Gerry Adams: ‘I don’t see myself as white’
The Sinn Féin president caused international controversy when he compared the struggle against slavery in the US to the situation encountered by Irish nationalists. After watching a Quentin Tarantino film Mr Adams tweeted: “Watching Django Unchained — A Ballymurphy N*****!”.
Addressing the provocative tweet, which was quickly deleted but which drew much criticism Mr Adams yesterday said: “I’ve never seen myself as white”.
Speaking on LMFM radio Mr Adams said: “I’ve never seen myself as white. That’s only skin deep. I’m a human being. We’re all human beings, whatever our skin colour, whatever our gender, whatever our ability or disability. The fact is we’re all human beings and we all deserve to be treated properly. And it’s all about rights and what was happening in America.”
The political party leader was forced to apologise for his use of the six-letter word on Sunday but yesterday continued to defend the message being put forward.
The 2012 film highlights the inhuman treatment of slaves in America in the 19th century.
Describing the film as a “very violent but very powerful”, Mr Adams said: “I saw a parallel, as I have for a long time, between the plight and the struggle for African Americans and people back here at home. I tweeted about that.”
Speaking of his twitter page which has 112,000 followers he said: “I live a wee bit on the edge on Twitter. I enjoy it. I know it excites some comment. Some people see some of my tweets as a bit bizarre.”
