I admire people like Mr Lino Farrugia, CEO of the hunter’s federation. Really. His sense of humour must get him through life with a constant smile on his face, and who wouldn’t want that?

I’m assuming that it’s Mr Farrugia’s sense of humour that made him play the ‘racism and social hatred’ card during yesterday’s edition of Times Talk

Apparently, as members of the press we should be ashamed of ourselves for being ‘racist’ and inciting ‘social hatred’ where hunters are involved. My heart bleeds at the injustice. Not.

I am very familiar with ‘racist’, because I see it everyday. I see it while walking into Valletta, when I see dirty looks thrown at migrants simply because they dare exist.

I see it online, in the vitriol spouted against migrants on social media pages like Malta Tal-Maltin, or whatever all those pages masquerading as patriotic like to call themselves.

I see it at some outlets, where sales attendants greet a certain type of foreigner (read: anyone hailing from down south of Malta) whose English language skills might not be awesome with eye-rolling and impatience, usually accompanied by thinly-veiled insults.

Funnily enough, the same attitude is conspicuously absent when dealing with northerners whose English would make even pigeons blush. In this case, it’s all smiles and amused sign-language. Needless to say, I never return to these outlets.

When it comes to ‘racist’, I’ve seen the real thing and it isn’t pretty. So, forgive me if I’m not too impressed when hunters play the victim card and accuse the press of a ‘racist’ attitude.

Maybe I missed the part where a bus driver stops a hunter from boarding the bus because of the colour of his skin, because I was too busy focusing on the illegal killing of the storks a couple of weeks ago.

And maybe I missed the part where people cross the road just because of the colour of the hunter’s skin, because I was too busy reading all about that time when bird-watchers were attacked in Buskett.

Criticising illegal activities is not only our right as members of the press; it is also our responsibility. And when Mr Farrugia uses the term ‘racist’ in order to further the hunters’ personal crusade, what he is doing is demeaning the sufferings of the 100s of individuals in Malta who are victims of actual racism every single day.

For shame.

 

 

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