LevkaBeing Irish American shapes my commitment to international labor solidarity
Last Month in Oregon Labor: The story of how the Irish became white isn’t a lesson solely for Irish Americans; it’s a timely conversation for all white workers to engage in
Irish Americans are descendants of an oppressed people, people once excluded from the category of 'whiteness.' Now, we are beneficiaries of that same white-constructed society. This transfer of racial identity wasn’t an organic process; it was conscious.
Once, there were signs across the west bearing the phrase, 'No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish.' We were unwelcome immigrants outside of our land and savages that needed to be civilized within it. Today, the Irish are largely viewed as white — though there are Irish people of all races and ethnicities — and Irish Americans have fully assimilated. Many of us don’t know our history — there are Irish Americans who are anti-immigration, are cops, are in the military and vote for and support fascists, while one day a year letting loose with paddywhackery of the finest order. We don green T-shirts touting our kissability, drink Guinness, joke about how our culture is being drunk and sing songs without knowing their meaning.
The fundamental difference between Black Americans and Irish Americans in the 19th century was that Irish Americans could choose to become white. We made compromising decisions, actively opposing racial equality — to the chagrin of our families in Ireland. Some of us chose to step on the heads of fellow immigrant and Black workers to achieve a modicum of better treatment from our oppressors. We were able to access not only better jobs, but jobs that gave us political power. The once-jailed became the jailer."
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