Welcome to the Glossary

Culture

-"the customs, civilisations and achievements of a particular time or people." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Multi-cultural(ism)

-"of or relating to or constituting several cultural or ethnic groups within a society." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Inter-cultural(ism)

-"linking the cultural or ethnic groups within a society." (me!)

Minority Ethnic Group (‘ethnic minority’)

-"an identifiable group differentiated from the main population of a community by racial origin or cultural background." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Ethnic

-"having a common national or cultural tradition" or "denoting origin by birth or descent rather than nationality" or" relating to race or culture." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Customs

-"particular, established ways of behaving." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Traditions

-"customs, opinions or beliefs handed down to posterity especially orally or by practice." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Faith

-"a system of religious belief" or "things believed." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Religion

-"the belief in a superhuman controlling power, especially in a personal God or gods entitled to obedience and worship" or "a particular system of faith and worship." (The Concise Oxford Dictionary/1990)

Race

There is only one human race! In sociology ‘race’ is no longer accepted as a scientific term ie it cannot be used to describe biologically distinct groups of persons with supposedly unchanging characteristics. Scientific research into the biology of ‘race’ has shown that genetic differences between individuals within a so-called ‘racial’ group can be greater than those between individuals from supposedly different ‘racial’ groups.

Racial harassment

-"all actions and behaviours that intentionally or otherwise either discriminate against someone or makes them feel unwelcome or marginalised because of their racial identity." (Executive summary of ‘Opportunities for All’ report by Paul Connolly and Michaela Keenan at University of Ulster).

Racial identity

-"can be defined in terms of a person’s ‘race’, colour, nationally and ethnic and/or national origin" (as above)

Racist incident and Institutional racism

Definitions suggested in the MacPherson report into Stephen Lawrence murder.

Racism

The UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination defines racism as "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin."

Racism

Is a set of beliefs, ideologies and social processes that discriminate against others on the basis of their supposed membership of a ‘racial’ or ethnic group. The term is used to describe:

  • doctrines which justify notions of superiority and inferiority on the basis of real or imaginary biological differences (usually skin colour);

attitudes and practices which produce discrimination.

BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH COMMUNITY

Despite popularly held beliefs, at least two ethnic groups, the Jewish and Traveller communities have been living in Northern Ireland since before the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Migration of the other communities mainly took place in the 1950s and 1970s. As a result, there is a mixture of well established communities, with second and third generation ethnic minority citizens in Northern Ireland, and relatively young ethnic communities.

Many ethnic minority people came to Northern Ireland out of economic and political necessity. The extent to which this has affected their position in the labour market and their position in Northern Irish society varies. The type of work that has been available not only governs levels of incomes, but also determines where people settle, where their children go to school, the type of interaction that takes place with the indigenous labour force and population generally, access to services, their chances of participation in civic life, and their overall status in society (Anwar, 1991). If ethnic minorities are concentrated in a limited range of occupations, then they will also be concentrated in specific services and industries, which in turn affects concentration in housing estates, towns and cities and regions.

 

 

Traveller Community

Travellers are indigenous to Ireland and have a history which can be traced back for centuries (Noonan, 1994). The first Travellers were believed to be itinerant trades persons and specialists. The Traveller communities in Northern Ireland form a distinct and separate ethnic group. Furthermore, the term Traveller refers to the membership of this group and not just to the distinction between a nomadic and settled lifestyle. Up until industrialisation in the wake of World War Two, the Traveller community was an integral part of the rural economy, through tin-smithing, horse dealing, carpentry, chimney cleaning, selling domestic ware and seasonal agricultural labour. In the 1950s this economic relationship and the Travellers’ way of life was changed forever as a result of urbanisation, mechanisation, the introduction of plastic, rural depopulation and increased mobility for the rest of the rural community. The impact was a much decreased demand for the skills and services Travellers had provided before. All of this resulted in a lack of income and directly impacted on their standard of living. In the face of this dramatic change some Travellers today deal in scrap, carpets, caravans and tarmacing. The other enormous impact has been on accommodation, where restrictions on camping places and serviced sites has led to extremely poor living conditions in many areas. Just over a third of the Traveller community live in Belfast, whilst there are also high concentrations resident in Craigavon, Derry, Newry and Mourne, Omagh, Strabane and Coalisland.

