Sometimes I wonder if the American Melting Pot is nothing but a myth. A stroll through the streets of Manhattan may be misleading. On the surface we find an overwhelming mix of different nationalities and race, but take a closer look and you’ll find that people still tend to stick to their own kind.
An immigrant myself, I am curious about how people go about making a home away from home. I will explore this concept with the help of the Irish community of New York, concentrating on the Irish bartender and pub patron.
In recent years I have been exposed to this vibrant network of Irish Bartenders. All moved to New York without their families but together they created a new one. They celebrate the holidays together, and when a friend or even a remote acquaintance is in need everyone pulls their weight. They also drink together.
Why do people move more than 3000 miles away from their home country only to recreate it their new destination? In this project I will explore not only how these individuals become each other’s family, but also their relationship with the bars they work and drink in. This will also be an opportunity to examine the stereotype of the Irishman and the love of drink from the point of view of those who choose to live their lives around the pub establishment.
The theme of recreating the old in the new is indeed a powerful one. Is the new an exact replica of the old or are there subtle changes, modifications?
As cosmopolitan as the city is, New Yorkers seem to need their subcultures to survive the loneliness and anonymity. It’s age old that they find it with “their own kind” and in bars so it’s a great idea to explore the two together. Show how it becomes a surrogate family for people estranged from home and family. It would be great to be like a fly on the wall and record conversations. How often do they allude to the old country and talk of home? Or maybe you should just initiate the conversations and ask them to talk about Ireland and what they miss and what they’re glad to have left behind. As for the bartenders, unlike other New Yorkers like the Jamaican programmer, for example, who might spend his days in a computer cubicle and find comfort going back to Queens to dance with fellow Jamaicans, the Irish bartenders can combine work and play to recreate a sense of home.
To revisit the question of NYC being melting pot is a great one. Every “foreign” culture seems to find security in being around their own people, especially in a larger community that share different beliefs. Illuminating how these people feel as Irishmen and women within the context of American culture would be interesting to discover, especially given the long history of NYC’s Irish community.