How the Irish Became White

Author: Noel Ignatiev
ISBN: 9780415913843

How 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

Publisher: Routledge
Publish Date: 1995

Subjects: Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: U.S. History and Identity (USHI))