Chinese Community

The Chinese community is the largest ethnic minority group resident in Northern Ireland. The majority have come from Hong Kong’s rural area, the New Territories, whilst there are also a few from Malaysia, Singapore and the People’s Republic of China (Marger, 1989). Unlike the highly developed and affluent city of Hong Kong, the New Territories have remained under-privileged in economic, social and educational spheres. These people left Hong Kong out of economic hardship and many of these fishermen and village people migrated to the United Kingdom in the 1950s. A high percentage of the Chinese community work in the catering business. It is believed that the first Chinese restaurant was set up in Belfast in 1962. By 1970 the numbers had slowly increased, however, the start of the ‘Troubles’ in the late 1960s forced many Chinese families to close their businesses and move back to England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. It was not until the late 1970s that families once again began to return to Northern Ireland. The majority of the Chinese community live in Belfast, whilst significant numbers also live in Craigavon, Lisburn, Newtownabbey, North Down and Ballymena. Most families are still engaged in restaurant and take-away businesses. The main language spoken is Cantonese.

Vietnamese/Chinese Community

The Vietnamese/Chinese community arrived in Northern Ireland in the late 1970s. The exodus from Vietnam was precipitated by fear of persecution from Communist forces. Those lucky enough to survive the horrific boat journey arrived at reception centres across Hong Kong. The majority of families who arrived in Northern Ireland settled in Craigavon. When these families first arrived, local families paired and befriended the newcomers to help with the complexities of day-to-day life in a new country. Language barriers created difficulties in finding employment for many of these families and after initial attempts from some women to work in local factories, many chose to work in Chinese carryouts and restaurants, seeing it as the only viable option. Those who came to Northern Ireland with a trade, such as jewellery making, have not been able to exploit this skill, because of language barriers. Since the 1980s the population has seen two main shifts, firstly as a result of migration to the USA and secondly, as a result of a series of racist attacks in the late 1980s, when families left for England. The main language spoken is Cantonese, whilst a few people also speak Vietnamese.

Indian Community

The first Indians to settle in Northern Ireland arrived in the 1930s. Their trade was door-to-door selling of clothes. Initially this work took place on foot and then progressed to the use of bikes and eventually cars. It was not until the 1950s that Indians began to settle in larger numbers. Initially husbands came over and took up a trade, and once financially established returned to India to bring back their wives and families. These families have settled all over Northern Ireland in Belfast, Derry, Coleraine, Portadown, Magherafelt, Cookstown, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and Omagh. Once families were established in their trade, they would then go on to open clothing shops. Today, the Indian community is involved in many different employment arenas, from owning factories, grocery shops and restaurants to other self-employed businesses and professional jobs. Although, most families are second or third generation, there are some fourth generation families also settled in Northern Ireland. The main languages spoken are Hindi and Punjabi.

Pakistani Community

There has been an Asian community living in Craigavon since the 1970s. The majority of these families lived in England before settling in Northern Ireland. Most families initially settled in the Legahory area, but gradually families moved out into other areas, such as Waringstown, Portadown, Bleary and Lurgan. The decision to move to Northern Ireland was made for personal, social and economic reasons and these families see their futures in Northern Ireland. Some of the women have been living in Northern Ireland for 25 to 30 years and most of their children were either born here or have lived a large part of their lives in this country. Many of these families are market-traders, specialising in clothing and bed linen. The main language spoken by the Pakistani community is Urdu, but there are other dialects such as Punjabi, Mirpuri and Sindi in use.

Community Relations

It is important to cite the development of community relations in Northern Ireland. In 1987 the Central Community Relations Unit (CCRU) was established to advise the Secretary of State on all aspects of relationships between the different peoples of Northern Ireland. The initiative was triggered by tensions between Catholic and Protestant communities and the Equality and Equity Branch was established at that time to reflect this. Currently the CCRU provides a grant towards the salary of a Race Relations Advisor in the Chinese Welfare Association and is also providing grant aid to the Multi-Cultural Resource Centre.

In 1990 an independent Northern Ireland Community Relations Council (CRC) was established to provide support facilities and recognition for local organisations concerned with the development of community relations, awareness of cultural diversity and conflict resolution. In relation to ethnic minority groups, the CRC operates a grant scheme through the Inter Community Grant Scheme and Local Cultural Traditions Grant Scheme. These schemes, since their inception, recognise the eligibility of projects dealing with the issues of ethnic minorities.