Editorial, October 8, 2010
Racist or thoughtless?
WHEN Stephen O’Loughlin scratched a swastika into the ice that had accumulated on the freezer at his place of work, little did he imagine that his name would appear on page three of The AJN.
Indeed, it was precisely this lack of awareness that meant he won his case for unfair dismissal. For while his actions may offend us as Jews, and while at first glance we may be disturbed by the ruling in his favour, as the commissioner hearing the case noted, the impact the symbol would have on fellow Jewish employees didn’t factor into his thinking. Taken in context and analysing his intent, O’Loughlin’s etching could be considered hurtful and offensive, and a case of serious misconduct, but not one of racial ¬≠vilification.
Contrast with the recent joke told by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In that instance, Jews not only figured in his thinking, they were the focus of his bigoted anti-Semitic slander — a joke centred around the Holocaust and trading on that most venomous of anti-Semitic stereotypes, the money-grabbing Jew. It says something of the character of the man that he simply laughed off the condemnation, and something of the environment in which he operates that he still has his job. After all, in what other western democracy would a public figure not be expected, or be forced, to stand down in ignominy for uttering such a racist slur?
Indeed, just a few days earlier during a parliamentary debate, one of Berlusconi’s allies attacked dissidents in the premier’s party by asking if they’d ordered kippot, “because he who betrays once, always betrays”.
Both men still hold their positions and neither has yet seen fit to ­apologise.
We can certainly be grateful that such a laissez faire attitude to racism doesn’t exist on these shores. But from the case of Stephen O’Loughlin, we must also note that there are those who can act in an offensive way without necessarily realising how the symbols or words they use may be construed.
As the commissioner said, “non-Jewish people are unlikely to have the same depth of understanding for the offence and hurt that would be created by the sight of the swastika” as Jews.
Hence the need for continued Shoah education, as highlighted within our pages this week. For only through education can we combat the ignorance that surrounds racism. And only through education can we safeguard society from the Berlusconis who think nothing of perpetuating poisonous stereotypes and making light of the horrors of the Holocaust.
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