Celts Reject ‘Anglo’ Ethnic Description

In response to Ruben R. Martinez’s assertion that Scots and Irishmen “are basically Anglo” (Counterpunch Letters, Feb. 16):

I agree with Martinez that Charlton Heston missed the point when he asserted that he has played “Scots, Brits and Irishmen” and therefore was justifiably cast as a Mexican in “Touch of Evil” (“ ‘Touch of Evil’ Needed Final Touch of Welles,” Counterpunch, Feb. 9). However, I think that Martinez missed the point when he lumps together three national groups of the British Isles as “Anglo.” Wars have been fought over this issue.

Scots and Irishmen are basically Celts, not Anglos, despite the mixing of Celt and Anglo blood that has occurred in Ireland and Scotland over the centuries. In the history of English conflicts with Celtic peoples, the English belief that Celts were an inferior race provided the “basically Anglo” English with an early justification for persecution of those peoples. The legacy of that persecution is apparent today in the centuries-long conflict that the Irish euphemistically call “the troubles.”

The use of the term “Anglo” to describe all “white” people (or at least all whose ancestors come from the British Isles) is a use born of ignorance of history--and perhaps also of the dominance of the Anglo-English in forming our language. We all need to be more sensitive about labeling people based merely on their outward appearances.

LINDA HARRIS

Whittier