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St. Patrick's Day celebrations are widely accepted because the Irish have a sense of humor.
The celebrations are caricatures, exaggerated representations of Irish heritage yet the Irish embrace it. They don't use their history to elicit guilt or to demand special treatment, or reparations for being tricked with free passage to America only to find themselves on the auction block upon arrival.
They are a resilient group that generates admiration from many Americans. Despite their past adversity, they are all-inclusive.
St. Patrick's Day celebrations are widely accepted because the Irish have a sense of humor.
The celebrations are caricatures, exaggerated representations of Irish heritage yet the Irish embrace it. They don't use their history to elicit guilt or to demand special treatment, or reparations for being tricked with free passage to America only to find themselves on the auction block upon arrival.
They are a resilient group that generates admiration from many Americans. Despite their past adversity, they are all-inclusive.
Just my observations
I suspect you know this, but many people do not. The Irish have a special understanding of what it was like to be subjected to inhuman treatment as many came over as indentured servants. An irony no doubt lost on the OP, despite his chosen forum ID.
As a matter of fact, some Irish were in fact brought over as slaves, but you don't read about that in most history books now days.
Nor do those beating the drums for reparations think of descendants of Irish folk.
St. Patrick's Day celebrations are widely accepted because the Irish have a sense of humor.
The celebrations are caricatures, exaggerated representations of Irish heritage yet the Irish embrace it. They don't use their history to elicit guilt or to demand special treatment, or reparations for being tricked with free passage to America only to find themselves on the auction block upon arrival.
They are a resilient group that generates admiration from many Americans. Despite their past adversity, they are all-inclusive.
Just my observations
The Irish only embrace your caricatures and exaggerated representation after the larger culture finally and fully embraced and accepted the Irish as "one of their own". Black people will laugh at our caricatures and exaggerated representation once the larger culture accepts us as one of their own.
We, as black people, do not use our history to to elicit guilt. What's obvious is that our history elicits guilt and discomfort in the lager population. If black people simply give a truthful narration of how we arrived where we are today, using history and actions begetting reactions, half the larger white population will feel some sort of guilt or discomfort. If that same guilt and discomfort is not felt in regards to the Irish narration of how they arrived where they are today, then obviously there is a distinction with a difference.
.
Again, I posit that if you walk in our shoes.....you end up standing where we are standing. Light skinned African Americans, who could pass for white.....were able to prosper more than the dark skinned black person for the same reason that Irish and Jewish people were eventually able overcome discrimination. If you cannot be identified easily......it greatly diminishes the efficacy of discrimination. Yes, the Irish were resilient enough to drop their accent and or their surnames to blend in, just like those blacks who passed for white and did the same, allowing them to prosper from white privileges.
The day the black rate of poverty, unemployment and wealth are on par with whites......we can all get together in black face and have a party and laugh.....until then expect to get an azz kicking for doing it.
African Americans have to defend the celebration of black history month or anything "African", yet, why do the Irish in America get their "Irish" day so widely accepted? Whatever happened to just being "American"...when it comes to the Irish.
When I see video or hear first person accounts of St Patrick's Day celebrations, it always includes black people and brown people and yellow people and bronze people all p*ssing and vomiting in the street right along with all the white people. Erin go braugh, bro!
I'm going out tonite with my wife ...green Ireland shirt and all...and I'll be Irish for 2 or 3 hours before reverting back to my normal black dude self.
The one day I avoid bars like the plague; my BWW friends call it "amateur night".
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Everyone's Irish indeed!
