Richard Jensen\u2019s work \u201cNo Irish Need Apply: A Myth of Victimization\u201d has me questioning my entire understanding of the struggle \u201cmy people\u201d (three of four of my grandparents are immigrants from Ireland) went through in the U.S.\u00a0 Growing up all I heard about was the lack of the opportunities my grandparents had growing up and how WASP America had kept their relatives down for years (relatives in this case being aunts and uncles of my grandparents).\u00a0 Jensen\u2019s work though brings to light thought about an issue I never once questioned.\u00a0 As Eli said in his work everything that I had been told growing up was \u201cplausible\u201d due to where the stories I was hearing came from as well as the number of people saying the same exact story.\u00a0 But now I simply have to change my understanding of the \u201cstruggle\u201d my ancestors went through.\u00a0 To that I am going to have to steal the words of College Gameday Analyst Lee Corso \u201cNOT SO FAST SWEETHEART!\u201d<\/p>\n

I get that some of the prejudices that the Irish claim they went through were fabricated but life was by no means a walk in the park for these individuals.\u00a0 Irish citizens in the United States I would argue were the slaves of the North due to the type of work that they performed.\u00a0 Their desire for work in whatever capacity possible made them open to anything (and I mean anything) and because of that the argument can be made that the Irish are to blame for their role in society (something that can be seen by many Irish society members to remain with their \u201ckind\u201d).\u00a0 However, just because one is willing to work at the lowest possible level does not mean that they have no dignity or sense of pride.\u00a0 The Irish were exploited for the willingness to work, plain and simple.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that Jensen gives the Irish enough credit in the fact that they may have recognized their role in society.\u00a0 I believe that the Irish community\u2019s close bond stems from the recognition that many community members simply had no option but to do as told.\u00a0 There is an old expression that goes \u201cone man is no man,\u201d and the Irish embody this philosophy.\u00a0 While one or maybe even many community member may have had wealth because the majority of the community didn\u2019t have that value there was an issue with society.\u00a0 I think the Irish think that if one many can\u2019t attain the life they desired, outside forces must be working against that person because others got what they desired.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t dispute the evidence that Jensen provides, it is all backed in the research that he performed (research that is very commendable as I feel that he went against popular opinion throughout his entire writing process).\u00a0 However, I believe that history is largely based upon the ways in which an individual wants to view history.\u00a0 History often plays out in a \u201cto the victor go the spoils fashion,\u201d and because of that everything can always be argued.\u00a0 Did the Irish win their and that\u2019s why they can claim they were held down by oppressive white business owners? An Irish Catholic from Massachusetts did become President of the United States so I would say that they Irish did win their struggle and because of that they can present their history as they like.\u00a0 Irish community bonds where one wants to see everyone succeed before declaring a movement\/cause a success and because that was never possible I truly believe that is where Irish ideology of the world against an individual emerges from.<\/p>\n

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Richard Jensen\u2019s work \u201cNo Irish Need Apply: A Myth of Victimization\u201d has me questioning my entire understanding of the struggle \u201cmy people\u201d (three of four of my grandparents are immigrants from Ireland) went through in the U.S.\u00a0 Growing up all I heard about was the lack of the opportunities my grandparents had growing up and … <\/p>\n

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