Who's Your Paddy? by Jennifer Nugent Duffy

Author:Jennifer Nugent Duffy [Duffy, Jennifer Nugent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Discrimination
ISBN: 9780814785034
Google: eiYVCgAAQBAJ
Publisher: NYU Press
Published: 2014-01-15T22:18:09+00:00

Irish White Flighters

Irish white flighters typically participate in ethnic organizations such as Irish county organizations that sponsor yearly dinner dances, as well as less formal social gatherings beyond the St. Patrick’s Day season. Like the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day parade, Irish county organizations in the United States originated in the nineteenth century and similarly emphasize the good Paddy Irish model. Many of their events begin and end with a prayer, and U.S. flags are prominently displayed to assuage any questions regarding national loyalty at these ethnic events. Like the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day dinner, the Irish county organization dances can be costly, ranging from $75 to $100 a person and upward. Traditional gender roles similarly are displayed at these events, as more public and prominent roles such as giving speeches are given to men, while women typically occupy supporting and often domestic roles by selling raffle tickets and baking soda bread. But unlike the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day parade and dinner, these events are attended largely by Irish immigrants and are shaped by their experience in Ireland and arrival in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Dancing is paramount, echoing this generation’s fondness for dance halls both in Ireland and in New York City, enjoying music that ranges from early rock and roll and country to traditional Irish jigs, reels, and set dances. Pioneer pins also can be found proudly displayed on many lapels, illustrating a lifelong commitment to a pledge made in adolescence to abstain from consuming alcohol. Those who drink at these events tend to do so in moderation; however, these displays typically are gendered as they were when this generation came of age in Ireland. Men usually stand at the bar while women remain seated at tables and chairs to the side. These displays of order, loyalty, family, and faith allow Irish white flighters to perpetuate the good Paddy Irish model, and they correspond to a particular configuration of class and gender. But unlike the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day parade, which takes place in predominantly Black and Latino southwest Yonkers, events associated with Irish white flighers often transpire in New York City or largely white sections of Yonkers. Unlike debates surrounding the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day parade route, there is little concern whether events adhere to a particular racial order. But the importance of white racial homogeneity does punctuate their discourse.

Most Irish white flighters lived in New York City upon their arrival in the United States and moved to Yonkers in the 1970s and early 1980s, lured primarily by affordable homes. Yonkers also offered a short work commute and a respite from New York City’s spiraling crime rate and fiscal crisis. But when I asked Irish white flighters to discuss this, they often addressed changing racial demographics. When I asked Theresa, who left Kilkenny in 1959, why she left the Bronx, she explained: “We had no choice. We were the only ones left. It’s like it happened overnight. Kevin started at the Mount [a high school] in 1979.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.