My name is Seamus, but I dont celebrate St. Patricks Day. That may sound incongruous for a dual citizen of the U.S. and Ireland whose grandfather founded the Irish American Cultural Institute. But on March 17 each year I actively avoid the leprechauns and the Kiss Me Im Irish t-shirts and the silly green hats and the 9 a.m. Guinness guzzling. Thats not because Im opposed to having a good time and its certainly not because Im not proud of my Irish heritage. Quite the opposite: Im worried St. Patricks Day has become a farce, a celebration of cartoonish symbols of Irish culture that minimize, dilute and demean what it means to be Irish. Wrapped in an excuse to drink debaucherously (itself a stereotype long used to keep Irish immigrants down), the holiday is so devoid of culture that it may as well be grouped with fake holidays like SantaCon -- just switch red garb for green.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:27:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015