John Barnes, who recently made suggestions that he was sacked by Celtic sooner than white managers because of unconscious racist bias, has now disgraced himself further with another ill informed and distasteful tweet about the Irish/Glasgow Irish.
Many people pointed out the attitudes and action of the Celtic support, as well as the anti-Irish racism experienced by the Irish at home and in Scotland – many of whom are Celtic fans. This, aside of the obvious outlandish claims in the first place, show the absurdity and ignorance of what Barnes was saying.
Yesterday, Barnes outdone himself when he posted a tweet suggesting that the Irish are not a different race than the English and then questioned whether anti-Irish discrimination exists today:
Firstly, discrimination is discrimination so the fact he feels it isn’t racist doesn’t make it any less important. It smacks of ignorance and actually shows him to be racist himself by dismissing the issue… how ironic. Although, he’s incorrect anyway as many pointed out:
Besides debating whether anti-irishness is based upon racial, ethnic or any other type of discrimination, it certainly is no different to racism aimed at people based upon skin colour. Neil Lennon touched upon this when managing Hibs and many pointed out the abysmal treatment of the Irish over the years and in current times. The fact that Barnes is oblivious to anti-Irish hatred such as the Famine Song, the Orange Order marching through the UK and Ireland, or the banners depicted on 12 July bonfires just shows what a buffoon he is.