Two Peoples, One Wound
Throughout history, oppressed communities have found themselves standing at the same intersection — where pain meets the promise of liberation. The Irish and Black American experiences, while distinct, are bound by a powerful thread: both survived imperialism, dehumanization, and systemic efforts to erase their identity. The Irish came to America fleeing famine and British colonial violence. African Americans endured the horrors of slavery, segregation, and generational disenfranchisement.
When these two groups met in America, they had the opportunity to stand together. But instead, a brutal system sold a seductive lie: that some could rise only if others remained below. This post is a journey through that history — not to shame, but to illuminate a path forward. Before whiteness divided, there was kinship. Before separation, there was solidarity.
The Irish Experience in America
By the mid-1800s, nearly 2 million Irish people had fled the Great Famine, British rule, and economic collapse. They arrived in America with little but hope. Yet what they encountered was far from welcoming: prejudice, violence, and widespread discrimination.
Irish immigrants were cast as lazy, criminal, and racially inferior. They were met with “No Irish Need Apply” signs and were relegated to the lowest tiers of labor. In cities like New York and Boston, they lived in squalid, overcrowded slums and were subject to exploitation from employers, landlords, and political elites.
Despite this marginalization, Irish immigrants held onto a collective spirit, drawing from their own resistance against British colonialism. But the landscape of America offered a dangerous alternative: the ability to “become white.”
“Becoming White”: The Irish and Assimilation
In 19th-century America, race wasn’t just about skin color — it was a manufactured hierarchy with tangible rewards and harsh consequences. At first, the Irish were not considered “white” by elite Protestants. But over time, they were offered access to whiteness — a ticket to inclusion in the dominant caste.
The cost? Complicity.
Many Irish Americans were encouraged to distance themselves from Black Americans and Native peoples. In exchange, they received access to better jobs, property, and political influence. Irish leaders like those in Tammany Hall used the growing Irish vote to secure power — often by reinforcing racial divisions.
This “conditional acceptance” came at a price: the erasure of Irish historical memory. To rise, many forgot their past — and who they once stood beside.
The African American Struggle: Slavery to Civil Rights
While Irish Americans were navigating discrimination and assimilation, African Americans were enduring a far deeper and more entrenched system of oppression. From slavery’s brutal beginnings to the Jim Crow era and beyond, Black Americans were systematically denied humanity, freedom, and justice.
Even after the Emancipation Proclamation, freedom was only partial. Black communities faced lynchings, voter suppression, segregation, redlining, and mass incarceration. Yet, through centuries of resistance — from Harriet Tubman to Malcolm X to the Black Lives Matter movement — Black Americans have led some of the most profound struggles for human rights in modern history.
Unlike many European immigrants, African Americans had no country to return to, no path to “becoming white.” Their fight was not for access to a system — it was to transform the system itself.
Points of Historical Solidarity
Despite the manufactured divisions, moments of powerful unity did emerge.
In the 1840s, Frederick Douglass visited Ireland during the Great Famine. There, he found deep empathy and solidarity among the Irish, many of whom compared British colonialism to slavery. Irish nationalists like Daniel O’Connell openly opposed slavery in America and supported Douglass’s cause.
In the early 20th century, Black and Irish workers often stood shoulder-to-shoulder during labor strikes. Both groups knew exploitation — and both knew the value of collective action. At times, they resisted together in the streets, union halls, and picket lines.
Moments of Division and the Role of Systemic Racism
But these solidarities were fragile, repeatedly sabotaged by the very systems both groups resisted. Elites used the age-old tactic of “divide and conquer.” Working-class Irish were pitted against Black workers for jobs, housing, and political favor.
Racist propaganda and urban policies reinforced this competition. Public housing policies placed Black and Irish communities in conflict. Police departments — often filled with Irish American officers — were used to enforce segregation and quell Black uprisings.
The system didn’t merely create division. It engineered it.
Propaganda, Politics, and the Myth of Racial Superiority
To solidify Irish inclusion in whiteness, American media, churches, and political machines pushed narratives that elevated Irishness at the expense of Blackness. Irish immigrants, still haunted by their own trauma, were lured into a false sense of superiority. Over time, many internalized these messages, passing them on generationally.
This led to painful betrayals — Irish Americans who had once resisted colonialism themselves now enforcing racist laws, joining anti-Black mobs, or supporting exclusionary unions.
Yet beneath that propaganda, the old memory remained: one of common struggle.
Reclaiming Kinship and Common Struggles
Today, more people are unearthing these buried truths. Activists, scholars, and artists are reclaiming the shared histories of Irish and Black communities. The growing awareness that “whiteness” was a political construct — not a cultural identity — is prompting Irish Americans to reconnect with their heritage of resistance.
