No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

I know that people sometimes wonder why I like rap. How do I relate? Why would such music speak to me, a white boy from small town New England? I have always thought it had something to do with my corollary interest in racism. And it does, especially given that I had some racist relatives growing up, and given that I've lived in the northeast and in the deep South (New Orleans). But I ran across this picture recently and it crystallized something:


Signs like these were common in Britain until quite recently, hanging in pubs and hotels. I don't share this picture as if to suggest the Irish struggle is comparable with the African one. Actually quite the opposite, especially in America. And I suppose that is exactly what interests me. Why is one kind of racism gone but one not? Because one can't tell an Irish person on sight? I don't know, but I do know that sometimes very small things make very big differences, fair or not.