(from and IRISH-American, 48 years old)
I have several black friends who agree (as suggested by one of them, not me) that the Irish share many historical parallels with A-As ... enforced slavery, subjugation, deportation from their homeland, denigration, rape, and degradation by oppressors, etc.
I see a great deal of A-A recollection of their past ("roots"), some therapeutic, some not - have the Irish addressed and reconciled these issues, or just buried them to keep peace with britain?
Update:From 1169 AD, when the normans and english set their minds to subjugating the inhabitants of Ireland (they justified much of their actions by deciding that the Irish were sub-human), the british have sought to crush the Irish spirit. From William of Orange to Cromwell the bloody to Maxwell in Dublin Castle 1916, the brits have raped, pillaged, and de-humanized the Irish. I wonder why the Irish have forgotten. The cruelties done to the Irish were concentrated on an innocent, peaceful people (at least peaceful to outsiders).
Irish families, indeed Irish children, were sold into slavery in the Barbados, Austrailian, and "New World" colonies for crimes as minor as stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving child. Virgin girls were defiled, husbands were emasculated, and wives were raped by the british in an attempt to prove how much more humane they were than their slaves.
"Those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Remember, Ireland.
Forgive, but don't forget.
Answers & Comments
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because we have always had more sense than everyone else in the world.. we don't harbour grudges, just to re affirm our national identity..
the comparisons you made are erroneous, as during the famine, when the country's population was halved.. the Irish struggled to find work in america.. and there were signs everywhere that read
'No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish'
but we still found work- along with our chinese brothers... building your wonderful railroads hahahahaha
while it IS true that we have suffered in the past because of the british, we have lived in tandem with them for so long now that we get on with what's important and not dwell in the past
and that's why the Irish are so revered and loved throughout the world...because we don't dwell in the past and we have a positive outlook on life...
why do you think there are so many 'plastic paddys' in America?? because they all claim Irish ancestory..because they want to be like the rest of us...there must be something seriously wrong with America if her own people want to part of another country's heritage
Can't evaluate to what we are facing TODAY. Because no person might even realize you're, irish, italian, english, french, german, or some other European American until you mentioned so. I realize MANY persons with all of those in them and they've blonde hair, blue eyes and are VERY white in complexion. Where as though you are black, People SEE that robotically, you would not ought to inform anybody you are black if you're brown or darkish skinned with REALLY CURLY or Stiff hair. Many Irish persons in America (equal with jews) difference their final names and different traditions to be the "usual white american" to me those persons are WHITE (until they aren't ashamed of who they're), it's only practically white hating on white. All I realize is, MOST persons, even blacks hate blacks, so I do not feel there is not any evaluation.
Maybe we have decided to draw a line under it and get on with our Euro neighbours and forget the past and make sure our children will have a brighter future instead of dwelling in the past
People have to move on and stop obsessing over events that happened long before they were born. If all Irish people hated all English people because of things that happened hundreds of years ago, it would be a very immature attitude.
i have to disagree with you on this point completely. I see very few parallels between African Americans and the Irish.
There is no written or physical accounts of enforced slavery or deportation from their homeland of Irish peoples in the past. The Irish left their homeland of their own free will, due to poverty and the devasting famine of the 1840s.
The Irish were very badly treated for a time in America and the UK but Africans were treated lower than animals.
We here in the Republic have long moved on from the dark days of the past. In such a short space of time we have become one of the richest countries on the world; on the other hand many AA are still living in poor ghetto areas in the USA with little chance of ever leaving, so hatred remains.