St. Patrick's Day Parade Controversy

For two hundred and forty years the Irish, whoever they may be, have been flaunting their ethnicity, a socially created system of rules about who does and does not belong to a particular group, and nationality through the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City. Because so many immigrants came to the United States from Ireland and ended up finding good work and living conditions in New York, they stuck together. They lived in …

…to be Irish at the same time just means that there is a connection between place and cultural identity. These parades allowed the Irish to show the world that they were 'normal' and that they could be trusted. They weren't to show the many facets of the Irish immigrants. They weren't to show that Irish people are gay and lesbians, too. They were essential for the Irish's development of ethnic consciousness in the United States.