How the Irish Became White

How The Irish Became White tells the story of how the Irish immigrant went from racially Oppressed to racial Oppressor, an American Story most of us haven't wanted to hear before. Utilizing newspaper chronicles, memoirs, biographies, and official accounts, Noel Ignatiev traces the tattered history of Irish and African-American relations, revealing how the Irish in America used unions, the Catholic Church and the Democratic party to help gain and secure their newly found place in the White Republic.

How The Irish Became White opens with the reactions of Irish America to the 1841 appeal made to them by Daniel O'Connell, The Liberator, to join with anti-slavery forces in the new country. It then reviews the status of Catholics in Ireland and some of their ambiguous contacts with American race patterns after emigration.

Ignatiev carefully explores and challenges the Irish tradition of labor protest and the Irish role in the wave of anti-Negro violence that swept the country in the 1830s and 1840s. In addition, How The Irish Became White provides a provocative recounting of the roles of northeastern urban politicians in the Irish triumph over nativism, which allowed for their entry into the white race.

This is the first book to focus not on how the Irish were assimilated but how they were assimilated as whites. Ignatiev seeks out the roots of the well-known tension between Irish and African-Americans, and draws the connection between the embracing of white supremacy by the Irish and their success in America.

How The Irish Became White convincingly explodes a number of the most powerful myths surrounding race in our society. This bold and necessaryintervention should be required reading for anyone interested in the history, theory and politics of racial identity and race relations in the United States.

Ignatiev traces the tattered history of Irish and African-American relations, revealing how the Irish used labor unions, the Catholic Church and the Democratic party to succeed in American. He uncovers the roots of conflict between Irish-Americans and African-Americans and draws a powerful connection between the embracing of white supremacy and Irish success in 19th century American society.