Irish-Americans, Baseball, Whiteness

Here's my first discussion post for HIS-200: Applied History.

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The selection from the text that I've chosen to discuss is the following:

In contrast, the other main non-English immigrant group of the period, the Germans (Cohn 1995), assimilated much more easily. While language was a problem, they were more highly educated and skilled than the Irish. In 1860 German men were most highly concentrated in skilled crafts, in contrast to the Irish, who were disproportionately made up of unskilled laborers (Conley and Galenson 1998: 471). Also, German immigrants had been preceded by numerous fellow "countrymen" during the previous century who had paved the way by establishing themselves economically and socially in America. The stereotypical German was hardworking, disciplined, earnest, and frugal (Gerlach 2002: 39).[1]

I chose this passage because it demonstrates to me not only aspects of the change over time in perceptions of the Irish, but also of the Germans. On the one hand, as the readings and common sense indicate, the Irish were grossly and negatively stereotyped, and this perception of the Irish -- and, in fact, their "acceptance" into the larger American "white race" -- changed radically as immigration from other parts of Europe increased and as emancipation of African Americans resulted in increased competition for unskilled labor. The case of Germans reflects even more changes. For some Americans, their initial interaction with Germans was in the form of Hessian mercenaries who fought for the British in the War for Independence. While this experience might have cast Germans in a negative light initially, the passage makes it clear that the economic circumstances of German immigrants, as well as the Lutheran faith of many (but not all) of them, eased their transition despite the language barrier that they faced. Germans ultimately came to make up the majority of Midwesterners and Plains residents owing to the Homestead Act, and even with periods of negative perceptions of Germans during both world wars, Germans now make up a plurality of all white Americans, indicating a highly successful immigration experience overall.

As indicated above, part of the integration of Irish Americans is the process of their being made "white" by the surrounding society and culture. As I already noted, much of this transition involved not only the economic upward mobility of Irish Americans, but also the immigration of other, presumably even less "white" people from southern and eastern Europe and competition between Irish and African Americans post-Civil War. The article on Irish players in baseball offers addition, econometric and statistical information to substantiate how Irish Americans were mainstreamed. By proving statistically, including in tables,[2] that Irish American players were essentially forced to be better players in order to overcome discrimination, the visibility of Irish American players increased in the public eye and normalized Irish Americans among non-Irish fans. Interestingly, the author also shows that German players were comparatively less talented than Irish players,[3] demonstrating less of a need to overcome prejudice in hiring. In any case, the Irish overcame prejudice in the United States through a variety of means, and mainstreaming via major league baseball played a not insignificant role.

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     [1] E. Woodrow Eckard, "Anti-Irish Job Discrimination circa 1880: Evidence from Major League Baseball," Social Science History, 34, no. 4 (Winter 2010): 410.
     [2] Ibid, 425, 427.
     [3] Ibid, 432.