There are a million people who want to come here from just one country.
Sorry, can't assimilate that many.
But they're escaping terrible hardships.
Not the same as political persecution, is it?
What about all that "give us your tired, your poor" stuff?
But these people are tired and poor and not like us. They're uneducated, and they talk funny. What can they add to our society?
Just a reminder that in some ways history doesn't change much:
Up until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of the Protestant middle class. When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845, close to a million poor, uneducated, Catholic Irish began to pour into America to escape starvation. Despised for their religious beliefs and funny accents by the American Protestant majority, the immigrants had trouble finding even menial jobs.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Once a year, a "g
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...And WHICH President was it that "bailed" THEM out?
Show of hands?
Anyone?
Seems to me they bailed THEMSELVES out just fine.
And much of this nation was built on THEIR labor!
Don't recall any programs to "level the field" for the IRISH.
Must have been all that personal responsibility, ethics, morality, and their willingness to ENDURE hardships aplenty to make good.
I...miss those days.
(And a "Happy" back at'cha, laddie!)
Bob G., you are exactly right. They pulled themselves up, worked hard and made sure they understood the values of America. I have not seen any Irish ask for compensation for the building of the railroads or other infrastruacture that they got paid for working on. Today I hear many say that they built such and such and they deserve our help.
Every generation did something for this country and every generation got paid for their hard work at the time they performed it. Anyone care to identify what the next bailout will be? I can name two real easy.
Nobody ever bailed me out, how about you Bob, Bill, or Leo?
Nope, not at all...
But that one advance on my allowance when I was 8 doesn't count, right?
;)
I thought "green movement" was what followed intemperate consumption of "green beer."