Across the U.S., Irish and Black-led groups are collaborating on issues like prison reform, housing justice, and police accountability. The potential for kinship — long buried under the rubble of systemic manipulation — is rising again.
Modern Solidarity: Where Are We Now?
The past decade has seen a surge in Irish American solidarity with Black-led movements. From the streets of Minneapolis to the boroughs of New York, Irish Americans have marched in Black Lives Matter protests, acknowledging both past complicity and present opportunity.
Celtic crosses and Pan-African flags have flown together in marches. Musicians, poets, and politicians are using their platforms to build bridges, not walls.
Solidarity is no longer theoretical — it’s happening.
What We Must Unlearn: Memory as Power
To move forward, we must unlearn the myths that kept us divided. The lie that one group must rise at another’s expense. The myth that the past is too distant to matter. The belief that pain cannot be shared, or that healing cannot be collective.
Memory is power. Reclaiming our stories — the ones not told in textbooks — is the first step in reclaiming our future.
Building a Future Based on Mutual Liberation
Solidarity isn’t symbolic. It’s strategic. If Irish and Black communities unite for common causes — healthcare, education, labor rights, housing justice — they can reshape systems.
Schools must teach the full history of resistance. Politicians must be held accountable by diverse, unified constituencies. Churches, unions, and neighborhoods must become spaces of healing and truth-telling.
Liberation isn’t a gift. It’s a shared labor.
Culture as Resistance: Music, Art, and Storytelling
From Irish ballads to Black spirituals, our music holds memory. It carries grief, triumph, and resistance. Collaborative art projects, community murals, storytelling nights — these are not just aesthetic acts. They are political.
When communities create together, they reclaim their voice. They resist the silence.
Faith, Spirituality, and Liberation Theology
Both Irish Catholic and African American Christian traditions have a long legacy of liberation theology — the belief that God stands with the oppressed. From Black gospel choirs to Irish prayer circles, faith has been a wellspring of courage.
Today, interfaith spaces are reclaiming that prophetic tradition, calling both communities into action and accountability.
What You Can Do: Allies in Action
Support organizations doing cross-cultural justice work. Attend events that celebrate Irish and Black culture in unity. Learn about shared histories. Vote for leaders who speak truth, not division. Listen — really listen — to each other’s stories.
Conclusion: Not Enemies, But Kin
The systems that divided us are crumbling. But the work of healing is just beginning.
Irish and Black communities are not enemies. We are descendants of the same resistance — against empire, against erasure, against injustice. We have been lied to. We have been turned against each other. But we are waking up.
The future is not either/or. It is us, together. Memory is a form of resistance. And solidarity is our birthright.
📚 References and Further Reading
Ignatiev, Noel. How the Irish Became White – A foundational academic text that explores how Irish immigrants in America transitioned from marginalized outsiders to members of the dominant racial group — and the costs of that assimilation. Verso Books, 1995 https://www.versobooks.com/books/2237-how-the-irish-became-white Du Bois, W.E.B. Black
Reconstruction in America (1860–1880) – A classic work by W.E.B. Du Bois detailing the role of race and class in American history, including how poor white and Black workers were manipulated by elites. Free Press, 1935 (reprints available) Frederick Douglass’s Ireland Letters & Speeches – Douglass’s experiences in Ireland during the famine opened new international perspectives on racial oppression and solidarity. Frederick Douglass in Ireland – UCD Library Digital Archive
Roediger, David. The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class – Explores how race shaped working-class identity, especially among immigrant communities like the Irish. Verso Books, 1991 Library of Congress – Irish and African American Contributions – Primary sources and archives documenting cultural and political contributions of both communities. https://www.loc.gov/
Equal Justice Initiative – Slavery to Mass Incarceration Timeline – Provides historical context on the African American experience and systemic injustice. https://eji.org/history-racial-injustice/ The Irish Times – “From Famine to Ferguson: Irish Americans and Black Lives Matter” – A recent commentary on how Irish American identity is evolving in response to modern racial justice movements. https://www.irishtimes.com/ (search title)
The Root – “When Irish Americans Were Treated as Black” – A compelling short-form exploration of Irish assimilation and racial politics in the U.S. https://www.theroot.com/
Podcast: “Scene on Radio – Seeing White” Series – An excellent audio series exploring the invention of whiteness and how different groups were included or excluded from it. https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/ YouTube –
“The Shared Struggle: Black and Irish Histories” (Panel Discussion) – Look for university-sponsored panel events that examine Irish and African diasporic solidarity. (Search title on YouTube or via educational institutions)
