By Jerry Burke
Top of the mornin' to ya, laddies and lasses! Yet another St. Patrick's Day is upon us, and that, of course, gives ya the right to wear green, drink Guinness and crack wise at the expense of the people of a small island nation where the sun never sets 'cause it's too lazy to rise.
I am proud to be an Irishman. I'm not completely Irish, thanks to the beautiful melting pot that is America. I'm actually a super-mutt, with ancestry from all around the world. But I am mostly Irish, and my last name links me instantly to the old country, a miserable patch of craggy land in county Mayo.
Today, being Irish is hardly the "sin" it was 150 years ago, when my ancestors, fleeing tyranny and poverty, came to America and crammed themselves into tenements in the Five Points section of Manhattan.
Back then, we were seen as indolent drunks whose only value was as voters or as replacements for military service. The Italians didn't fare much better in the eyes of "arrived on the first boat" America, and don't get me started on how the Native Americans and blacks were seen.
As the years went by, those stereotypes faded somewhat, and we became part of the American tapestry. Those bent on hating for the sake of hating focused on easier targets based on skin color and religion, and bravely hid their faces behind pillowcases as they burned crosses. Jerks.
While I would hope that this country is moving forward in terms of taking people for who they are rather than where their ancestors happened to be born, there is still a lot of harmful and inaccurate bigotry hanging over our heads. In the face of which we have three choices. We can deny the existence of these stereotypes and submerge ourselves in "P.C. World," where we're all equal. That method was rather popular in the 1990s, but had a nasty side effect of curbing free speech and of avoiding taking pleasure in our differences. It also ignored some real inequalities that still exist today.
Choice two: We indulge in our stereotypes, the intellectually lazy classification of a people based what we see and hear. That's no fun, either, because that leads to people blaming their own misfortunes on others without examining their individual roles in society.
So, how about a compromise? The best comedy in the world exposes stereotypes for what they are: silly classifications based on very little snippets of observed truth. Some stereotypes are dang funny and easy to poke at. Some are truly stupid and demand unmasking at every opportunity.
Do I get mad when someone says all Irish are drunks? You bet. That's ignorant. Am I upset that the most visible representative of the Irish people in America flies around telling children that red balloon marshmallows are part of a complete breakfast? Yes, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
Stereotypes of every degree affect everyone on a very personal level. Tolerating ignorance is something each of has to do every day of our lives, especially when we're on line at the DMV. Knowing the difference between that and hatred is the key to getting along. Just make sure you have 1) the courage to talk about it and 2) a mind open enough to accept that you might be as wrong as I am 90 percent of the time.
