Irish-Chicano Nexus
“I’m gonna wear the green sneakers I wore last year to a St.Pat’s party.”
Mexican American young man, overheard in a grocery store checkout line.
It is more than wearing green, going to parties, and drinking green beer.
Waiting in line at the grocery store recently, I overheard two young (mid-, late-20s) Mexican Americans talking about their plans for St. Patrick’s Day. She said she was going to hit the thrift stores for something green to wear to a St. Patrick’s Day barbecue/party she was invited to. He said he was going to a sports bar that was going to serve green beer and wear the green sneakers he wore last year to a St. Patrick’s Day party. Their repartee made it clear neither of them knew what St. Patrick’s Day is about.
As I write this, St. Patrick’s Day is nigh upon us. Unfortunately, the couple cited above are all too representative of the general ignorance among Mexican Americans regarding St. Patrick’s Day – actually, among the American public at large.
St. Patrick’s Day is a serious holiday. It is more than wearing green, going to parties, and drinking green beer. It’s a holiday not only Mexican Americans but all Americans should know about.
St. Patrick’s Day in a nutshell …
St. Patrick’s Day originated in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland. It was originally a religious celebration commemorating Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick, who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. The holiday is celebrated on March 17, the date of the good saint’s death. Ironically, many Americans perceive St. Patrick’s Day as a day to go to bars and drink green beer. But up until the mid-1960s bars throughout Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day – most people observed the day by going to church.
The massive 19th-century Irish migration brought St. Patrick’s Day to the U.S. Over time, the holiday became a cultural-identity anchor and a vehicle to combat the militant nativism the Irish immigrants encountered. They were characterized as drunken, violent, and diseased criminals. Moreover, they were perceived by the nativists as Catholic heathen who were sullying what the nativists represented as a Protestant Christian nation. The Irish were subjected to all manner of discrimination – all over the eastern seaboard, for example, “Irish need not apply” signs were ubiquitous in businesses that were hiring.
Instead of cowering, the Irish fought the virulent nativism.
Instead of cowering, the Irish fought the virulent nativism. In small, neighborhood-based events in churches and parks, Irish Americans began publicly celebrating their Catholicism and patron saint. They praised the spirit of Irish nationalism in the old country. By the end of the 19th century, the localized Irish celebrations evolved to broader, city-wide public events and parades, bringing home the point that Irish Americans were a political and civic force in America. It was only a matter of time before marching in the local annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade was a “must do” for elected officials
Unfortunately, by the 20th century, St. Patrick’s Day became a capitalist marketing bonanza—greetings cards and imported Irish shamrocks on T-shirts were in stores everywhere and the food and drink that became associated with the day became bar promotions. And mattress and furniture “Sales” abounded. St. Patrick’s Day devolved into a capitalistic orgy during which Americans spend about $4.7 billion dollars.
Mexican Americans and Irish folks have many commonalities…
Truth be told, Mexican Americans and Irish folks have many commonalities, viz. (in no particular order):
“Los San Patricios,” was a the battalion made up of Irishmen who fought valiantly on the Mexican side of the Mexican-American War.
* One of these is genetic: By way of their Mexican heritage, Mexican Americans have an historical and a genetic nexus with the Irish. People familiar with Mexican history know of “Los San Patricios,” the battalion made up of Irishmen who fought valiantly on the Mexican side of the Mexican-American War. Because the San Patricios are considered national heroes in Mexico, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in Mexico, especially in the areas where the San Patricios fought and died.
Many members of Los Patricios who survived the war remained in Mexico and married and built families. The children of these families themselves had children, who then married and had children, continuing and expanding the Irish-Mexican lines over several generations. Over time, many of their descendants wound up in what is today the U.S.
* Like the Irish, a good portion of Mexican Americans is Catholic, and they had to deal with the same militant nativism the Irish immigrants encountered. They too were characterized as idol-worshipping papists. The counterpart of the “No Irish Need Apply” signs that were common in the East back in the day, “No dogs or Mexicans allowed” signs were ubiquitous in the Southwest.
* Both groups fought off the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The KKK is usually associated with the South and its persecution of Blacks. But the KKK also targeted Catholics and Jews and was very active in various parts of the country, including my home state of Arizona. In the 1950s the KKK set out to intimidate Mexican Americans – who were perceived as “foreigners” and Catholic ones at that – in some of Arizona’s mining towns. The KKK had cross burning ceremonies in the hills outside the mining towns. The cross burnings had the opposite effect – they infuriated, rather than intimidated, the Chicano families, who banded together and drove the KKK out of town.
Even earlier than the 1950s, the Irish also beat back the KKK. A couple of examples:
In 1924, the KKK planned a parade in South Bend, because it was a symbol of rising Catholic power in America.
In 1923, upset that Irish people – “foreigners” and Catholic to boot – were settling in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the KKK planned a rally in Carnegie to intimidate the town’s Irish Catholics. The Irish Catholics stood up to the KKK and drove them out of town.
In 1924, the KKK planned a parade in South Bend, Indiana, the home of the Catholic Notre Dame University. Notre Dame was targeted by the KKK because it was a symbol of rising Catholic power in America. Hundreds of Notre Dame students fought the KKK over a weekend. Thwarted in their attempt to intimidate the Notre Dame students, the KKK left South Bend.
[It is said that Notre Dame’s motto, “The fighting Irish,” and its logo, a leprechaun with fists raised, hat askew and bearing a fighting stance and countenance, derives from the time the Notre Dame students drove the KKK out of town.]
* After Mexicans, one of the largest groups of undocumented workers in the U.S. is comprised of Irish folk. In places like New York and Boston, immigration dynamics gave rise to community organizations that help and advocate for undocumented Irish, and the country’s quintessential Irish city, Boston, is a sanctuary city. There are Irish Dreamers as there are Mexican Dreamers.
A few years ago, Aodhan O’Riordan, a member of Ireland’s Parliament, commenting on the struggle of the Mexican immigrant community said, “Their fight is ours!”
A few years ago, in New York Irish activists held a rally in solidarity with embattled immigrants in the U.S. A featured speaker at the rally was Aodhan O’Riordan, a member of Ireland’s Parliament, who proclaimed that,
“Our story is one of struggle, of immigration, of seeking decency, refuge, of overcoming discrimination and sectarianism. What Mexicans today are going through … is exactly what we have gone through in the past. The struggles of immigrants to the United States today are the struggles of all Irish men and women. Their fight is ours!” (Bruce Bostick, “Irish Americans in New York organize to support immigrants’ rights,” People’s World, March 16, 2017)
There are many other commonalities – both populations, for example, have a rich and vibrant tradition of using ballads (we call them corridos) to pass down stories of heroism, tragedies, customs, and values from one generation to the next – but the above make the point. St. Patrick’s Day is not about mattress sales, green beer, pinching people who are not wearing green, or other such trivialities. It is a serious holiday that we should all learn about and respect. c/s
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Copyright 2024 by Salomon Baldenegro. All images in the public domain. To contact Sal write: salomonrb@msn.com