The great team over at Campus Reform has done it again… this time taking on the idea of “Cultural Appropriation” specifically if St. Patrick’s Day is a form of appropriation.
“If you’re just using it as an excuse to drink, then I definitely see that as cultural appropriation.”
“I don’t like when people do it to my culture, so it’s just kind of like, how can I say I don’t like people to do it to my culture, and then do it to someone else’s.”
“Honestly, it might be.”
Then, the Interviewer, Cabot Phillips, followed up the first question by asking these college kids if they’d “be willing to potentially curtail the way” they celebrate St. Patrick’s Day “to avoid offending Irish-Americans.”
“Yeah,” one student replied. “Now that — I mean, honestly, like if I put more thought into it, definitely. I feel like it should be more like — people should talk about it more.”
“Yeah, I completely agree,” said another student.
My gosh… what is wrong with these people!?
From History.com:
Today, people of all backgrounds celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, especially throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore and Russia.
In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day was traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use interest in St. Patrick’s Day to drive tourism and showcase Ireland and Irish culture to the rest of the world.
Today, approximately 1 million people annually take part in Ireland ‘s St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions and fireworks shows.