Liam Hogan is a librarian and historian based in Limerick City Library. He is a graduate of the University of Limerick and Aberystwyth University and is currently working on his first book, a study of the historical relationship between Limerick and slavery. His special research interests are slavery, the politics of memory, early twentieth century Limerick and power. You can follow him on Twitter @Limerick1914.
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and SlaveryTwo years of the ‘Irish slaves’ myth: racism, reductionism and the tradition of diminishing the transatlantic slave tradeThe myth of ‘Irish slaves’ and of an ‘equality of suffering’ between enslaved Africans and white Europeans has gone mainstream, appearing everywhere to legitimate racism and to undermine black rights struggles.
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Published in: Beyond Trafficking and Slavery‘Irish slaves’: the convenient mythThe conflation of indentured servitude with chattel slavery in the ‘Irish slaves’ narrative whitewashes history in the service of Irish nationalist and white supremacist causes. Its resurgence in the wake of Ferguson reflects many Americans’ denial of the entrenched racism still prevalent in their society.