I'm no social crusader, I'm certain I'm capable of casual social insensitivity through ignorance, but as a person of Irish descent, this time of year gives me a small amount of dread as I know from experience that I'll see or hear something that makes me upset. Last Friday, I got an e-mail from my company wishing everyone a happy "St. Paddy's Day".
To be fair, I didn't know how derogatory a term 'paddy' can be until I saw Tony Slattery constantly deriding Stephen Rea in The Crying Game by referring to him as 'Paddy' rather than his name. Sure, it's a nickname for Patrick, but it was used primarily by folks looking to demean Irish immigrants as lower-class, uneducated and socially undesirable, both by the British and by Americans. It's how the paddy wagon got its name as these vehicles were usually manned by Irish police officers performing one of the only duties people of their kind were deemed worthy to perform. Certainly the term 'paddy' has lost a good deal of impact since those days, but it is still a term some people are at best uncomfortable with hearing in reference to their countrymen, and certainly their patron saint. Toss that word in the same trash bin as kraut, wop and the n-word where it belongs.
If you want to refer to St. Patrick, refer to him as St. Patrick. He's the only saint most people can name anyway, give the guy some credit.
I'll leave you with a song I first heard about ten years ago. Ashley MacIsaac is a Canadian of Scottish descent who plays traditional Celtic fiddle in contemporary musical settings. When I heard "Sleepy Maggie" the first time, I had to call the radio station to ask what the hell they'd just played, the arrangement was that jarring. The album it's on now goes into rotation on my iPod this time of year.
No comments:
Post a Comment