Irish Immigrants: A Key Player In San Francisco’s Anti-Chinese Movement
American society has constantly redefined and changed its concept of “whiteness.” It was not until the mid-20th Century that “white” became the all-encompassing term for those of European and Caucasian descent that we know of today. Prior to the 1940s, it was widely believed that there were several different racial categories among those of European descent (Painter, 2015). One such racial category was the Irish, who faced several decades of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States at the hands of white Protestant Americans. However, the Irish in San Francisco, California enjoyed a considerable amount of social and economic mobility due to the presence …show more content…
This was especially prevalent in San Francisco, which contained the largest concentration of Chinese immigrants in the country. By 1870, Irish and Chinese immigrants made up 13% and 8% of San Francisco’s population, respectively. (Northern California Coalition on Immigrant Rights; sfgeneology.org). Irish immigrants who settled in western cities such as San Francisco “managed to avoid much of the bigotry and Know-Nothing spirit” since the region had not yet developed the “entrenched WASP establishment” found in the east coast (Dungan). In this environment, Irish San Franciscans enjoyed greater social mobility, economic opportunity, and political power than their east coast counterparts. Several held political office; in 1876, San Francisco’s mayor, Frank McCoppin, was Irish Catholic (Northern California Coalition on Immigrant Rights). Irish laborers in the mining and railroad industries had power in numbers and could effectively organize themselves into labor unions and bargain for higher wages. However, since it was now common practice to pay Chinese workers lower wages, Irish immigrants found themselves unable to compete against the Chinese for jobs. Following the Great Panic of 1873, more unemployed white workers began traveling west in search of opportunity and arrived to find the jobs already occupied, and resentment against Chinese immigrants …show more content…
San Francisco media depicted as Chinese immigrants as “Asiatic slaves” who were less than human, much like the recently freed black men in the South (Memorial). Irish immigrants benefited from these attitudes, since “their colour meant they could make common cause with white groups who might, conceivably, have discriminated against them had the Chinese not been available as an alternative” (Dungan). Many became ardent supporters of the Anti-Chinese Movement and demanded legislation to stop Chinese
American society has constantly redefined and changed its concept of “whiteness.” It was not until the mid-20th Century that “white” became the all-encompassing term for those of European and Caucasian descent that we know of today. Prior to the 1940s, it was widely believed that there were several different racial categories among those of European descent (Painter, 2015). One such racial category was the Irish, who faced several decades of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States at the hands of white Protestant Americans. However, the Irish in San Francisco, California enjoyed a considerable amount of social and economic mobility due to the presence …show more content…
This was especially prevalent in San Francisco, which contained the largest concentration of Chinese immigrants in the country. By 1870, Irish and Chinese immigrants made up 13% and 8% of San Francisco’s population, respectively. (Northern California Coalition on Immigrant Rights; sfgeneology.org). Irish immigrants who settled in western cities such as San Francisco “managed to avoid much of the bigotry and Know-Nothing spirit” since the region had not yet developed the “entrenched WASP establishment” found in the east coast (Dungan). In this environment, Irish San Franciscans enjoyed greater social mobility, economic opportunity, and political power than their east coast counterparts. Several held political office; in 1876, San Francisco’s mayor, Frank McCoppin, was Irish Catholic (Northern California Coalition on Immigrant Rights). Irish laborers in the mining and railroad industries had power in numbers and could effectively organize themselves into labor unions and bargain for higher wages. However, since it was now common practice to pay Chinese workers lower wages, Irish immigrants found themselves unable to compete against the Chinese for jobs. Following the Great Panic of 1873, more unemployed white workers began traveling west in search of opportunity and arrived to find the jobs already occupied, and resentment against Chinese immigrants …show more content…
San Francisco media depicted as Chinese immigrants as “Asiatic slaves” who were less than human, much like the recently freed black men in the South (Memorial). Irish immigrants benefited from these attitudes, since “their colour meant they could make common cause with white groups who might, conceivably, have discriminated against them had the Chinese not been available as an alternative” (Dungan). Many became ardent supporters of the Anti-Chinese Movement and demanded legislation to stop Chinese