Performativity and Minority Rights

The 1st of March marked the fourth anniversary of the recognition of Traveller ethnicity by the Dáil. While it is certainly nice to mark the day, for most people, it was simply a regular Monday. There is a growing realisation that much of the political discourse that takes place online is very disconnected from the lives, experience, and actions of people’s real lives. Tweets, hashtags, and proclamations of Allyship™ are fine, but they are only words on a screen. They have no intrinsic value in and of themselves but are increasingly becoming the standard of what is expected of people. They are rituals used to mark oneself as one of the Righteous Ones, a social signifier, a bumper sticker. Again, this is fine, so long as this online commitment to justice for and friendship with minorities extends into your real life, and does not stop when you lock your phone, or close your laptop. While it may sound cynical to say that I regard most of this online behaviour with scepticism, I am afraid that this scepticism is borne out, to the point that I instinctively roll my eyes upon seeing the word ‘solidarity’. It is clear to me that what is needed is a move away from the glossy infographics and belaboured Twitter threads, and a move towards real political solutions, both nationally and locally, relationship-building, and economic liberation. As a caveat, I would like to make the point that while I am writing specifically about Irish Travellers in this article, I think the principles that I am laying out should be applicable to the lives of other minority groups on the island of Ireland, north and south.

First, it may be useful to discuss the prevailing type of social media activism in greater detail. It clearly has several positive aspects. It can link people with differing experiences and values, laying the foundation of changing attitudes towards disadvantaged groups with a history of suffering discrimination. It can direct you towards further information on support services and associations advocating for minority groups, such as the various Traveller NGOs. Finally, it can be the first step towards developing friendships, all too important for Travellers, and other minority groups, many of whom are kept on the peripheries of communities, and subjected to the twin evils of isolation and ostracisation. However, the important thing to remember about these great positives of social media is that they are meant to augment people’s real world interactions, not serve as a substitute for them. Well-meaning people can fall into the trap of challenging the overly simplistic negative attitudes towards Travellers by creating an overly positive image that is impossible for anyone to live up to. The restricted way of communicating one’s thoughts on social media can mean sacrificing a lot of nuance, which is harmful in its own way. Furthermore, one’s social media behaviour can very often be divorced from one’s real life behaviour. One thousand posts on social media, when compared to organically developing relationships and friendships with members of minority groups, is as insignificant as an ant is to an elephant. A cliché is a cliché because it is universally acknowledged as true, something that corresponds with reality, and is so true and familiar that it has lost a lot of the power of its original usage. Those of us who try to engage with members of minority groups on social media would do well to remember that “actions speak louder than words.” A cliché, but true nonetheless. 

While it can be easy to identify problems, proposing solutions is a hard thing. Harder still, solutions that are grounded in the reality of the fallible nature of human beings, independent of one’s own pet ideology, and treating with appropriate nuance the very many component factors of the problem. With my own limited ability, and speaking on my own behalf as an individual Traveller, I would propose the following: make friends with people. While I have been exhorting the reader to find nuanced solutions, here I propose something seemingly simplistic. But making friends, and developing community relationships more broadly, is by no means a simple thing. It is a great act of trust, of laying down one’s ego, of seeing the person in front of you as themselves, rather than as a representative of the idea in your mind. It is, in many respects a leap of faith, to extend yourself outwards and share your life with those around you, especially those who most need it. St. Thomas Aquinas proposed what became the Church’s definition of love, which is to “will the good of the other”. This kind of fraternal love is what is required to heal the many divisions that have been encouraged and allowed to fester across our island. And the way to develop this kind of love is to reach out to those around you; the marginalised, the reviled, the isolated, invite them to share in your life, and work to share in theirs. It is by no means simple, but it will be one of the most worthwhile things that you ever do.

As Republicans, it is our mission to foster unity, heal divisions, and work towards a new Ireland of justice, equality, and friendship. It is vital that we be active in our communities to achieve this. If we wait around for political parties to get on board with us who have no interest in this mission, we lose valuable time. It is we ourselves who must work to develop relationships in our communities, we ourselves who must reject the politics of division and exclusion, we ourselves who must strive towards unity - of all our people, and all our island. In your personal capacity, as a representative of Sinn Féin in your community, and as someone who works for change, try to be an embodiment of these values where you live. Make friends with those traditionally excluded, Travellers, migrants, and many more, invite them to become involved in our work, and be an exemplar of change. It will be hard, but our mission is great, and deserves hard work.

Stephen Moriarty

Ógra Shinn Féin Traveller Officer