March is upon us and some people are seeing red over the way the Irish are portrayed by many of those ubiquitous green-themed products.
With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, NY State Senator David Carlucci (D-38th District) stood with the Rockland County Ancient Order of Hibernians and other residents just outside the Palisades Mall Friday morning to rebuke Spencer’s for selling “offensive merchandise to make a quick buck.”
The Rockland County Ancient Order of Hibernians denounced the sale of t-shirts, hats and other clothing that displays raunchy humor, sexual slogans and references to inebriation, all playing into longstanding Irish stereotypes. The rally was held on Route 59 across from the mall to give push back against the vulgarization of St. Patrick’s Day, celebrated annually on March 17.
Named after Saint Patrick, a popular patron saint of Ireland, the holiday originally commemorated the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Saint Patrick’s Day is an official feast day and observed by the Catholic Church — in contemporary times the day is synonymous with the celebration of Irish culture.
Alex Taylor, writing for Gannett’s PressConnects, reported that the group on Friday morning singled out Spencer’s, headquartered in Egg Harbor, N.J., because the retailer has some 600 stores throughout the U.S. that sell especially egregious goods that mock Irish culture and feed into stereotypes.
“We’re going to stand up and say Irish-American heritage is not for sale,” Sen. Carlucci said. “There’s no place in (the) community for this,” he said, criticizing the store’s t-shirts as “offensive” and “degrading.”
Anti-Defamation chairman of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Neil Cosgrove said that the Spencer’s merchandise goes beyond acknowledging or celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Cosgrove recalled how his grandparents emigrated from Ireland at the turn of the century and had to endure persistent stereotyping.
Spencer’s is renowned for its use of simple, crude merchandise — the equivalent of a pull my finger joke. Its St. Patrick Day’s gear amounts to green t-shirts with or without shamrocks that have sayings such as “Team Let’s Get Wasted,” “Irish Girl Wasted” and “Rub My Shamrocks for Luck.”
Daniel Berger, director of the ACLU’s Lower Hudson Valley chapter in White Plains, said that although merchandise sells vulgar cheap shots and lame-brained messages, the t-shirts shouldn’t be grounds for censorship.
“It’s no secret that Spencer’s caters to this mindset,” Berger was quoted as saying. “I would encourage those who don’t appreciate it to take their eyeballs and their business elsewhere.”
The Pearl River Saint Patrick’s Day Parade takes place Sunday, March 24, in Pearl River at 2.30 p.m. It’s the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in NY State and has been held since 1963 on the Sunday after the New York City parade.
Photo of David Carlucci outside the Palisades Mall with Rockland County Ancient Order of Hibernians and other residents calling out Spencer’s for selling offensive Irish-themed merchandise. Photo courtesy of David Carlucci FB.
