Posted by Nonnie on March 02, 2001 at 22:53:33:
In Reply to: TMFS posted by Howard HaYNES on March 02, 2001 at 01:40:48:
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The coming of the Irish filled a niche in American society of the 'low' class--throughout history, some group had always been pushed to the bottom. Part of it is feeling better about oneself through the misfortunes of others. Pre-civil war, the poorest of people were able to know that they were not the lowest class--slaves were. Post-civil war, ex-slaves were carving their own niche into society as a working class. The mass immigration of the Irish because of the potato blight and the increasing evictions by English landlords, brought in a class of people even lower--allowing the ex-slaves to have someone to look down upon. The Irish, because they were now the people with nothing, were forced to take the worst of jobs with almost no pay. And because the Irish were willing to work for next to nothing, they began to displace the working class, who could not find jobs for decent wages because employers knew they could hire Irish for less. This displacement increased the hate and contempt for the Irish. The "Irish need not apply" signs in shop windows were a part of this contempt--the Irish were foreigners, they weren't as good as other people in America, etc. etc.; so Irish had to work in factories amid horrid conditions or head west, away from the cities. This process of one group becoming the 'lowest' constantly shifts--at one time or another, everyone occupied this space in society--italian, irish, german, dutch, african, native american, chinese, etc. Unfortunately, we can still see it today. I look at the neighborhoods in my own cities and can see how one group or another is held beneath the rest. Sorry about rambling--being a bit of Irish myself, I've paid attention to the Irish in america. =)
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