How the Irish Became WhiteHow The Irish Became Whitetells the story of how the Irish immigrant went from racially Oppressed to racial Oppressor, an American Story most of us haven't wanted to hear before. Utilizing newspaper chronicles, memoirs, biographies, and official accounts, Noel Ignatiev traces the tattered history of Irish and African-American relations, revealing how the Irish in America used unions, the Catholic Church and the Democratic party to help gain and secure their newly found place in the White Republic. How The Irish Became Whiteopens with the reactions of Irish America to the 1841 appeal made to them by Daniel O'Connell, "The Liberator," to join with anti-slavery forces in the new country. It then reviews the status of Catholics in Ireland and some of their ambiguous contacts with American race patterns after emigration. Ignatiev carefully explores and challenges the Irish tradition of labor protest and the Irish role in the wave of anti-Negro violence that swept the country in the 1830s and 1840s. In addition, How The Irish Became Whiteprovides a provocative recounting of the roles of northeastern urban politicians in the Irish triumph over nativism, which allowed for their entry into the "white race." This is the first book to focus not on how the Irish were assimilated but how they were assimilated as "whites." Ignatiev seeks out the roots of the well-known tension between Irish and African-Americans, and draws the connection between the embracing of white supremacy by the Irish and their "success" in America. How The Irish Became Whiteconvincingly explodes a number of the most powerful myths surrounding race in our society. This bold and necessary intervention should be required reading for anyone interested in the history, theory and politics of racial identity and race relations in the United States. |
Contents
SOMETHING IN THE AIR | 6 |
WHITE NEGROES AND SMOKED IRISH | 34 |
THE TRANSUBSTANTIATION | 62 |
Copyright | |
1 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abolition abolitionism abolitionists Address Afro-Americans American antebellum antislavery artisans attacked August Binns black workers Board of Inspectors Boston Branagan British called campaign canal Catholic Church cited citizens color convicted Daniel O'Connell declared Democratic Party district Dublin election Emigrants ethnic fire company force Frederick Douglass free Negroes Garrison historian House Ireland Irish immigrants Irish in America Irish laborers Irish-American Irishman Jacksonian John John Binns July Labor History later letter Liberator March mayor McMullen meeting militia movement Moyamensing Hose National native Native American nativist nigger North O'Connell's oppression organized Pennsylvania percent Philadelphia Politics Philadelphia Public Ledger police population prison Protestant Protestant Ascendancy Public Ledger racial Randall Repeal Association Repeal movement reported republic Republican Riach riot rioters Silcox slave slaveholders slavery social Society South Southern Street strike tions trades Union United vote W. E. B. Du Bois wage Whig white labor William wrote York