One of the many messages left near the scene of a fourth-floor balcony collapse on June 16 which killed at least six people and sent several more to the hospital with major injuries, at a building in downtown Berkeley, California, USA, 17 June 2015. EPA/PETER DASILVA
Six young Irish people died on Tuesday in San Francisco, when the fourth floor balcony that they were on collapsed into the street. Several others were seriously injured. Today, many Irish people are expressing their outrage at this New York Times story by Adam Nagourney, Mitch Smith and Quentin Hardy about the tragedy. Why are they so angry and upset?
The New York Times used these deaths as the hook for a story about student bad behavior.
The New York Times piece begins with a discussion of the student exchange program that several of the young people were on. It states that this program is a “source of embarrassment to Ireland … marked by a series of high-profile episodes involving drunken partying.” It then goes on to say that the students died at “what neighbors described as a loud party,” and goes on to suggest that Irish exchange students party perpetually and have a habit of damaging property. This description is at odds with the way that Irish people and Irish political figures understand what has happened. For sure, some Irish people in their early 20’s party and have a good time when they are traveling. This is not, however, a phenomenon unique to the Irish. Nor is there good reason to believe that this behavior is universal among students on this exchange program.
The story appears to suggest that the students were partly responsible for their own deaths.
The framing of the story around drunken irresponsibility and property damage is loaded. It seems to suggest that the Irish students were somehow responsible for their deaths. There is however, no evidence whatsoever that the students did anything other than to stand on a balcony that was clearly insufficient to hold their weight. Furthermore, there is evidence strongly suggesting that the balcony’s supports were badly affected by dry rot.
Ireland is a small country, where many people either know the families of the deceased or know people who know them, and where a large percentage of people have themselves been exchange students in the U.S. during their college years. The deaths of these students is not only front page news, but is being treated as a national tragedy. At an official event yesterday evening, Ireland’s ambassador to the U.S., Anne Anderson, asked for a silent reflection in their honor. A prominent story that appears to insinuate without evidence that the students’ deaths was a consequence of their own behavior is highly upsetting to their families, those who know them, and the Irish public.
The story plays into offensive ethnic stereotypes.
Anti-Irish prejudice used to be a major force in American politics, leading, for example, to the establishment of the Know-Nothings, an important political party. It has largely died away in the last half century. However, aspects of 19th century prejudice still linger in the popular image of Irish people as inclined to belligerence, drunkenness and feckless and irresponsible behavior. The article certainly appears to play into the second and third aspects of this stereotype. It is hard to imagine the New York Times framing a story about a tragedy involving other ethnic groups using similarly irrelevant and potentially offensive generalizations.
