[Rhonda]

How does Irish-American culture differ from "mainstream" culture? For example, when hospitalized, are you treated differently? Do you speak differently? Please email me with more details.

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Name : Rhonda, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 35, City : n/a, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : Registered Nurse, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Kiersten]

I'm interested in answering your question, but I'm not quite sure what you mean. No, we're not treated differently in a hospital, just as I would suppose a Mexican-American or anyone else wouldn't be treated differently when hospitalized. We may speak differently if we still carry our Irish brogue (our accent). Does this help?

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Name : Kiersten, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 24, City : Boulder, State : CO Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[TomO]

I am second-generation Irish American, and other than joking about being as Irish as Paddy's Pig, my entire family is and was as mainstream as can be. We have intermarried with Italians, Spaniards, Swedes, Germans, Hungarians and other Irish. If the family were larger, we probably would have encompassed more of the world. Though we are not rowdy drunks, we enjoy lively partying, good song and clever wit. If we are discriminated against, we are too dumb to notice and too thick-skinned to be bothered. We're normal Americans.

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Name : TomO, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 74, City : Oklahoma City, State : OK Country : United States, Occupation : Retired, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nathan Hopkins]

I come from a family with strong Irish roots. Earlier immigrants did face pretty extreme discrimination, the whole 'no Irish need apply' thing. So many Irish families immigrated to the States during the Potato Famine in Ireland that they would fill large sections of the cities; they, like many immigrants, usually stuck together, you know. These are huge reasons why they maintained such a strong cultural identity and tie to Ireland, which still exists today.

Now, when my family and I 'celebrate' our Irish heritage, we are not trying to distance ourselves from the mainstream, and I don't think anyone else sees us as different. It is really just an expression of our love for the culture, the music, the faith and the spirit.

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Name : Nathan Hopkins, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 18, City : St. Louis, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[W.H.]

As one who fits your description, I am an American, unlike some others who can not let go of the country they had to escape from. If one feels that they must describe themselves as X-Americans they should have stayed in X. I am not treated differently because I do not portray myself as different. An American should be an American!

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Name : W.H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 65, City : Phoenix, State : AZ Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Victoria-Thomas]

This is what angers me, when a white person of any ethnicity celebrate themselves its fine. I personally never hear anyone complain and I don't think anyone should. But, when a Black person celebrate their culture, people are offended. First they might say, Why do you call yourself 'African American? Why are you separating yourself? We are just saying, I love myself, I love my culture. I am so proud of being me, I love the skin that I am in. I think that everyone should be free to celebrate and say 'I love my color, my heritage, my black hair, my blonde hair, my brown eyes, my blue eyes, without somebody getting all out of shape about it.

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Name : Victoria-Thomas, Gender : F, City : Southfield, State : MI Country : United States, 

[Bob]

My grandparents were from Ireland. We're all quite proud of our Irish heritage. I'm not sure that your question is answerable quite yet... maybe we can narrow it down... What do you consider 'mainstream culture' in America? In what ways would they be treated differently in a hospital? Given beer instead of plasma? There are over 34 million Americans who claim Irish heritage in the US. They are better educated and better off financially than the population as a whole. Most of them have well lost their brogue. Your question fascinates me.

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Name : Bob, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 43, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Craig-E]

A lot of what made the Irish stick out at the time of their mass migration was religious- America was/is overwhelmingly Protestant, and Catholics were not loved to say the least. Most Irish that came over lived in the lower economic segments with manual labor, breaking the frontier, and soldiering the main jobs available. They were basically in competition with Negroes scratching out a living on the bottom rung. (We used to be one of the 'undesirables' the KKK rallied against) What turned it around for the Irish is the loyalty levels amongst the demographic, allowing it to become an effective voting bloc. The deep oratory tradition among Irish led to a natural affinity in politics and the arts. There is also a strong belligerence in the traditional Irish temperment, which made us the core of some the the first street gangs ever formed in America. We can fight as bar brawlers, but we never had the organization of the Romans or Germans hence never the military power of other European nations.

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Name : Craig-E, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 36, City : Tampa, State : FL Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

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