ST. PATRICK’S DAY THOUGHTS

By Ruth A. Sheets

March 17, 2026

This morning I was “watching” the St. Patrick’s Day Parade” rerun on CBS Philly.  The parade has been held in Philadelphia since 1771.  That surprises people because we think that the Irish only came here in the 19^th century to build our railroads and because of the potato famine AFTER 1846.  That there was an active Irish community in Philadelphia before the signing of the Declaration of Independence is not usually part of our history lessons. 

We seem to like to put people and events into boxes that we can readily identify and fit those boxes on a timeline that we can easily follow, that is if we care at all. 

William Pen envisioned a colony, Pennsylvania where people of all backgrounds could come and live in peace.  He didn’t understand the Native peoples, but thought they should have a place too, as well as people from all over Europe.  He welcomed the first Germans in 1683 which opened the door to many future arrivals. 

The English came and settled all over Eastern North America, but they were joined almost from the beginning with Scots, Irish, French, and Swedes.

Enslaved peoples from Africa were brought here assumed to be illiterate “savages.”  In reality, many were Muslims who held an important world faith.  Others shared the faith of the peoples from which they came.  They may have been unaware of the ways of English people, but it became clear to anyone who paid attention that Black people were enormously talented, but their talents were used in service to white people whose faith not only permitted enslavement, but even promoted it. 

The white Christian faith of the time also permitted judgment of other people by their color, language, faith, country of origin, and other attributes which were categorized related to which were most relevant to the folks doing the judging. 

Despite the judgments, it is clear Philadelphia had an Irish community large enough to have a parade in the city 5 years before our attempt at independence.  I suspect at that time there were no signs that said “No Irish Need Apply” as one would find   75 or so years later.  I would imagine there were Black people watching the parade and appreciating the marchers too.  There was a significant free Black community in the city due to emancipation by former owners and sailors from ships docked in the harbor.  I suspect if we could check old records, we could find all sorts of other folks who settled here and helped shape this land even before our independence from Britain. 

For me it is tremendously sad that this nation’s people have decided to regularly elect people who do not appreciate our real history of diversity.  They prefer the white history that says since the founders were all white men this nation is just white men with the rest of us inferior to them because we have no history here that is worthy of mention. 

Nearly an entire political party, Republican, has chosen this “reasoning” and is sticking to it no matter the evidence to the contrary.  They see those who are not rich, white, and male as those to be used by themselves in whatever capacity they choose for us. 

• They want immigrants of color kicked out of the country.  They don’t realize just how much of the work those folks do and how much a part of our communities, even Philadelphia they are. 
• They want women to be in the home taking care of their hubby and popping babies as fast as possible to “replenish the white race” or something equally outrageous and insulting.  It’s fine to choose staying at home to do that,  but to be forced is criminal!  They have decided that teaching and nursing are not real “professions” of course, because the majority of those professinals are women.
• They want people of color to give up their high-level jobs to white men whenever white men come calling for that job.  We have seen what happens when such a scenario plays out.  The current Trumpian Regime has nominated and the Senate Republicans have approved the most incompetent set of white men in official government roles in our history.  The women they have approved are equally incompetent, but must look like Barbies and act like the inanimate doll too, and they do. 
• They want our “free press” to blurt out constant lies given to them by those incompetent white men and women in charge, I guess to make those ignoramuses seem somehow worthy of their positions.  They pretend the truth is not worth paying attention to, even when it involves the lives of our fellow Americans and immigrants who are our neighbors.  They arrest Black journalists, well, maybe just because they can, hoping no one will care.
• They give huge sums of money to anyone who will do their bidding and use their money and influence to bring more power and money to Trump and his entourage and toddler pool of white folks in government who have no clue.

So, this St. Patrick’s Day, we need to think about the rich heritage this nation holds and the many advances we have because of that great diversity.  Making enemies of those more talented than themselves means this Trumpian Regime is settling for what is often the worst of us instead of the rich talented diversity that is America.  If we don’t stop them, we all lose.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  See you next week at “No Kings 3.”