Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #irishslave
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It is quite dispiriting how soon after #BLM protests started the resurgence of #Irishslave #scottishslave and #wewereallslaves memes and bullshit ‘articles’ started circulating. I seem to be spending a lot of my time posting rebuttals to ppl / pages that should know better.
Some basic facts for those who want to fight the good fight. Yes a large number of Irish and Scottish were forcibly sent to the Caribbean by Cromwell but that’s a tiny % of those who went in total. This included many Europeans (even the English) and was often voluntary.
The Irish and Scottish who went to the Caribbean went as (indentured) servants. This meant they signed up for a period of service - varying between 2-7 years generally - once it was over they could renew their service or move on. They were often granted small parcels of land.
Important article for Irish people to read, digest and sit with. As we know, Ireland has a complicated history. We like to talk about ‘800 years of oppression’ not so much the reality of being colonized but also benefiting from colonization irishtimes.com/news/ireland/i…
Let’s deal with a few of the most typical ‘whataboutery’ comments that always appear BTL with such articles. Those Irish people who directly benefited from slavery were not just the ‘Protestant upper classes’. The Catholic landed and middle classes were slave owners too.
Catholics and Protestant Irishmen made up the backbone of the British Imperial system (alongside the Scots) as many of the soldiers and administrators of the British Empire. Many owned slaves but even if not the directly benefited from the inequalities of Empire.
Why is it so difficult for some Irish people to use the term indentured servitude when talking about INDENTURED SERVITUDE? There are very clear differences between it and chattel slavery in tenure and status without mentioning the racialized nature of slavery. Don’t do this.
Using the correct term - indentured servitude - doesn’t lessen what was an horrendous experience for many but it does recognise the basic legal differences of being recognized as a human being (IS) bonded for a term of service -v- being assigned as property (CS) perpetually.
It also recognizes that indentured servitude was a long-term mechanism, which included the mass, forced removal of the brutal Cromwellian conquest but has a much longer history. It was a condition that could be voluntary, could be voluntarily extended and wasn’t uniquely Irish.
