ST. PATRICK'S DAY
March 17

March 17 is a wonderful day (sometimes spans several days) to celebrate the feast of Glorious St. Patrick.  Before you attend the parties and march in the wonderful parades, here are a few thoughts to ponder.

Defamation and The “Green” Season

There is an old tale from Irish mythology concerning the Irish hero Cuchulainn. In a fit of rage he begins fighting the ocean waves. Being the angry Irishman that he is, he wades into the water and begins flailing at the incoming waves with his sword. Needless to say, he makes no progress as each incoming wave is only followed by another wave.

Sometimes I feel that fighting the annual waves of Irish defamation is a little like Cuchullain's efforts; however, being the angry Irishman that I am, I have rolled up my pant legs and am ready to wade back into the ocean for another go at the waves.

Last year was a particularly bad season. By enlisting the aid of concerned Irish from around Ohio we were successful in getting an offensive tee shirt removed from a Columbus shopping mall. Actually, the mall management ended up removing the entire store, which, given the store's "I don't care" attitude, was an unexpected bonus. Many other offensive cartoons, comments and articles appeared around the state and nation. Of course, although complaints are filed and letters written, apologies are rarely ever received.

Finding Irish defamation is not very difficult. Watch for it to appear about March 1 and continue through the 17th. The first signs will appear in the greeting card industry. For those who still send greeting cards, make sure you select ones that are tasteful and that do not make fun of or caricature the Irish race or our religion. Be on the look out for the offensive ones. If you are offended by the Irish being depicted as drunken leprechauns, let the card sellers know. Remember, the economic boycott originated in Ireland. Thanks to the Internet we can now easily contact hundreds of like-minded Irish in seconds.

As we remember to safeguard our race and our religion, let us not forget the good St. Patrick at this time of year. St. Patrick's Day is a commemoration of the saint's death not a celebration of his birth. Please refrain from referring to the day as St. Paddy's Day or (heaven help us) St. Patty's Day. We can't expect the world to take the day seriously if we don't.

The much-maligned leprechaun is not an elf. The early folklorists who collected stories about leprechauns depicted them as small old men with white beards. The pointed ears and monkey-like features were added by those who wished to portray the Irish as animals (and undeserving of aid). There is nothing wrong with leprechauns, just make sure we use them as a positive folk symbol and not a defamatory one.

Justifiers of Irish defamation will often describe their work as satire. OK, satire is a legitimate and irreverent form of humor. But, real satire makes fun of everyone. I will give any newspaper columnist a free pass to make fun of the Irish in the name of satire, but they are also required to make fun of other races and religions on their holidays. We are not asking for special treatment - just equal treatment.

No other race or religion allows the kind of offensive stereotyping that the Irish-American Catholic is subjected to every March. The most important things we can do to address this problem is: 1) Work collectively to address a particular problem; and 2) Communicate our concerns in a positive and respectful manner.

To answer those who feel defamation is all great fun, "No, the Irish can't take a joke, particularly when the joke is at the expense of our race or our religion."

Let's keep our eyes and ears open and have a great holiday!

J. Michael Finn
State Historian, Ancient Order of Hibernians
Columbus, Ohio

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Thoughts to Ponder as We Approach St. Patrick’s Day 

In the run up to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and the concerns expressed by many about the offensive cards, shirts and other items for sale that denigrate the Irish and St. Patrick’s Day as little more than an occasion to act like happy, drunken fools, I would like to offer some observations and considerations.

Someone I respect enormously and consider very wise regarding the Irish has said more than once that the hardest battle against bigotry is convincing our own people and getting them to take an interest in the cause. The context was with respect to political and historical education particularly with respect to the north of Ireland but I think it is quite relevant regarding the whole “plastic paddy phenomenon.”

Educating our own continues to be an ongoing struggle but that doesn’t mean we stop trying.  We can’t hit people over the head to either behave or to learn what their forbearers endured but in my opinion, we do have an obligation to remind them.  Those of us who are members of Irish American organizations in particular, represent our ethnic heritage for good or ill.  Leading by example is obviously one way and reminding people of what our ancestors struggled with in the past is another.

If you’ve ever seen some of the vulgar depictions of the Irish in print it would make your skin crawl.  The cartoons of Thomas Nast in particular come to mind.  Irish emigrants were considered less than human - slaves had more value back before emancipation - the Irish were totally expendable.  The slack-jawed, monkeylike depictions of an Irish immigrant holding a bottle of whiskey laying in the gutter while a woman with 6 or 7 babies and “brats” all in tattered clothes begging for food is just as far off base as the depictions of black men and women eating watermelon, singing and dancing and trying to evade work.  But those depictions are incredibly hard to eradicate and the present day perpetuation of gratuitous greeting cards and other items at this time of year relegates the Irish back again to that stereotype.  

Many Irish American men and women are just plain unknowledgeable about the past - even their own family background and that may not be their fault if no one ever talked to them about it. However, if they knew more about our collective struggle they might think a minute before making an ass out of themselves in public particularly at this time of year.  In my humble opinion, I think more historical perspective and emphasis in the divisions is necessary because that as much as anything, is who we are.

I’m not trying to rain on anybody’s parade (sorry), and I like to have a drink as much as anyone else.  But it does seem that the tradition that has been laid down in the run up to St. Patrick’s Day is to party, party, party.  Many individuals and organizers have tried to emphasize that the holiday is more than just about drinking.  However, leaders in Irish organizations must play a role in expecting more from their members.  That may not be an easy thing to do but if we want the rest of our country to respect us and respect our “day” then it is something we must do for our ethnic pride and for those before us who paid the price through bigotry and discrimination.

Sarah McAuliffe-Bellin

Sarah is a member of Allegheny County LAOH Division 32, Allegheny County Freedom for All Ireland chair, the National LAOH Chair of Immigration and Legislation, and the Chair of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Irish American Unity Conference.  She has also served on the National Board of the IAUC.

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REMINDER:  If you see offensive merchandise being sold, as in the instance below, please file a complaint with the merchant.  If we all work together on this matter, we can help to solve the problem:

It’s that time of the year again unfortunately - I received an email from a friend about a t- shirt that Sears is selling for St. Patrick’s Day.  It reads "10% Irish, 90% Drunk”  

She complained to a manager and got the phone number for complaints.  She called and was told an e-mail would go out.  If you know anyone who would be interested in complaining here's the no--1-800-549-4505  option 5 .  This was in Ross Park Mall in the Pittsburgh area but I'm sure their stores all sell the same thing. 

Please spread the word about this and let Sears know that this isn’t humour.

Thanks

Sarah