Them and Us
By Daniel Loughrane, Garbally College
Send them back
To where they came from
As fast as they can move
They shouldn’t be here
They have to go
Give us back our jobs
Give us back our towns
Give us back our social welfare
And our narrow minds
They shouldn’t be here
They have to go
So what if we did the same
Were we not entitled?
There was no shame
In going to the States
We got jobs and money
A home away from home – but
They shouldn’t be here
They have to go
Racism
By Gerard McGarrell, Lucan Community College
I was in an Irish pub in Washington
Watching Tyrone play in the semi-finals
Two Tyrone men were at the bar
Completely wasted,
Two black people walked in
And the Tyrone men told them to feck off
And were imitating them
Saying ‘what’s up, my nigger’
With their caps on backwards.
We left
But later on in the hotel
We saw the two Tyrone fellows sitting together.
One had a bruised and bloody nose,
The other was holding
a blood-filled tissue to his head
Is it my Clothes?
By Pamela Keegan, Mullingar Community College
As I walk down the street
I hear whispers, people stare,
I wonder what is it that’s wrong,
Is it my clothes?
These clothes are just new.
Well, maybe my lace is open, or my hair is messy –
No. Everything seems ok.
Then I look in the mirror,
I try to figure out what is it people
Whisper about and stare at.
Is it my skin?
Racism
By Niamh Brennan, Presentation College, Carlow
The whistle blows, the race begins,
The tension is strong to see who wins.
Complaints from the crowd as the African stops,
“He’s won the race, call the cops!
No black man can defeat us whites,
He’s different, he’s coloured, he has no rights!
The happy smile wipes off his face,
The black man never wins this race.
It’s like Glass
By Kym Scott, St. Mary’s, Haddington Road
It’s like glass:
Prejudice, clear and cold
He can almost place his hands upon it,
Like it’s something he can hold.
Pain breaks through it
In attacks against his race.
Unable to change his colour
Or the expression on his face.
It cuts like glass
Upon arriving in the new land
He’s unable to work,
His future unplanned.
And then to be deported!
The worst among his fears.
Forced to leave this nightmare
To return and die in theirs.
Prejudice is like glass
No amount of tears can shatter
Like glass it’s transparent
So why can’t people see past it.
Margaret McKenna, Mullingar Community College
Why do we judge people
Over their skin colour? Is it
Right? No! some are white,
Black, fair, tanned. So what? Every
One was born the same, so why do we judge. We say
Everybody has equal rights
But they don’t in fairness.
We all should except the
Different and colours. Sure trees are green, the sky is white /
Blue, the ocean is blue and
We don’t judge that!! Do we?
Should we?
Racism
By David Doyle, Presentation College, Carlow
Race me to the shop and back.
He sped in front not looking back,
But on the way I heard a crack
And all because he is black.
A pool of blood a mother cries
She tries to cover her baby’s eyes
Both his staring at the skies
He gives his last breath and dies
Ten years on I see him still
Standing there up on that hill
Joy and laughter on his face
Killed by the hate of his culture and race.
Let’s stop this fear, break the ties
Do not cover your baby’s eyes
Let the coloured live for all to see
Out there with us in harmony.
Racism
By Rachel Raleigh, Mullingar Community College
Racism happens at any age
People fighting with total rage
Everyone fighting about black and white
They forget what’s really in sight.
Our feelings are the same and we live in the same way
We should learn to respect everybody, every day
People’s true feelings are what is at stake
And to remember what difference does
Someone’s colour make.
Racism
By Patrick Lally, Mullingar Community College
Rights, not just for us
Associated, we would rather not be
Colour, it’s only just skin
Intelligence, to look within
Sense, to make friendship with them
Myself, no one is perfect so stop RACISM.
Aaron Murphy, Mullingar Community College
The trees are green
The grass is green
The sky is blue
The sea is blue
Flowers are every colour
Animals are every colour
People are every colour
It doesn’t matter
What colour you are.
