\u201cJust what we need\u2026another fooking Yank!\u201d Hate-filled eyes pounded me like fists.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t expect my arrival at Gloucester House, the prep school for Portora Royal<\/a>, in Northern Ireland<\/a> to start off like that at all. I exited swiftly to the relative safety of my dorm wondering what had I done to deserve this.<\/p>\n I hadn\u2019t done anything, but it didn\u2019t matter. I soon found out the one whose welcome set the tone was a Roman Catholic<\/a>, and his cohort a Protestant<\/a>, and I found it strangely ironic the two would be united against me who was just minding my own business trying to be friendly. \u201cThey hate each other \u2013 you can\u2019t expect them to hate you any less,\u201d Mom said later trying to console me. I didn\u2019t see any evidence of them hating each other \u2013 just them hating me. There had to be another reason, I thought.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long to find out that America was responsible for much of the terror. They supplied the guns, ammunition, and money. Was America still fighting the Revolutionary War like the British still referred to America as the Colonies? Not exactly; America was full of Irish<\/a>, especially in the North East, and there was the core of support for the IRA<\/a>.<\/p>\n I learned about a group called NORAID<\/a> who ran fund-raisers and bake-sales for The Cause. I learned later that persons linked the committee also ran guns for the IRA. In 1981 NORAID was forced to list the IRA as their principal benefactor, though NORAID was allowed to challenge the ruling<\/a>.\u00a0American guns, ammunition, and money again flowed to Ireland.<\/p>\n Support for Irish terrorism wasn\u2019t restricted to private citizens either. I just finished watching a 2010 St. Patrick\u2019s Day breakfast with Gerry Adams<\/a>, in Boston, featuring Senator Jack Hart thanking the local faithful for their support in the cause. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have done it without you,\u201d he says. And then there\u2019s Senator Peter King who once said, \u201cWe must pledge ourselves to support those brave men and women who this very moment are carrying forth the struggle against British imperialism in the streets of Belfast and Derry<\/a>.\u201d He made many other comments, too, like, \u201cIf civilians are killed in an attack on a military installation, it is certainly regrettable, but I will not morally blame the IRA for it.\u201d This is the guy who held hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims<\/a> just recently.<\/p>\n I know all this now, of course, and my opinion is less-pointed than it had been as I learn more and more about what everyone was fighting for, but even if I\u2019d known it then it wouldn\u2019t have mattered. The kids in Ballygawley, Northern Ireland<\/a>, Protestant and Catholic alike, never seemed bothered by each other or me. In fact we got on fine; they were friendly and curious, asking if my family had a television and how much did a loaf of bread cost and did I know anything about fishing and building big fires.<\/p>\n Truth is it took only a short while before I learned the root of the hatred at school. Wanting to avoid conflict as best I could, I minded my own business all the while observing and listening, and I noticed they\u2019d mostly react strongly and negatively to American television shows. Comments like \u201cAmericans think they\u2019re so much better than everyone else,\u201d and \u201cAmericans have to have everything bigger and better\u201d told me what I needed to know \u2013 their hatred was fueled by a Hollywood portrayal of America coupled with a resentment of the vague truth that America was the land of plenty. In other words: ignorance.<\/p>\n Then again, isn\u2019t ignorance the root cause of most hatred?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cJust what we need\u2026another fooking Yank!\u201d Hate-filled eyes pounded me like fists. I didn\u2019t expect my arrival at Gloucester House, the prep school for Portora Royal, in Northern Ireland to start off like that at all. I exited swiftly to … Continue reading