Socioeconomic Similarities Of Irish Immigrants

In “Class, Status, Party,” by Max Weber, Weber defines a class as any group of people that happen to be facing the same class situations, or problems (Weber). Both of the two main gangs in the film, the Natives, formally known as the Native Americans, and the Dead Rabbits, which is compromised of the Irish Immigrants, were mostly a part of the same social class. There are many different ways that classes in society can be stratified other than by just the basic three, upper class, middle class, and the poor (Rothman). The characters in the Gangs of New York mostly belong to the ‘working poor’ or unemployed caste, because they have

Race and ethnicity are two things that have been around since before the colonist journeyed over to America. But what do these two words mean? It is easy for people to confuse them and think that the two definitions can overlap. Race, in sociological terms, is a social concept. The majority of race is concerned with biology and the physical characteristics or hereditary traits a person might have. For example this could be skin, hair, or eye color, or bone structure. Ethnicity is cultural factors that a person would be able to conform to. These factors are shared by people in the subgroups and can be accepted or rejected. Examples of this would be languages, religion, food, and nationality.

Both race and ethnicity are both socially constructed and are a cultural category instead of a biological reality. Race and ethnicity are contrasts between people that we perceive. Race is nearly impossible to exactly define someone as white or black because people are so many different shades of color which makes everyone unique. Ethnicity is socially constructed because the boundaries that make someone a particular ethnicity are fairly flexible. Both of these concepts are used to describe differences between humans and ways that people are identified in society.

The early British colonists came to get away from religious persecution back in Europe. However by the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth century, hundreds and thousands of immigrants fled to the United States due to environmental, economic, and social reasons. Many immigrants found jobs but the conditions were horrible and the immigrants were taken advantage of . Not only that, there were also treated with malice and prejudice due to their differences with the “Regular Americans”. According to latinamericanstudies.org, in 1881-1890 roughly 700,000 came from Ireland while about 300000 Chinese immigrants came.

When analyzing events or people, an important factor to consider is the historical context revolving the object of interest. Historical context provides reasoning and rationalization on why certain events occurred, what caused people’s action, among many other examples. When discussing the dominant-minority group relationship and condition of entry in relations to immigration of certain ethnicities, the historical context provides almost all understanding necessary to provide insight on what happened during these times. In this essay, the Irish Immigration in 1845 and, later, the immigration of the Japanese in the 1880’s will be examined through historical context such as what brought the group to the United States, what roles did they play

Before the notorious potato famine, many Irish were moving across the Atlantic to America in hopes of a more prosperous, uncomplicated and trouble-free lifestyle. Irish emigrants looked at America to offer a higher standard of living through high wages and low commodity costs. With the myths of an easily attainable lifestyle existing in America, it is no wonder why later; there were so many potato famine-era immigrants that they established the basis for the significant Irish population and ethnicity in the United States. The emphasis in the last proposition, however, is on the word myth. Many of those fleeing Ireland may or may not have believed that America would offer a prosperous and uncomplicated lifestyle. But most did believe that

The way that they actually define race and ethnicity are drastically different. For instance, Stephen Steinberg separates race and ethnicity into two different definitions but Vilna Bashi Treitler uses the terms interchangeably in ways that change the definition. When they talk about class mobility they miss and change what they other author defines as class mobility. Steinberg has a very structural view of history and it affects how he thinks of class mobility and by doing so his argument is not complete. Treitler ignores significant factors like being able to pass as white that prevents certain people groups to have class

1. Describe the difference between race and ethnicity. What roles do race and social class continue to play in the United States?

Social Class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. In today’s society there are three main social groups in America: upper, middle, and lower class; these rankings are contributed by mass amounts of factors, but one of the main factors that people cannot control is their race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity, likewise as gender, can also play a part in a variety of other concerns such as, education level, income, and where you reside.

Ethnicity is a social label or category used to classify individuals who share a common ancestry and cultural background.

The turmoil of the second decade of the twentieth century gave way to a greater sense of peace and stability in the third, with a peace treaty signed between Ireland and Britain in December of 1921 and Home Rule finally established for most of the Irish isle (Ferriter, n.d.). At the same time, this new society did not lead to instant prosperity, and indeed poverty remained a major and growing problem in Ireland during this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). Economic and social problems that persisted during this decade certainly could have been pushes to increased immigration.

James M. Henslin defines race as “a group of people with inherited physical characteristics that distinguish it from another group” (2014). Meanwhile, ethnicity “refers to cultural characteristics” (Henslin, 2014). The difference mostly relies in a similar argument to the classic nature versus nurture argument. Race is what a person genetically inherits. Whether it may be skin tone or anatomical features, they are dictated by something outside of a person’s personal preference. An example of race is that a person could be caucasian or latino. They do not get to choose, they are simply given the traits of that race through their bloodline.

In my introduction chapter (chapter one), as well as the aforementioned introduction to my topic, I present an historical overview. This chapter gives the reader a clear picture of my goals in writing this dissertation and of the history of Irish immigration and their involvement in the American music industry. In Chapter Two, I look at the literature surrounding my research questions and take into consideration the research of other scholars. Chapter Three presents my personal research. I have included two interviews, one with fiddler, John Carty and the other with fiddler, Frank Gavin from the band, De Danann. Following the interviews, I present an ethnography taken from a gig performed by John Carty and his band, At the Racket. This ethnography

People are usually categorized in terms of race and/or ethnicity. Race is a term typically used to classify people according to similar and specific physical characteristics. Ethnicity is a term more broadly used that connects people according to an inherited status such as: a shared ancestry, language, history, religion, cuisine, art, clothing style, and/or physical appearance, etc.

Sociologically, race and ethnicity, are used to define how "a human group"¦defines itself and/or is defined by other groups as different" and how "cultural practices and outlooks of a given community of people that set them apart from others" (Basic Concepts from Sociology and Anthropology, n.d., p. 4). The