Week 10 – “Racial Discourse and Irish History” Gibbons

Interesting realization: “The difference between Irishness and Englishness escaped Lewis’ notice, but it was all too plain to those Irish people who identified with the colonial administration in their own country” (498). We understand the world around us through the lens of our own experience. Repeatedly this quarter we’ve realized how ridiculous were some of the anthropological and sociological claims made by people who assumed they had the ability to be completely objective. This quotation is a perfect example of the ability of those who know their identity to recognize the fallacy of others’ attempts to define what they do not know.