The old saying about sticks and stones is wrong — just ask our migrant friends

When ideas are repeated enough at home or online, they become part of what people believe to be acceptable, writes Fiona Hurley, CEO of Nasc Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre

People take part in a silent assembly for migrant workers and their families outside the Department of the Taoiseach in Dublin, on Wednesday following the recent attacks on members of the Indian community. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

We have long known that the old saying about sticks and stones is wrong. An updated (but far less catchy) version, might read: “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can deny my humanity.” 

Words can hurt and they can lay the groundwork for the actions that follow. A six-year-old girl assaulted and told to go back to India, an eight-year-old boy called the n-word on a football pitch by another little boy, a young woman in a hijab spat at on the streets, a man attacked on his way home from work.