Ethnic_Groups_and_Discrimination

I am told that part of my ethnic ancestry is of Irish decent. I do not identify with this ethnicity or culture, but the idea that I am in some small way Irish does fascinate me. Irish immigration to North America began as early as the 17th century. During this period some came for financial advancement and the enticement of free land in colonial times (Schaefer, 2011), and a larger amount came for more religious freedom (Irish Diaspora, 2005). The Irish were the largest group of immigrants during the colonial period after the English (Schaefer, 2011). Probably the most notable wave of Irish immigration came in the middle of the 19th century during the time of Ireland’s Potato Famine (Irish Diaspora, 2005). Starting in 1820, the earliest immigration records existing, around five million Irish immigrants were admitted for residence to the United States. In 2006, the number of American’s claiming Irish Ancestry was 34.5 million, which is around nine times more than Ireland itself (Unknown, 2006) Irish immigrants faced prejudice, an unforced, but financially dependent segregation, and a fair amount of racism. Irish immigrants faced prejudice from the Americans in a number of very public ways. The derogatory terms of “Mick”, “potato-head”, “bog hopper,” or “croppie,” were common slang to describe the half -starved famine immigrants (Stevens, 2004). Paddy and Bridget were often used in a derogatory manner to mean an Irish man or woman. The Irish were portrayed in political cartoons of the time as simian, or ape-like people often drunken, or depicted as stupid, and criminalistic (Haug, 2003). The Irish arrived without the education and skills to attain jobs in anything but the grunt jobs often performed by the “freed Blacks” at the time. A few instances of newspaper want ads reporting “No Irish Need Apply” at the end of their advertisement, although they were not as common an occurrence as is popular belief (Jensen, 2002). Segregation was common and existed for a few reasons. Newly landed immigrants often stayed in the cities and ports in which they landed. They searched out the “Irish quarter” and found people from the same area where they had lived in Ireland. They wanted to somewhat recreate the close-knit communities that they had enjoyed in their homeland (Gavin, 2000). Another reason for the segregation is the lack of resources and money of the incoming Irish immigrants. Many immigrants found themselves in filthy, rat infested tenements, cellars, backrooms and hovels with no means to live elsewhere. With the lack of proper sanitary conditions, disease was prevalent in those areas (Kenny, 2008). This helped fuel the prejudice and racism that was already prevalent. A great deal of the racism directed toward the Irish had a basis in religion. Many of the Irish Immigrants of the famine time were Roman Catholic. Americans were very anti-Catholic for fear that the new arrivals would not be loyal to America, but to the church in Rome (Kenny, 2008). The fear was that the papacy would threaten America’s political independence. This fear translated into a general fear of the Irish (Gavin, 2000). Irish immigrants were subjected to a dual labor market because they had very little education or skills or there was a lack of jobs that they were skilled for. Many immigrants were very poor and took any jobs that they could find to try to support themselves (Gavin, 2000) Double Jeopardy applied to a majority of the immigrants in the famine era. Many were of the Catholic faith, and because anti-Catholic sentiment was high, they faced the prejudice of not only being Irish, but being Catholic as well (Gavin, 2000). I do not identify with the Irish culture at all really. I consider myself an American and I was raised to think of myself that way. I find it interesting, however, to learn about the Irish exodus to America and the struggles that they faced. Kenny, Kevin. (2008) Irish Immigrants in the United States. Retrieved on September 16, 2010 from http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2008/February/20080307131416ebyessedo0.6800043.html Irish Diaspora. (2005). In Immigration and Asylum from 1900 to Present. Retrieved from: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/abcmigrate/irish_diaspora Unknown (2006) Facts for Features: Irish American Heritage Month (March) & St. Patrick's Day. Retrieved on September 15,2010 from: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb06-ff04-2.html Stevens, Peter F. (2004) The Boston Irish Reporter. Dorchester, Mass. Vol. 15, Issue. 2; pg. 12 Haug, Christina. (2003) The Stereotyping of the Irish Immigrant in 19th Century Periodicals. Retrieved September 16, 2010 from http://www.victoriana.com/Irish/IrishPoliticalCartoons.htm Richard Jensen. (2002) "No Irish Need Apply":A Myth of Victimization Journal of Social History 36.2 405-429 Retrieved on September 15, 2010 from: http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/no-irish.htm Gavin, Phillip. (2000). Gone to America. Irish Potato Famine. Retrieved on September 16, 2010 from: http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/america.htm