Not very long ago, an Irishman was considered a “Paddy,” and to call a
man “Irish” was to provoke a fight in which blood was spilled. To call
an Irishman a “Flannel mouth” meant a broken head to the speaker. It was
a term of reproach. The Irishman also was caricatured on the theatrical
stage and held up to derision. “O, he is only an Irishman,” was an
explanation for every outburst of disorder.
We find that these opprobrious epithets are now limited to certain
Irishmen, and not to the entire nation or race of Irish. To call an
Irishman a “Mick” does not hurt his feelings as it once did, because he
knows it does not apply to him as a member of the Irish race.
The Italian “Dago,” and the Chinese “Chink,” were epithets applied to
the entire nation or race of Italians or Chinese. But a change has come
over the situation. There are Italians who are not “Dagos,” Chinese who
are not “Chinks.”
Epithets cruel and vulgar have been and still are applied to Colored
men, and we often hear our Colored Americans styled “Niggers.” Of course
this is slang for Negro, and although the word “Negro,” means a high
type of Ethiopian, nevertheless it hurts the Colored American. Why
should it hurt his feelings?