I get this question once in awhile. We all do occasionally here at Irish Fest HQ. I heard it on local talk radio a few days ago. Most people understand it. They see the little tag line we use every once in awhile, "Celtic Pride in Cowtown" and they say, "Oh, right. Kansas City. Cowtown. A cow. I get it."
They get it. But not everybody likes it. This might sound silly to some of you outside Kansas City, but some people here get really bent out of shape when they hear our fair city referred to as A Cowtown. They're quick to point out that the stockyards closed years ago. That we're a thriving, modern metropolis, with culture and class and big league sports and events you can wear tuxedos to and whatnot. Nary a bovine in sight.
All true. I know I haven't run across a cow around here in years. I also know that this coming weekend, Crown Center will be full of happy people, most of whom are not from Ireland, many of whom have never visited Ireland, all proudly declaring themselves to be Irish. Is that wrong? Of course not. And that's the point.
We're a people who cherish our history, who hold on to it for all we're worth, through thousands of miles and sometimes hundreds of years because we value that sense of belonging, that sense of an ancient and sometimes distant kinship to a powerful past and a shared identity. We understand that the past isn't something to run away from, but rather what molds us and makes us who we are, and who we want to be.
Same thing with Cowtown. Or at least I think it should be. Kansas City most certainly was built on the strong backs of cattle and the men who drove them here. And on the backs of the Irish railroad workers you'll read about in our heritage tent this weekend. And strong women like Nell Quinlan Donnelly, who you'll also learn about at Irish Fest.
Kansas City is a cowtown. It is a railroad town. It is a river town, a jazz town, a barbeque town.
And this weekend, more than any of those, Kansas City is an Irish town.
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2 comments:
The disturbing part is not that the cow is being utilized as an image to represent K.C. - it's that the poor animal has a dreadful sexual identity crisis!! What would the poor creature be lead to believe - illustrated with horns and an utter?!!! That's completely utterly confusing!!?!
No identity crisis at all. This clarification from the Austin Public Library in Texas where they know a thing or two about cows:
"Surprisingly, for us city folks at least cows (that is, mature female cattle) can have horns! In fact, there are several cattle breeds in which the cows have horns. To name just a few: the Danish Red, the White Park, and the Texas Longhorn.
Having horns works both ways; that is, cattle without horns can be bulls. The Angus and the Red Poll are examples of breeds that are hornless, be they cow or be they bull!
To make cattle gender identification even trickier, horns can be artificially removed. This is a common safety practice, as horns can be dangerous to humans, to other cattle, and to the horn-bearing cattle themselves. Methods of de-horning include chemicals, hot irons, clipping, and sawing.
To put it all in perspective: if someone points out a group of cattle, horned or unhorned, and insists that it's a herd of cows, it just might be. Maybe. But then again, it might be a bunch of bull!"
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