Some aspects of Chicago life are so scoured raw by excess attention — particularly from advertising copywriters trying to inject a bit of local color into their plugs — that mere mention of them is enough to draw a wince of pain. Deep-dish pizza and ketchup on hot dogs leap to mind. Please, no mas.
The St. Patrick's Day version is dyeing the Chicago River green and chugging green beer in Irish pubs. You'd think these were Ireland's only contributions to the world.
As St. Patrick's Day looms, I try to shine a light in the more neglected corners. In previous years I shared a bit of the work of the Irish writers whose grim black-and-white portraits stare mutely from pub walls, or celebrated Hazel Lavery, the Chicago beauty name-checked in a Yeats poem, whose face graced Irish banknotes for nearly half a century.
This year I'd like to mention famous Irish revolutionaries Michael Collins, Daniel O'Connell and Che Guevara.
Ireland's revolutionary spirit was born, never forget, from nearly a millennium of oppression, as the English invaded Ireland in 1169. In 1494 ...
What's that? Still chewing on Che Guevara? What's he doing there? The Argentine revolutionary whose face stared down from countless 1960s college dorm rooms? Not aware, are you, of the Irish roots of the man who helped overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959?
"The first thing to note is that in my son's veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels," said his father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, whose forebear Patrick Lynch left Galway in 1749, bound for Argentina.
The connection isn't a big secret — Ireland put Guevara on a stamp in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. Though I learned about the Irish/Argentine connection in a more direct fashion.
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It figures that Eire would put a murderous lunatic like Che Guevara on a stamp, as they have yet to apologize to the world for sending condolences to Nazi Germany on Hitler's death!
ReplyDeleteThere's something really wrong with the Irish government!
Murderous lunatic?!?! Bite me shillelagh, Clark ... and may the souls of a thousand innocent Irish patriots haunt your dreams nightly. Sr. Guevara rightly disposed of a corrupt and corpulent "el presidente" type in Cuba (backed by the same type of fascist assholes who now support yer buddy Drumpf); and while I'm not happy with the Castro regime, much of the blame for their intransigence lies at the foreign policy foot of the US of A.
DeleteVENCEREMOS, mofos!
Jaysus, man...what the bloody hell is wrong with you?
DeleteBatista was a corrupt and murderous dictator who was propped up by the Eisenhower administration, the Mafia, and multinational corporations. In order to remain in power, his regime tortured and killed thousands who opposed him, along with ordinary Cuban citizens.
Meanwhile, Havana turned into what Las Vegas later became...a playground and bordello for the high-rollers of the world. Of course, El Jefe (The Boss) received kickbacks from the Mob's casinos and brothels. And payoffs from the American-controlled sugar industry. As the saying goes, Batista made out like a bandit...literally.
When Castro's forces defeated Batista, he fled to Europe in 1959, and escaped with a personal fortune estimated at between 300 and 700 million dollars, and lived the high life in Portugal and Spain until his death in 1973.
Long story short, Castro and his cohorts overthrew and ousted a fascist thug who was systematically looting his country. And Batista and his numerous backers profited handsomely from all that plundering. Does that sound like a certain wannabe strongman whom we all know, all too well?
What Guevara did in Bolivia was be a murderous lunatic.
DeleteAnd at least the Cuban people weren't starving under Batista, like they are now, with massive shortages of everything.
And don't blame the US boycott of Cuba for that, it would've ended under Obama if the Castros would just allow freedoms there, but they & their successors won't allow that, so little internet there for the Cubans to actually find out what goes on in the rest of the world.
Che helping the ouster of Batista was warranted and perhaps Central America would have also profited from a few more changes. I'm not aware of Irish condolences for Hitler's demise, but in the context of centuries of English repression of my ancestors, I can understand them siding with enemies of the British Crown.
ReplyDeleteGood info, Mr. S.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding us that every ethnic group experiences prejudice before acceptance. For an interesting take on this, read a book, "Last Call; history of the 18th amendment". It's an examination of what fueled the temperance movement. It wasn't what we've read or been taught, it was an anti immigrant movement. Anti Irish-whiskey; anti German-beer; anti Italian-wine; and anti semitic-most of the distilleries were owned by Jewish business men. An enlightening book. Changes your understanding of the movement. (I hope I got the amendment number correct-too lazy to look it up.)
ReplyDeleteNo, the distilleries were mostly owned by old British descended WASPS, which is why they wouldn't partner up with the German-American owned breweries to fight off Prohibition. Some Jews were partners in owning breweries, as they also came from Central & Eastern Europe where beer was more popular than liquor.
DeleteRead a book Clark expand your mind
DeleteWhere are all these Irish people that you imply are looking down their noses and kicking the new arrivals? No one I know, and I know quite a few Irish folks. I do hear a lot of complaining about illegal, er, I mean undocumented immigrants coming from black and Latino folks. Unlike (I suspect) you, I know a lot of them too. Maybe you should clarify this since you're such an august journalist and always strive for needle point accuracy.
ReplyDeleteHmmm....I'm not sure what to do with that one. It makes me think of the famous line attributed to Louis Armstrong, "If you have to ask, you'll never know." Anybody else can give me a hand here?
DeleteThere is no dearth of racists among the Irish. particularly among South Side Irish. I can't testify to the numbers opposed to the current influx, but the 2nd and 3rd generation Irish have no memory of personal oppression and it would be surprising if there aren't a fair share of them among the mostly white faces front and center at every MAGA rally.
DeletePlease add a kind word for the "San Patricios", Irishman who fought for Mexico in the Mexican v American War, a conflict caused by the Texan's objection to the Mexican
Deletegovernment's making slavery illegal.
Mr. Steinberg I don't know you or who you know but you've fairly extensively about all types of folks. Sometimes critically most times in a balanced manner.
DeleteI do know you live in a lily white leafy suburban paradise . Have you've said many times still I imagine you know and encounter many people of all stripped. Whether you have friends or color. Only you could say
Mrs. O'Leary's cow has been officially exonerated. But there's no question that the Great Chicago Fire began in the barn behind the O'Leary house on W DeKoven St.
ReplyDelete