lizro23's review against another edition
1.0
This book is INCREDIBLY difficult to follow. And it is not what I was expecting at all.
barrypierce's review against another edition
3.0
A landmark work that seems to only grow in relevance. Ignatiev explains how the Catholic Irish in the late 18th/early 19th centuries fled persecution from the colonised, Protestant-ruled Ireland to find new, freer lives in America. The Irish however quickly found themselves at the very bottom of American society, a rung they shared with Black people. In order for the Irish to engrain themselves in American society, Ignatiev suggests that they had to learn to become just as, if not more, oppressive and racist as their fellow Americans, in essence, the Irish had to become white. The book traverses the 19th century, bill by bill and riot by riot, showing how the new Irish Americans entered 'perpetual warfare' with Black people in order to gain a place in American society.
Ignatiev's research is immense, undeniable and myth-shattering. There's many reasons why this book is heralded as a classic, one of those reasons however is not because of its readability. Sadly, Ignatiev's writing often descends into info-dump as you have dates and names and events just thrown at you and god help you if you aren't paying full attention. The result is a work that is harrowing in both its subject and style, something that is better referenced than read.
Ignatiev's research is immense, undeniable and myth-shattering. There's many reasons why this book is heralded as a classic, one of those reasons however is not because of its readability. Sadly, Ignatiev's writing often descends into info-dump as you have dates and names and events just thrown at you and god help you if you aren't paying full attention. The result is a work that is harrowing in both its subject and style, something that is better referenced than read.
blstuder's review against another edition
2.0
This book was such a fascinating topic, but so very dry. We picked it for a book club, but none of us actually completed the whole thing, as the very academic style of writing would have worked great for an article, but was challenging for a whole book.
aquariansunchild's review
3.0
Apparently it was LBJ (and not Malcolm X like I assumed for some reason) who said "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
This quote, I believe, is a concise description of what Ignatiev is explaining in How the Irish Became White. It's not so much about how Irish immigrants changed their ethnicity but rather how they learned about the social structure of their new culture and how to steer it to their advantage.
I feel like Ignatiev could have structured his thoughts in a more cohesive manner (some topics felt like they were spontaneously thrown in and never touched again), but this is still a really interesting read.
What hit me most was the fact that despite centuries of supposed evolution, many things just haven't changed. Near the end, Ignatiev describes race riots that resulted in murdered black people, and their murderers were relocated of the city instead of indicted.
Boy, don't that sound familiar.
This is followed by an account of an autopsy showing that a murdered black man had a chronic kidney condition that would have killed him anyway, and no charges were subsequently made.
Boy, don't THAT sound familiar.
In short, I wanted to read this book to use in arguments with white relatives who always want to play Oppression Olympics with our Irish heritage. This book is full of useful and relevant information, so I got what I wanted.
Bring on the next family gathering.
This quote, I believe, is a concise description of what Ignatiev is explaining in How the Irish Became White. It's not so much about how Irish immigrants changed their ethnicity but rather how they learned about the social structure of their new culture and how to steer it to their advantage.
I feel like Ignatiev could have structured his thoughts in a more cohesive manner (some topics felt like they were spontaneously thrown in and never touched again), but this is still a really interesting read.
What hit me most was the fact that despite centuries of supposed evolution, many things just haven't changed. Near the end, Ignatiev describes race riots that resulted in murdered black people, and their murderers were relocated of the city instead of indicted.
Boy, don't that sound familiar.
This is followed by an account of an autopsy showing that a murdered black man had a chronic kidney condition that would have killed him anyway, and no charges were subsequently made.
Boy, don't THAT sound familiar.
In short, I wanted to read this book to use in arguments with white relatives who always want to play Oppression Olympics with our Irish heritage. This book is full of useful and relevant information, so I got what I wanted.
Bring on the next family gathering.
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