St.
Patrick’s Day is here again and around the United States, those of Irish
ancestry and those who just want to make merry are commemorating the day with
parades, Irish food and drink, and the “wearin’ of the green.”
Irish
immigrants have been a part of this country from its beginning, but the largest
numbers arrived between 1820 and 1860, with 2,000,000 immigrants arriving in
that span. 75% of those immigrants were
fleeing the incredible poverty and starvation of Irish potato famine.
Upon
arrival, Irish Catholics were often targets of stereotyping and discrimination
as they were seen as drunk, lazy, prone to criminal behavior, and shiftless. Because the Irish were Celts and not
Anglo-Saxon, some also considered them to be racially inferior. Signs appeared in classified ads and shop
windows advising that “Irish Need Not Apply” for open positions. Many also worried that the Irish propensity
to bear many children per family would displace the dominant American
Protestant religion.
Fast
forward a century and a half to today, as all things Irish are universally
celebrated by Americans and we dye
our rivers green, America is grateful for the contributions that
generations of Irish immigrants have made to this country. We should be equally mindful of the
contributions that immigrants from other parts and their descendants have made,
are making, and will make for generations to come, particularly where some of the
stereotypes similar to those applied to the Irish seem to be lurking behind
debate on current immigration policy.
I’ll
have all of this in mind as I raise a glass this St. Patrick’s Day. In the spirit of the day, I’ll leave you with
one of my dad’s favorite Irish toasts:
May those who love us,
Love us.
And those who do not love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their
hearts,
May He turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their
limping.
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