Irish Culture in America
I. Introduction
The history of Ireland is diverse and fact is mixed with fiction. Through the years in which Ireland had a famine, many people migrated over to the United States in order to have a better life and gain some prosperity. When they arrived they were met with less than open arms, but rather a whole new world of discrimination. I will be discussing the summary I have done on the discrimination of Irish in America today, followed by my reactions, two other Irish blooded reactions, the history, identities, and transitions, of these people of which I learned through doing this research.
II. Research Summary
The readings on Irish immigrants in America led me to understand the racism and culture that is new to them from where they used to live and also showed me their personal views of their treatment by the American society. The article in West Magazine is very good, covering many factors relating to the perception of Irish immigrants and their descendents living in the Santa Clara Valley. The article discussed the racism Irish Americans endured, the religion, and the culture that is celebrated. The article is very relevant to the values and communication of Irish Americans and other cultures.
The Irish throughout time have been stereotyped as a very low-culture people. Many people have characterized the Irish as “fighters and drinkers,” (Krim & Early, 1995, p.31) which is not true, because many Irish who are normal working, non-drinking or non-fighting individuals. However, when the holiday called St. Patrick’s Day comes around, it is celebrated with drinking and eventually fighting. The reality is that no matter what bar you go into, you can find a drunk fighting about somet...
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...fense to this myself. It was also new to me that Irish are still immigrating, as business people, to find new jobs and become wealthy in America.
Bibliography:
VII.
Bibliography
Collier, James. (2000). A Century of Immigration 1820-1924. New York, NY: Benchmark Books. (pp.16-26).
Krim, J. & Early, D. (Eds.) (1995, December 10). Voices of Diversity: Irish. West Magazine, San Jose Mercury News. (pp.31-40).
Martin. J. and Nakayama, T. (2000). Intercultural communication in contexts, (2nd ed.). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
Newberg, C. (2001). Irish American. In her 70’s. Interviewed 3/5/01.
O’Connor, Anne-Marie. (1997, September 18). “Mexico, Ireland Recall Immigrant Tale of Divided Loyalties.” Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. (p.A17).
O’Toole, Patrick. (2001). Irish American. Late 40’s. Interviewed 3/5/01.
Immigration to America from Europe was at an all time high in the mid-1800s. After the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s, a large group of Irish immigrated to the United States. Since then, increasing numbers of Irish people have been moving to the United States, especially in Chicago. The Irish had come to realize that the United States really is the land of opportunity. With jobs being available to the immigrants, many more shipped in to start new lives for their families. However, for quite a while they did not live in the nicest of areas in Chicago. Many of the Irish resided in low-class areas such as overcrowded parts around the Loop, and out in the West Side. Not only did the West Side shelter the Irish, but many Germans and Jews lived in that area.
Although Americans vary widely in ethnicity and race and minorities are far from sparse, racism has never been in short supply. This has led to many large scale issues from Irish immigrants not begin seen as Americans during the Irish famine, to Mexican-American citizens having their citizenship no longer recognized during the Mexican Cession, all the way to Japanese internment camps during World War II. Both Dwight Okita and Sandra Cisneros Both give accounts of the issue from the perspective of the victims of such prejudice. Rather than return the injustice, both Okita and Cisneros use it to strengthen their identity as an American, withstanding the opinion of others.
These groups fought continuously against the restrictions imposed onto them, a discriminatory government, and the forced mixture of American culture and that of the minorities culture in which resulted in the “Melting Pot.” Additionally, Limerick used excerpts of documentations from several governments in which imposed these restrictions and acts on the afore discussed minorities in addition to personal experiences from both ends of the spectrum. Moreover, through the use of these personal statements, we are allotted the insight to the original discrimination minority Americans experienced in addition to explaining parts of history that most people do not often
Asuncion-Landé, N. C., & Pascasio, E. M. (1981). Building bridges across cultures: Perspectives on intercultural communication--theory and practice. Manila, Philippines: Solidaridad Pub. House.
We see this most notably socially, but also politically. Very often, Irish describe the a form of abuse they endure at the hands of the “native” Americans. This is unfortunate, but the reality of immigrant live for the Irish in the 1800’s. At the core of “natives” concerns was a shift from political power in the hands of “natives” to political power in the hands of the Irish immigrants, who could be loyal to the pope in Europe. Despite this, the Irish still enjoyed the benefits of the United States nation state and celebrated in the benefits, far superior to those of Ireland at the time.vi As was seen in the movie Gangs of New York, many corrupt politicians persuaded immigrants for support in elections and often employed illegal and manipulative tactics on election day to cast multiple votes.vii There were even political cartoons included in immigration reading excerpts depicting the irish as barbaric monkeys and blaming them for election day violence as well as showing them tear apart the democratic system established by “native” Americans.viii These were likely intended for distribution amongst “native” Americans,
Ting-Toomey, Stella., & Chung, Leeva C. (2012). Understanding Intercultural Communication. Oxford University Press. 43, 159-160.
During the 1920’s there were many controversial issues. There was a concern about declining moral and ethical values, which led to restrictions such as prohibition for example. The concern about these issues seemed most intense when they pertained to religion. In situations like these it always seems necessary to place the blame somewhere. One particular group on which this blame was emphasized happened to be the immigrants. Irish Catholic immigrants were a main focus of discrimination in many ways.
When the Irish Populace migrated to the Land of Dreams, America, they were greeted with the signs of No Irish Need Apply. This was mainly at the end of the 19th Century when racial and ethnic discrimination was at its peak and was mainly due to the religious differences the Irish had. The Irish being followers of the Catholic Church were renounced and ridiculed, their cultural differences misinterpreted, their image disgraced by terming them alcoholics. People with Irish accent or Irish names were denied public employments and housing opportunities.
The life of Irish immigrants in Boston was one of poverty and discrimination. The religiously centered culture of the Irish has along with their importance on family has allowed the Irish to prosper and persevere through times of injustice. Boston's Irish immigrant population amounted to a tenth of its population. Many after arriving could not find suitable jobs and ended up living where earlier generations had resided. This attributed to the 'invisibility' of the Irish.
By mid 1800s, Ireland was a pocket of disease, famine, and British oppression. The great potato famine made life in Ireland almost unlivable or they were forced to leave by the British. After coming to America many Irish settled in New York City seeking jobs homes and a place to make a name for themselves. However, this was not the case when many “white” Americans refused to hire Irish workers. Much of the hate came from unfounded rumors as they were not “white” or they were liar’s, criminal’s, they are all filthy, and go on for quite a list. Some of these rumors were true such as many Irish people were uneducated but that in no reflected them as a people. The Irish were being hated on two fronts one they were Irish and two they were Catholics.
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2013). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
The underlying causes of the revolution that happened in Ireland at the beginning of the twentieth century stem from vast injustices that the Irish people suffered at the hand of British rule. ‘For the history of nineteenth-century Ireland is more than a prologue to the events of the twentieth and has a character of its own, which is all too often distorted by those who, neglecting all else, confine their attention to the signposts which point to the developments of a later age. Irish history would be a simpler, but less rewarding subject, were it indeed that all the signposts pointed one way.’ (A...
Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print.
Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze these three notions in situations in which intercultural communication is frequent such as : the workplace, the classroom and vacation trips.
Mac Einri, P. 1997. Some Recent Demographic Developments in Ireland. [Online] Available from: http://migration.ucc.ie/etudesirlandaises.htm [Accessed 7th May 2012]