St Patrick's Day Celebrates Irish Achievement of Becoming White

Chicago – Amidst the raucous pub crawls, off-key renditions of "Danny Boy" and the (in)famous dyeing the Chicago River green, one would never know the St Patrick's Day's dark past. Barely a century ago, Irish Americans were considered a lower class and the holiday was at times strictly prohibited. Before 1850 the Irish were not even counted as "White" in the US Census.

Much has changed. Today, the idea of a happy drunk Irishman is one of the few stereotypes that is still fair game.

"It's remarkable," said Jen Greenfield, a historian of the Irish diaspora at the University of Chicago. "Can you imagine people dressing up as Native Americans and drinking heavily? They'd be cancelled immediately! This just shows how far the Irish have come."

A visit to the local bars reinforces Greenfield's point. Fully half of the participants interviewed saw no problem with the stereotypical representations on display. The other half claimed it was okay because they themselves were Irish (though when pressed could not name a single Irish relative).

But the holiday serves as more than a celebration of Irish success. For many other cultures it is something to aspire to.

"One day," said one Chinese-American partygoer who asked not to be named, "I hope people can be just as offensive about Chinese New Year and nobody cares."