Reply #103: They were so alien some said "The Irish will never assimilate"

[Hekate]

"The Irish were not white until several generations in the U.S." -- and that's the now-forgotten truth.

At least one of my ancestors lied her way across the US-Canada border after she and her sister arrived from Ireland on one of the notorious coffin-ships. Other members of their family had started the voyage with them; they were the only survivors.

As assimilated and numerous as Irish-Americans are now, it looks like the foreseeable future of several states, including California, is Hispanic/Latino. When I hear people bemoaning the inevitable changes in store -- and especially the part about "the Mexicans" not assimilating -- I can't help remembering how many other immigrant groups were tarred with that brush in past generations.

Yes, the illegal immigration situation in the US today is a mess, and we need to do something about it. But that "something" needs to be just and humane to the people involved. The fault lies in the national policies and (as far as I'm concerned) the gentlemen's agreements between nations -- and it's not going to be fixed by building a new Berlin Wall on our soil.

The only joy to be gotten from this situation is watching Republican unity and credibility shred on national television. It's very much a case of their having made their bed (by continually fomenting anti-foreigner sentiments among the American people) and now having to lie in it (Bushco wants the cheap labor, but too many Americans swallowed the earlier propaganda). My my my. Pass the popcorn.

Hekate