Just more of my ramblings...

I can't believe it has nearly been a year since I last wrote something. It's been quite a year, and I have learned more than I ever could have imagined since moving to Dublin in July 2018. Life has been a whirlwind lately, full of joys, heartache, challenges, gains and losses, positives and negatives, good and poor health, and being inundated with knowledge of the many social complexities that come with being a social worker in a beautiful but broken world. 

 When people think about what it means to be a social worker I would argue it is most common for them to think about the challenges a social worker faces on the job, the difficult to solve dilemmas and potentially dangerous situations that may be faced. However, what I have found to be the most difficult of all, well beyond finding solutions for situations clients find themselves in, is the countless dichotomies faced in the day to day. The lack of a black and white world view due to the ever-growing knowledge that circumstances are never caused by just one element, but rather a myriad of factors environmental, societal and personal. I absolutely love this about social work, as it takes the blame away from an individual person, and acknowledges the shitty (excuse my french) cards they've been dealt. And yes, personal choice is usually involved as well, but these choices are arguably always made in conjunction with horrible circumstances stemming from the moment they are born. 

I've found myself becoming increasingly frustrated (thats putting it delicately) with people who minimise a person or situation while failing to realise all the background, including political systems that further oppress, rampant (often subliminal) racism largely due to ignorance and lack of motivation to learn and gain knowledge, and the way these close-minded world views are quite literally WORLD views. Although they often present in moderately different ways, the views and prejudices I have come across in America and during my time in Ghana are also present within Ireland. While America and Ireland share a history of English rule and eventual independence, the history that follows after differs substantially. The United States has its horrible history of slavery, and all that came with it (i.e. northern migration, Jim Crow, white flight, redlining, and much more that would take way too long to get into in one post), which all had an impact on current socio-cultural dilemmas the country faces. 

Ireland also had its fair share of problematic history--government rule primarily by the Catholic Church with little to no oversight, which allowed for countless atrocities such as Magdalene Laundries (More about this here),  and sexual abuse scandals, and work houses for the poor--all of which still impact every day life and legislation within Ireland. Ireland, however, differs in that it was a homogeneously white society, something that has rapidly been changing since around the 1990s. This has been a particularly interesting topic to me as the way in which racism presents here, while sharing some similarities with racism in America, is different in that it somehow resembles racism presentation in America's past mixed with the current way racism presents.  

Racism isn't a new phenomenon in Ireland, as its something the Traveller community has faced for decades and still is burdened with today (see recent news: 'Its Because We are Travellers'). 

However, the difference now is we're seeing racism due to the colour of one's skin. I have heard countless and often well-meaning people refer to people of colour as 'coloured folk' without the knowledge of this label being inappropriate and racist due to its derogatory history. It seems there is a general lack of knowledge around what is and isn't considered racist. Beyond this, though, there is also an increase in overtly racist hate crimes and systematic oppression through things such as the asylum seeker system, Direct Provision. 

The topic of Direct provision is also an incredibly complex and lengthy discussion for another time, so I'll just leave this video if you wish to explore it more.

This year specifically, I have been shocked at the lack of discussion around racism and oppression within social work courses at Trinity. The word 'racism' will be thrown out there once in a while, but often lecturers shy away from any further discussion. I find this especially problematic as currently training social workers have a say in the way racism is approached in both the work place and society in the fast approaching future. This has prompted me to be a lot more vocal than I once was, and has allowed me to see that many are receptive to change around how racism and oppression is approached, which gives me hope. While I see positive change occurring, it frightens me to think that Ireland, a country I deeply love, could be headed down a bleak road America has been on for over 100 years. 

I would like to believe the progressive nature of Ireland in the last 15 or so years is a sign of good to come in this department, and that close-mindedness will not win. However, all my thoughts about this have somehow made this issue become the centre of my social work practice focus. These complex issues, as stated before, are what I believe makes social work so incredibly important but also so depressingly complicated. In social work there is never one right way, one solid answer to fix a problem, one clear idea. You must rely on research, theory, and a whole lot of intuition and love for humankind. Its a really messy, all-encompassing business if done right and it drives me mad 99% of the time. But, if theres anything I've realised while being less than a year away from the completion of my Masters in Social Work, is that we were set on this earth to ensure justice is fought for and that people are heard and listened to. THAT is the most wearing part of the job, but also the reason I love it so incredibly much. This crazy, messy world throws us a lot of challenges, and unfortunately not every human does things with the best intentions, but amidst all of that I've seen just how much good and love can be found. Thank goodness for that.