Chapter six Takaki

I read Chapter six of Ronald Takaki’s book which was entitled Emigrants from Erin. In this chapter we learn all about the Irish immigrants who were basically removed from their land by tyranny and the destruction of major crop that produced a large famine that affected the whole Irish nation.
The Irish people were taken over by the British who became more like tyrants than rulers. They forced the people into a poor tenant state. Ben Franklin visited Ireland and found the Irish to be living in an “extremely poor” tenant farming type of life. The colonialism and emphasis on export had reduced their living conditions of the Irish so far, until they were barely clothed, had skinny frames, and all were only surviving by eating only potatoes every day. Many Irish men had to leave their jobs and take positions as migratory workers in other parts of Ireland; they later were able to return to their families in the fall. A million people died from famine and disease during this period of time in Ireland. Twenty percent of the people who decided to leave Ireland for America also died on the way. The Irish people contributed to the building of many of America’s roadways and canals that were being built throughout the country, and also many of the railroads as well. The Irish were pitted against other races and had fierce competition with African American for work when they arrived in America.
Why did People in America pit the Irish immigrants against the African American slaves? The answer to that question is that, when the Irish first arrived they were discriminated and though to be just as low the African American slaves. I think that white people feel as if people who are remotely different from them are inferior; I also feel that in most ways this view of other cultures and races has not changed.