Amy L. Sasser

13 June 2012

NINA: How Did Anti-Irish Discrimination Affect Assimilation?

      For many Irish immigrating to America, the arduous journey was bearable because of the expectation of what this country would hold for them once they arrived. Many expected to find freedom and prosperity on this foreign shore, where they could raise their families in peace and provide a better life for the next generations. Many came to escape famine and disease, never expecting that a different sort of deprivation and illness awaited them here. Irish men, seeking gainful employment in a land where there was no farm to support you, found only resentment and hatred in the shop windows and newspaper ads where “Help Wanted” taunted them with dreams of bounty, before dashing those hopes a line or two later with the gut-wrenching “No Irish Need Apply.” Irish immigrants were seen as worthless usurpers of jobs since they would work for next to nothing, a drain on resources since they “bred like rabbits” (Irish in America), fiery and ill-tempered brawlers since they liked to drink and fight, and heretics who worshipped Mary since they were largely Catholic.

      According to Chrissie Johnston’s June 2010 Research Post, “Educating the Irish (Part 1),” the Irish had difficulty in obtaining a standard education because “they had to work long hours and many had to move around a great deal to maintain a job. . . . Children even went to work in places such as coal mines in order to help their family survive.” These demands on their time and residency made education of the immigrant children nearly impossible; however, the opportunity to attend school is “central for the development, enculturation, and adaptation of immigrants” (Horenczyk & Tatar 359). If these immigrants had little to no exposure to the dominant culture other than insults and exclusion, how could they be expected to become fully integrated members of the society?

      Even though the American notion of assimilation has been more inclusive than in other countries like France, where “North African immigrants . . . are expected to assimilate by abandoning their native folkways with alacrity” (Salins). We do not expect our immigrants—when we accept them—to give up their kith and kin or their relics and rituals. “Assimilation, if it is to succeed, must be a voluntary process, by both the assimilating immigrants and the assimilated-to natives” (Salins). However, when the Irish arrived in the United States, the dominant culture simply did not allow this blending, but instead, pushed away this influx of competitors for jobs and other resources.

      On the surface, the question seems to be whether or not newly arrived immigrants should work toward assimilation and adoption of the dominant culture. On a closer look, however, a better question might be whether the dominant culture is open enough to allow these new residents to take those steps necessary to assimilate.

Horenczyk, Gabriel and Moshe Tatar. "Conceptualizing the School Acculutrative Context: School, Classroom, and the Immigrant Student." The Potential of Immigrant Youth. Ed. Ann S. Masten, Karmela Liebkind and Donald J. Hernandez. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 359-75. Print.

Johnston, Chrissie. Educating the Irish (Part 1). 16 June 2010. Web. 12 June 2012. <http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/hsh/Whitec/LITR/5731im/models/rp/rp10/rp1/rp1johnston.html>.

Salins, Peter D. "Assimilation, American Style." Reason 28.9 (1997): 20-7. Web. 12 June 2012. <http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2057/ehost/detail?sid=70e17fbb-93e8-40ae-8e8c-a1d217a00c2f%40sessionmgr4&vid=1&hid=11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=9701193103>.

The Irish in America: 1840's - 1930's. n.d. Web. 12 June 2012. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug03/omara-alwala/irishkennedys.html>.