How the Irish became White

Description

How the Irish Became White explodes a number of myths surrounding race in our society. Focusing on how the Irish were assimilated as "whites" in America, Noel Ignatiev uncovers the roots of conflict between Irish Americans and African Americans and draws a powerful connection between Irish "success" in nineteenth-century American society and their embrace of white supremacy. - Jacket flap.

Description

"The Irish came to America in the eighteenth century, fleeing a homeland under foreign occupation and a caste system that regarded them as the lowest form of humanity. In the new country -- a land of opportunity -- they found a very different form of social hierarchy, one that was based on the color of a person's skin. Noel Ignatiev's 1995 book - the first published work of one of America's leading and most controversial historians -- tells the story of how the oppressed became the oppressors; how the new Irish immigrants achieved acceptance among an initially hostile population only by proving that they could be more brutal in their oppression of African Americans than the nativists. This is the story of How the Irish Became White." -- Publisher's description.

Subjects

Series Statement

• Routledge classics

Other Editions

• How the Irish became WhiteRoutledge2008-01-01
• How the Irish became whiteHardcoverRoutledge1995-01-01
• How the Irish Became WhiteTaylor & Francis Group2012-01-01
• How the Irish Became WhiteRoutledge2012-01-01
• How the Irish Became WhiteTaylor & Francis Group2012-01-01
• How the Irish Became WhiteTaylor & Francis Group2012-01-01