How the Irish Became White 1st Edition

by Noel Ignatiev (Author)

270 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0415918251

ISBN-10: 0415918251

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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.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...carefully researched and often-illuminating." -- The New York Times Magazine

"I read Noel Ignatiev's How the Irish Became White yesterday. Amazing! What a work of history! I learned a great deal about Philadelphia history--re: Irish anti-black history. It has its resonance in police-black relations; and one can see May 13th an historical echo of the torching of abolition and Black Masonic buildings a century before and its subsequent (instant and historic) whitewash. Kudos to Ignatiev--a masterful (yet quite short!) piece of work. It provides a powerful historical perspective from which to view the City of Brotherly Love." -- Mumia Abu-Jamal

"Ignatiev writes with conviction. The book makes good use of individual case studies, especially of the Protestant Irish newspaper editor John Binns, and the Philadelphia politician William McMullen, to demonstrate the process by which the immigrant Irish 'faded from Green to white' in their new homeland." -- Journal of American Ethnic History

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (August 21, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0415918251
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415918251
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,283,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #113 in General Sociology of Race Relations
- #4,397 in African History (Books)
- #4,815 in United States History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
270 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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LaKiki

American History

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2019

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This is a great read that really breaks down the relationship between American Descendants of Slavery and the Irish, while American History has tried to paint our trials and tribulations as being similar, the truth is that this book shows that that is untrue, the Irish were able to simulate into whiteness on the backs of black American's. You just have to read this book.

45 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Not worth the paper it is printed on.

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2018

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One of the most racist views of the Irish ever written. Really disregarding what it is to be Irish.

48 people found this helpful

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Anon

Racial identity of Irish in the US

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2019

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This is a very interesting treatise on the Irish in the US and how their racial identity changed over time.

19 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Interesting opinion piece. Reads more like a legal brief.

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2020

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I agreed with 90% of what he wrote but, despite an abundance of footnotes, he explains in the 2nd paragraph of the Afterward that "... I have aimed not so much at facsimilitude as plausibility: aware that no historical study can account exactly for the life of a single person, I have tried to tell the story as it might have happened, and I ask that it be judged for its coherence and explanatory power. If there is any value in what I have done, I believe it lies not so much in the answers I have come up with as in the questions I have posed." Two problems. First, I wished he had stated that in the Forward, not buried it in the Afterward. Second, that's fine request from a lawyer, who only has to present one side of a case; less than satisfactory for an amateur historian, especially one who's avowed position is that the white race should be abolished.

12 people found this helpful

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Clarke Steven Donovan

but very good local sociological-political-ethnic history of Philly in that period

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2017

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Well written, and thorough, but not that much about the Irish-American assimilation in general, as I was thinking it would be. Very specific, particularly about Philadelphia in the 1820s-1870s. A bit too local and detailed for what I was hoping for, but very good local sociological-political-ethnic history of Philly in that period.

39 people found this helpful

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Lee Talon

A necessary read

Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2020

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This is a shocking but necessary read. As a ADOS it saddens me to realize what is not taught in American History classes and why. A necessary read!

7 people found this helpful

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Herbert Watson

Good book

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2019

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Book gets good after the 3rd chapter

9 people found this helpful

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Antoine Doinel

Buy a cheap copy if you're going to lend this out. People keep this book if you lend it to them.

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018

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This is my third copy. People kept the copies I lent to them.

34 people found this helpful

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Private

Brilliant Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2021

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As someone of Irish decent this was a very difficult book to read. Everyone wants to be on the good side of history and sometimes the truth is difficult to hear.

From this masterpiece I learnt how Irish people were treated just as badly as black people, for being Celtic and not Anglo-Saxon. It seems like such a strange thing to consider in today’s times but it’s interesting to see, how Irish people were finally accepted.

The book details how necessary it was for white Americans who considered themselves Anglo Saxons, to create a racial hierarchy, which included Irish people. To justify the enslavement and inhumane treatment of black people and slaves. As for a time Irish people and black people were treated just as poorly and even lived in the same underprivileged and unhygienic areas.

We all talk about Irish slavery which existed but we never speak about how readily Irish people, were quick to throw their black friends and neighbours under the bus. To fit in with what it meant to be white. Even going so far as to treat black people worst to prove that they deserved their new place in society.

And that’s the shame of it. The Irish people in America were happy to ill treat another group of people who had experienced the same things as them, to “fit in.”

That was the most difficult to read.

I hope that with important works like this, we can all break down “white supremacy.” And learn that we all the same race, and need to respect and honour each other. We are all one species and we will never evolve if we can’t get past skin colour. But in order to do that we must understand the past, to heal our present, to create a better future.

Burying ones head in the sand and pretending like Irish people didn’t participate in the barbaric treatment of black people, doesn’t help anyone.

2 people found this helpful

Heather Greer

An important and interesting book on the Irish in America

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2018

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I am still in the fairly early stages of reading this book, but so far I'm finding it very interesting; and I believe it's an important perspective on the Irish in America, on the anti-slavery movement, and on the Irish role. That the Irish were so numerous and influential by 1840 is revealing in itself. The work of Daniel O'Connell, and his shifting stance on abolitionism, is of great interest to me. I'm certain that in the rest of the book I'll find a great deal more of interest.

My reason for a 4-star rating is that in places I find some sentences a bit difficult to follow, and some references to people without clear enough explanations as to who they were, and maybe the odd typo/mistake. However, this shouldn't take away from the importance of the book, and for anyone interested in the Irish in America - or in the abolitionist movement in America - I recommend it.

3 people found this helpful

Roho90

Good Quality Print

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2020

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Good quality print, the book itself is a bit less approachable than I imagined but good book

Simon Gallagher

Some interesting nuggets

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2020

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Some of the storytelling or milestones gets lost in the wording and personal milesones

John Connolly

An excellent study in studying human behavior of the human race ...

Reviewed in Canada on May 23, 2015

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An excellent study in studying human behavior of the human race and why the white race thinks they can dominion over every other race.

One person found this helpful

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