How the whites gave the Irish names that were disrespectful and said they were similar to how blacks were. They felt that any other race that was not "white" was to be downgraded. At some point the whites were calling the Irish “Irish niggers" like it was an insult to be associated or compared to blacks. Many times the white would even try manipulating so they wouldn’t appear so bad after all and blame another race. The Irish were brawling against the blacks at some point. A question I ask myself is why they didn’t see that they have similarities and come together to fight for what was right. What i learned, but haven’t researched yet is that in the past the Europeans would go to Africa and took ideas and made it their own. Pretty much writing their own history and what we learn today can be somewhat false because who would of at the time been able to interfere? No one, and if you tried you were killed and never thought of ever again. When i actually think critically i come to the conclusion that America was founded on many different people's perspective. If you put the past to the present you can see why racial groups act the way they do. Even right or wrong African Americans or any other minority groups were taken advantage of physically and mentally for America to be what it is today. Now that we know what to do will Americans keep attributing or exclude?
Nice blog, Armani. There was a lot of interesting and thought-provoking questions, but I'll focus on your first question about why the blacks and the Irish didn't come together to fight for their common goal.
ReplyDeleteThe way I see it, the Irish chose to not align themselves with the black community mainly because of the struggle for jobs at the time. The Irish had a "dog-eat-dog, every man for himself" mentality. They knew it would be easier for them to assimilate into American society based on the color of their skin, saw an opportunity, and took advantage of it. In doing so, they eventually dominated the skilled-labor market.
It wasn't the most ethical approach, but that seems to be the motive behind their actions. As you said, America was built on the back of persecusion, whether or not we can change for the better going forward remains to be seen.
Wow. You really brought some interesting concepts to the table on this one. My blog was similar to this one because i also spoke about the Irish. I am astounded that the Irish got those days and i am so totally shocked that the two groups didn't come together and get control of the situation. Its really quite interesting to think about how we got to where we are today. Like, some days I feel as if we went from the 1800s straight to 2011. I don't even remember the transition from those horrible times to the present that we live. I sometimes want to believe that we live a this fairy tale world where there is no hate and no problems then i listen to the news and read these articles and come to reality. I feel like even though we are in 2011 we, Americans, are still struggling through life and will it ever end?
ReplyDeletewell Armani your blog is pretty interesting. when you asked the question
ReplyDeletewhy didn't the Irish and the blacks come together, i think that would have probably been harder then it sounds for them. i haven't done research either but my guess is that they had to live a better life somehow.It was way easier for Irish to join Americans instead of fight them . Blacks couldn't really do that because they were so different physically from whites and Irish. i also think of it like this. if we were homeless and had the opportunity to live a better life, i really doubt many of us would really choose to stay homeless. but wouldn't it have been nice if America focused more on unity then every man for himself..
For starters I want to say that your blog attracted me right away because we shared the same thoughts. I too addressed the question of why didnt the blacks and Irish come together when they shared so many similarities, but after continuing to read i realized that they did see each other as equals once upon a time but of course it was only to last temporarily. I see it as this way the irish werent completly satisfied with the way things were going for them in america and in few words the "whites" gave them a way out and it was to be like them. Considering they already shared the same complexion it was extremely easy for them to to forget where they came from and transform and thats exactly what they did. what dazzled me was the fact that they instantly began to bash the blacks as if they never even were on a common ground! im referirng you to read my blog i think you will find it as interesting as i found yours to be :)
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