3/18
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| That day again |
St.Patrick’s Day has come and gone for another year. And a strange one it was. No parade for sure. Restaurants open under the 35% rule. Up and down the pub crawl strip of Amsterdam Avenue, practically every place has a minimum 30-40 minute to an hour wait time for a seat ,no bar seats allowed, indoors or
The Gate
even out. There is a nice live band playing between 81st and 82nd.
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| Live Irish music.... |
My friend and I ultimately find a table in a tiki bar, probably the only non-green spot on the strip. But a good place to have a drink and watch Irish the passing scene outside. Socially distance and responsible, of course.
I remember past St.Patrick’s Days like the Occupy Era ’s march to the Irish Potato Famine memorial and the passing out of potatoes to plant to the marchers. Our San Patricio celebration at West Park with Mexican and Irish bands to commemorate the heroic battalion that went over to the Mexican side during the US- Mexico War.
I share here a previous reflection:
OK...the easy thing to do is just go all shamrocks and leprechauns and just say "Happy St.Patrick's Day everybody"...and forget that the first New York St. Patrick's Day parade was a demonstration for respect and dignity by denigrated immigrants...and that the potato famine was not a natural disaster but the results of a nearly genocidal imperialist colonial agriculture policy by Great Britain..and that the refugees were viewed suspiciously....lived side by side by African-Americans in 5 points and Seneca Village...until they were accepted as white..that they were disproportionately drafted..and sent to Mexico in an imperialist war...West Point's first Irish graduate John Riley took his batallion to the other side where his mainly Catholic immigrant conscripts joined the Mexicans as el batalon san patricio. When captured they were hung as traitors without the usual court martial trial . Honored as heroes in Mexico. Hidden in history in the US until️ recently. El batalon san patricio presente!
And happy St. Patrick's Day!
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The recent murders in Atlanta are disturbing on a number of issues. Right on the surface of course is the recent rise in anti-Asian animus in the US. Much of this is rooted in feeling helpless in the face of Covid ....or the “China Virus” as the former president continues to say even now. It’s like, hey, there must be somebody to blame…our need to personalize and embody the invisible enemy,
The sheriff emphasizes that the accused was a self-described sex addict and “having a rough day.” Dude…those were almost all Korean women you killed…don’t say it’s not about race.
One problem is how race intersects with sex. How Asian women’s bodies are sexualized and fetishized so a “sex addict” can see Korean women as his enemy.
W also have at work here micsogeny and dehumanization and failure to protect the lives of sex workers.
And not to mention how massacres waiting to happen actors get their guns in the first place. Sex addict explains very little when so much is revealed and demands to be engaged.
Yes disturbing. Time for solidarity. And serious examination of these American societal dynamics.
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