To Highlander, Rhett and others:
I knew it wouldn't be long before the age-old "irish sob story" would surface. When you ention that irishmen were called the "niggers" of europe, I have to laugh. The only factor causing any separation for irish people was their inherited catholicism, not SKIN color. Irish people are WHITE, and anglo-saxon like their northern european conterparts. No matter how much you would like us to believe that poor innocent irish immigrants were of a different color, they were NOT. White is white.
It may hurt your feelings, but it has been said that there is a certain degree of truth underneath most stereotypes. It is a common fact that many irish immigrants caused their conscientious brothers undue harm and negative publicity by engaging in revelries and crime. I trust I won't have to mention any infamous irish gangsters from the 1900 - 1930 period.
Also, what brought the irish here to america was exploitation and abuse by the british, not issues of skin color as the irish and the british are the SAME color. Your argument was weak in that regard. While life for immigrants was difficult, a.k.a. working construction, working railroads, working dangerous factory jobs, evil bosses, the fact is they were ENCOURAGED to come to america and bring their cheap labor. It is the irish, italian, german and polish immigrants that made people like Andrew Carnegie rich. However, how many southern blacks did your ancestors work side-by-side with in those menial jobs?
Do you know what blacks were doing after slavery? They were not working in factories, living in ehtnic tenements, or sending money back to europe for the rest of the family. They were sharecropping on someone else's land. They were working only for food and shelter. No progress, no promise and no opportunity.
So, while immigrants were exploited for the menial jobs, (mostly because of class and education NOT COLOR), blacks weren't even good enough for that, only sharecropping to eat another day.
Now, as far as the KKK against non-african groups, I challenge any of you scholarly, intelligent, elite, to produce documented evidence of violent campaigns carried out by the KKK against german, polish, irish, scottish, or british immigrants. The KKK for decades has complained about catholics, their large families and their growth, but try to find evidence of catholic lynchings? Irish lynchings? You already know the answer. Grandstanding and attemtping to share in the persecution of blacks in order to appease consciences is an old strategy to minimize history and reduce responsibility.
As far as irish "rabble-rousing" is concerned, it is just like italians and the mafia stereotype. You create it, you own it. Italians may complain about organized crime, but they do just as much to profit from it and perpetuate it and wear it as a badge of honor. Irish americans have done the same. You enjoy drinking, fighting and the attention that goes with both characterizations. Let's not be hypocrites.
Now, produce evidence of lynchings, church burnings, home burnings, rape, murder, segregation, that proves european immigrants suffered in the same manner as post-civil war blacks, and I will retract my original statements and issue to one an all a public apology.
The fact is you can't. All of you are proof of that america is a land of opportunity. Despite immigrant suffering, the opportunity here was better than what they left behind. So today, after a few generations, you are college educated, working, making progress, and are free to think and participate ON AN EQUAL BASIS with the rest of the country, without hinderance.
In 2000, a federal judge from Arkansas was arrested for shoplifiting in a WAL-MART store because he "fit" the description of the actual shoplifter. I could go on with hundreds of examples. Even Denzel Washington watched an elderly white woman rush off the elevator he was riding on because she was afraid.
I applaude your efforts and am grateful that all of you shared in this debate because at least you were honest enough to participate, share and let it out. Most americans would run from the discussion.
But, just as an experiment, when you return to work on Monday morning, I ask that you honestly count the first ten workers you encounter in your immediate area, and then ask yourself "out of every ten workers in this company, did I see two asians, two hispanics, two blacks, two whites, two native americans?". I think we all know the answer.
Whites feel integrated as soon as one or two minorities are present. As long as the ratio is never equal, whites feel safe. If you are honest, and you desire to bridge racial gaps, please read "The Two Americas, Separate and Un-Equal".
Thank you!
