is actually the real racism because Unionist is being used a dog whistle for Ulster Scots or something.
But once again, I cannot stress enough that I do not defend this. But our takeaway from this should be that communities need to be developed more, not just “them racists at it again”
You don’t develop from ethnic cleansing by digging your head in the sand and ignoring the uncomfortable truth that there is something deeply wrong.
And no, these people weren’t ‘concerned’ about the anti-social behaviour of the local Roma community (how you don’t see the problem with this framing but do bristle at Unionist being tarred as racists is baffling), they wanted to do a pogrom:
There, some people directly pointed the finger at the Roma community, calling the town “Rommena” (a portmanteau of Romania and Ballymena) with one person claiming that certain places were “a no-go area now if you’re not a Roma or Bulgarian”.
Several people called for violence, commenting things like “Time there was a good clean out”, “[It’s] about time the town was cleansed”, “Remove the rats” and “Time to take our town back”.
Thank you for that second source. It’s much more enlightening from how the Guardian framed it.
My point was more about things needed to be done by officials about anti social behaviour - as it can fuel racism. While that still stands, from the comments shown on The Journal, it shows that racism was clearly a factor. More than I had originally estimated.
I would also say though:
After thousands of people gathered in the town to demonstrate about women’s safety, their concerns were weaponised by a smaller, more violent group who used the protest as an excuse to take aim at the wider immigrant population.
That original group about safety shouldn’t be categorised with a brush about racism
The guardian made it seem like there was a pre-existing problem. Although several people I know from Ballymena did corroborate that there have been issues from individuals from that part of the community. I know a shopkeeper who had to refuse entry to them, alleging that they were always stealing things or trying to scam the shop. My impression from the guardian article was that such issues have calmed down since the riots, showing that there was a failure of law enforcement to keep the area in check beforehand.
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Stop this. Or wait for some animals to burn your house because you are wrong colour/religion/nationality/sex.
He’s a fascist. Saying cryptofash shit is like, his main thing.
Bloody hell. No. Keep your degenerate USA logic out of here. Focus on your own problems with the orange madman you elected. You’re the one descending into fascism.
“I think something should be done to help make communities safer and prevent stuff like this happening again”
“FASCIST!!!”
This is what I’m saying. We can’t ignore problems and chalk up any outrage about it as just “racism”. The article mentions how Filipinos generally were avoided, so it wasn’t pure racism.
If there is a group of people causing problems, something should be done about it no matter the race. Or else nasty stuff like this happens.
This literally what it was - and is, reading reactions of these disgusting “people” interviewed. Unionist racism. Stop excusing these fucking animals.
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Just fucking stop. There are bad people and good people, blaming “Romanians” as a population is racism - and BTW your comments are also sounding very similar in tone.
Because this is what it was.
Forget that it was Romanians for a second. Pretend that it was a group of English Football Fans.
Are you a Northern Ireland unionist by any chance? 🙄
Is that a problem?
So it would be ok to expell your entire family from a neighbourhood if your cousin did something bad?
No. Nothing about this was okay. But something should have been done about the crime before this happened.
I am effectively saying that the cousin should be dealt with by the relevant authorities.
What’s the point of bringing what may or may not have happened before, given that it has no bearing on whether or not what happened was justified?
Why not? This was hardly an isolated incident. The media is taking it out of context. Whenever authorities neglect communities, stuff like this happens. It also happened last year.
Of course what happened was in no way justified.
Then, in our hypothetical example where your entire family gets expelled from your neighbourhood, why not bring up what your cousin did?
Bring up that it was our cousin and not us. Also hold the cousin accountable within the family. Work with the people who are pissed with the family for a resolution.
If my cousin raped a child, I wouldn’t really have much sympathy for what happens to my cousin tbh.
“Bring up that it was our cousin and not us.”
You don’t think that the Romanians and Roma have tried that? It was all them that were ethnically cleansed. Not just the bad ones. We have the police when people commit crimes. Forcing people out of a certain ethnicity is never a solution.
At no point did I say that what happened was okay. But I know that it was boiling for a while, from people who lived in the area. Somebody wasn’t stopping something that shouldn’t have been happening. Whether the family tried or not isn’t relevant, as the outcome of what happened shouldn’t have happened either way.
Are you seriously defending a pogrom? And to preempt your ‘but I said violence is bad’ response, you’re still defending the logic of pogrom, that it’s OK to paint an ethnic minority by the actions of its worst. The absurdity to suggest that these people had ‘valid concerns’ and weren’t just racists who already hated the Roma and are using thinly veiled excuses to do what they always wanted, ethnic cleansing.
No. I’m saying the government should do something about crime to prevent people from resorting to violence in the future. The violence wasn’t okay, but something should still be done to stop it from happening again instead of just dismissing it as “racism”
I heavily doubt that’s the full story. Especially since I know people who live in Ballymena and they’ve said that there were problems, even talking about it long before it happened. I don’t think everyone in Ballymena are racists making stuff up.
In fact, how do I know that you’re not being prejudiced against people from Ballymena by just assuming that they are all racist? There is a pattern to these comments such as “Unionist racism” and a media narrative somehow that the Ulster Scots people - who are a national minority themselves - are mainly a bunch of racist bigots. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
But once again, I cannot stress enough that I do not defend this. But our takeaway from this should be that communities need to be developed more, not just “them racists at it again”
What I am actually saying is that this should be framed as an anti social behaviour problem. Not a race problem - and by all sides, the people complaining about it as well. In many places there are similar problems but with white British or white Irish kids. And when someone does something about it, it scarcely makes national headlines.
Fuck off, calling a bunch of people celebrating the ‘amazing atmosphere’ after getting rid an ethnic minority racist is clearly not racist in and of itself. God, this so typical of you and your privilege. We shouldn’t analyze a literal pogrom through the lens of race, but calling people who did one racist is actually the real racism because Unionist is being used a dog whistle for Ulster Scots or something.
You don’t develop from ethnic cleansing by digging your head in the sand and ignoring the uncomfortable truth that there is something deeply wrong.
And no, these people weren’t ‘concerned’ about the anti-social behaviour of the local Roma community (how you don’t see the problem with this framing but do bristle at Unionist being tarred as racists is baffling), they wanted to do a pogrom:
Thank you for that second source. It’s much more enlightening from how the Guardian framed it.
My point was more about things needed to be done by officials about anti social behaviour - as it can fuel racism. While that still stands, from the comments shown on The Journal, it shows that racism was clearly a factor. More than I had originally estimated.
I would also say though:
That original group about safety shouldn’t be categorised with a brush about racism
You mean the Guardian showed racist cunts as racist cunts by quoting their own words?
The guardian made it seem like there was a pre-existing problem. Although several people I know from Ballymena did corroborate that there have been issues from individuals from that part of the community. I know a shopkeeper who had to refuse entry to them, alleging that they were always stealing things or trying to scam the shop. My impression from the guardian article was that such issues have calmed down since the riots, showing that there was a failure of law enforcement to keep the area in check beforehand.
No. The Guardian showed that racist cunts had a problem with foreigners and racist cunts were happy when they ethnically cleansed them.
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