Symbols of national identity in Irish and English communities

Geography

In each case, what are the symbols of Irishness and Englishness?

The symbols of Irishness according to the Irish-Americans who organized the parade in Boston included heterosexuality. Their definition of their "nation" did not include those with alternate sexualities. This may have been reinforced by the strong Catholic ties in the group. In the case of Blacks in the English countryside, the Black woman feels accepted as "English" when she accepts the "sense of place" from the larger society that she belongs in urban areas but not in the overwhelmingly White countryside.

Over what were they (gays and blacks, respectively) deemed to transgress?

In the case of the Irish, the mainstream Irish wanted the gays to continue to stay in the closet and emphasize only those Irish traits endorsed by the group as a whole. Both the gays and the Black woman transgressed the assumed rules regarding "sense of place." The larger group believed they did not "belong" where they were.

5. Do these two examples tell you why nation-states are "imagined communities?"

Yes. In the case of the Irish, they imagined that some traits simply weren't present in their community. They did not like having that view altered. In the case of the English countryside, apparently the older residents never imagined that people of color would ever leave the city for the countryside. England is a multiracial, multicultural country, but those in the country may not be as concretely aware of it.

6. Do these two examples tell you why building a national identity is a point of "struggle" over exclusion/inclusion, belonging/not-belonging?

In the case of the gay Irish, the straight Irish wanted to exclude the gays, while the gays wanted to be accepted as belonging to that group. Clearly the Black woman feels both excluded and as if she does not belong in the countryside of her country.

7. How is "place" or "sense of place" contributing to making certain kinds of nationalism in each case?

In the case of the Irish, South Boston was their domain, and they wanted to exclude the gays from the landscape (the parade). It was a way to overtly exclude them from the nation. In the case of the English countryside, the Black woman has the perception that the local population thinks she should go back to the city where she belongs, that she does not belong in "their" part of the country.

How is a "sense of place" involved in excluding certain identities in certain nationalism in each case?

Clearly, the South Boston Irish did not want to include gays in any kind of identification of their community. The parade defined who they are, and having gays in the parade meant gays were there in Irish South Boston. By insisting on being included in the parade, the gay coalition challenged the larger group's "sense of place" as a place with only heterosexuals. The Black woman challenged "sense of place" by moving into the countryside, not the "place" for British Blacks. In both cases, the larger Irish population and the population in the English countryside wanted no changes made to their definition of what their little nation was comprised of.