>From:    Anthony C Orlando <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: ethnic  slurs/stereotypes on FML
>
>... reducing Irish people to nothing more than corn beef & cabbage
>eating drunks (of illegally imported beveragaes) is NOT humorous.
>It has roots deep into history, particularly in America when Irish
>immigrants werent' even considered "white", just smelly, vermin
>infested, potota eaters.  Despite their acceptance into the modern
>"white mainstream", perhaps in part to their willingness to work jobs
>others wouldn't (such as in the first forming police & fire brigades
>and coal mines) these stereotypes/slurs persist in jokes.
 
I would like to point out that while you are getting up in arms about
the Irish, it was actually more the older wave of Irish immigrants that
promoted this stereotype onto the newer waves that came over in the late
1800s.  The Irish before them felt they were of a higher class and better
bred than the newer citizens.
 
I guess what I am trying to point out is that really there are a huge lot
of stereotypes out there, and many times the people themselves propagate
them.
 
Have you ever watched Craig Ferguson?  He is a late night talk show host,
born and raised in Scotland, who constantly makes jokes about being a
drunk, fighting and coming from a land of drunks.
 
So good or bad, I honestly believe the Celts embrace many of the
stereotypes and have a hell of a lot of fun with them while doing so.
Maybe more than any other group.  We are a sarcastic lot.  And yes, that
is yet another stereotype.  But hey, it is there for a reason.
 
Perhaps if you focused on the ferrets, on having fun and not so much on
being the PC police, it would be nice for all of us.
 
Blessings,
 
Margie
[Posted in FML issue 5300]