Michael Perelman wrote: > > The Irish were regarded almost identically to the Blacks in the US. I gave some > sources on this a few days ago, I believe. Yet, there is not a high level of > anti-Irish feeling in the US.
All _european_ "ethnic" groups that have migrated to the u.s. have come to begin with as "micks," "wops," "hunkies," etc., which _at the time_ were very close synonyms for n....r. But as their position (economic and/or political power) increased, they ceased (except for purely ceremonial occasions) to be Irish, Italian, etc. and became generic "whites." There was a large Irish migration apparently to the Boston area in the 1980s, at the same time there was also a large Haitian migration. The Irish migrants _could_ have kept their position as migrants and joined with the Haitians in a joint struggle for migrant rights. Manning Marable in a speech in Chicago a few years ago summed it up in the phrase, "They got on the boat Irish, they got off whites." > > If my suspicion is correct, are there any models for people confronting those who try > to whip up divisions? See Foner's history of labor, particularly his report on a lumbermen's strike in Louisiana (or Mississippi) around the beginning of the 20th century. When _all_ the divisions broke down, the governor called out the National Guard and crushed the strike. I believe Foner also reports on both occasions of unity and of division between white miners and black convict labor in the mines. It's been quite a while since I read it. Carrol > -- > Michael Perelman > Economics Department > California State University > Chico, CA 95929 > > Tel. 530-898-5321 > E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
