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Mark Morales
Professor Batty
English 114A
21 October 2014
The luck of the Irish
Racism is a never-ending way of dividing people that ultimately becomes self-destructive
to the population. The first thoughts that come to mind when thinking about racism are usually
people of color, those races that have been enslaved, or treated lower because of their exterior;
however, there have been races that were of the major accepted skin color and still named
outcast in their societies. The group I am focusing on in particular is the Irish. Much before the
birth of American, the Irish have been persecuted by English folk for religious and social
behavior. In the 1100s, England took over Ireland and the friction increased. They were called
rude, barbaric, and lazy and many other names. The English teased at their red hair, their
religious beliefs, and even their accents. Even though those events are far-gone in time, and in
English and Irish history, the attitude bled through. People moved to the colonies and the
children picked up the norm of being unfair and cruel to the Irish as all children learn to imitate
their parents.
Irish folk learned to live with the prejudice and isolation for many years. During the
United States Civil War, Irishmen found themselves on both sides of the line, insuring that no
matter who won they could at least defuse some tension on the winning side. Shortly after the
Civil War, Harpers Weekly published a cartoon titled The Irish Way of Doing Things. It
portrayed a drunken man with and empty bottle of rum in his right hand, and a lit torch in his
left. He sits on top of a barrel that says Uncle Sams Gun powder. The article under the cartoon

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is a long Quote from the Irish newspaper The Irish People. The article is heart filled with
standing up for Orangemen justice. Some time before that was published a militia in New
York had killed some Irish Folk and the article is about arming Irish people to fight back. When
Harpers Weekly published it with the cartoon, they are suggesting that these demands are the
rambling of a drunk, in the cartoon, the man holds the lit torch very close to the barrel of gun
powder, and teasing with the idea that Irish men would arm themselves with American arms and
blow themselves up at the cost of American supplies. In the background of the picture, there are
words like Everything obnoxious to us, shall be abolished and We Must Rule. The artist is
saying that the Irish are saying this and no one should take the seriously for they are the
ramblings of a drunken man.
Obviously something bad did happen and justices was not granted to the Irish. I do feel
that telling people to arm themselves is not the way to deal with things, but you have to do
something to achieve what you thing is right. Everyone has their limits, and if white American of
the time continuously teased them like that, I am sure breaking points were reached.
I have read many historical texts that point to the inequality of Irish and American
tendencies, but I do not think all people of that time felt unequal. Oliver Gold Smith was and
Anglo-Irish Scholar, who lived in the time of the American colonies. Although he was Irish,
Goldsmith sometimes thought of himself as higher the some men. He was an educated man, and
considered himself a gentleman. He wrote an essay called National Prejudices where he explains
that prejudices is expressed by those who are not well educated, and lost the fact that they are
part of one world. He looks down on those who treat others unequally. He holds his values
firmly and lives his life by them. Oliver Goldsmith Shows that the Stereotype of his race are just

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that, untrue and outdated ideas. The cartoon was drawn after goldsmith time, which means the
drawing is very ignorant toward the perspective of others. This cartoon is not voicing the feelings
of the majority, but just a sucker punch to Irish folk because that is what he thought would be
amusing to his readers. The act of being racist to the Irish is an English tradition, not ours.
The severity of Racism may not be as that of a person of color. Being racists at all is selfdestructive. Today, I have not seem much racism against Irish people in particular, not too long
ago I hear a story on the news about Kick a Ginger day. I am sure that was not pointed directly
to Irish people that have been called Gingers in the past. But that kind of behavior must have
been silenced long ago. The Irish have values and are just as capable and any and all races.