It is a quip that is often heard here on Ireland’s western seaboard:
“The next parish is America”.
For the day that’s in it, I think of all of my family and friends across the Pond.
After the dislocation of An Gorta Mór emigration was the only viable option for generations of Irish people.
Industrial Britain was in constant need of industrial recruits, but there was another option and crossing the Atlantic to the States was to escape British rule forever.
However, it was undoubtedly a life-changing journey.
Ireland lost its sons and daughters to the USA for good.
They didn’t come back.
There wasn’t a townland in the West of Ireland that didn’t have an “American Wake”.
Moreover, the modern revolutionary tradition would not have flourished without Irish America.
My late father wanted to emigrate to the States when he was a newlywed, but Bridget dug her heels in.
Consequently, I was born in a country where it is a cultural crime to be Irish.
Conversely, my cousins across the Pond in Philadelphia attend St Patrick’s Day parades in their hometown.
They also have a beautiful memorial in memory of the genocidal crime that uprooted us from Ireland.
Only now are the Irish Community in Glasgow getting their moment to An Gorta Mór.
A few years ago, the Big Fella and I decided to try and trace when my side of the house first set foot in the USA.
Military records are an invaluable source of information on the Irish in the States.
We got as far back as the formation of the 10th Ohio Infantry.
Damien Shiels (@irishacw) who is a historian of the Irish in the American Civil War, has been a great help to us.
He advised me that the 10th Ohio was “a heavily Fenian regiment”.
That works for me.
Noel Ignatiev’s “How the Irish became white” is essential reading on the social construction of race in America.
Looking across the Pond these days is a depressing vista.
The morning after Trump’s election victory in 2016, I found myself on another part of Europe’s western coastline.
I could easily pick out the Americans in the media village of the Web Summit in Lisbon that day.
They were the ones who looked stunned or were in tears.
In those pre-COVID days, hugs were dispensed.
There isn’t really any point in outlining what the 45th resident of the Oval Office brings to that position.
However, looking at the United States today fills me with dread.
It is like looking at a beloved family member or dear friend when you know that they are heading to a dark place and you cannot intervene.
Yet there is much to look back at on the 4th of July and celebrate.
The triumph of the Continental Army over the forces of the British Empire was a blow against imperialism.
The founding document that bound the original states together is a work of enlightenment genius.
Tragically, the birth defect of the “Three-Fifths Compromise” that was reached among state delegates during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention has never been truly erased.
Despite the Civil War and Civil Rights, it is an undeniable truth that race and racism are still the dominant themes of the American narrative.
For the avoidance of doubt, Donald Trump is certainly not the first racist to be the Commander in Chief.
However, in modern times he is the most blatant and yet his ageing and almost exclusively white base could still get him over the line in November.
Since the 911 and the Iraq war, the Pentagon has cleaned up its inventory by dumping surplus equipment onto police department across the States.
That has led to law enforcement being militarised.
They are no longer kitted out to protect and serve.
Instead, their stance is now one of occupy and oppress.
Of course, the state violence in the USA is not colour blind.
It is Jim Crow meets Robocop, and President Trump seems to be a big fan of this development.
The Founding Fathers of the United States were incredibly careful to write into their constitution safeguards against what they styled “a mad king”.
After all, they had just defeated the army of such a deranged monarch, and they didn’t want to suffer another one.
For all the flaws of those who wrote it, that visionary document is still recognisably intact today.
Despite the Patriot Act and all the other attacks on Congress, the checks and balances on the Executive are still there.
Just…
If Donald J Trump peacefully leaves office according to the Constitution, then he will be living proof that America really is great.
So, for the day that’s in, I’m worried here in Cloich Cheann Fhaola about the next parish.
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Trump is a racist? How so? And I do believe a Marxist revolt is happening right now but WE THE PEOPLE will rise and crush this communist threat and refresh the tree of liberty. The tyrannical governors of NY CA VA ect will be removed and our constitutional rights will be restored. Big Igloo time is upon us
From here in Canada perhaps mistakenly it always seems that the Uk in general and the Irish have a romanticised view of the folk to the South of here.
My Grandmother was what is termed “Bristol Irish” she married an RC Scot from Glasgow and was widowed in WW1.
How she fetched up here and not elsewhere is unknown to me but Im grateful she did.
It is a mistake to think Trump is an anomaly -a great many of his countrymen share his outlook on themselves and the outside world.
Of course most dont buy the whole package but thats the price for the part you do want.
Americans have been told for generations that they are the best, most advanced and generous nation on earth and they believe it.
They believe the whole world wd want to be living in America rather than in their own homeland .
Why anyone wd want to emigrate to the states eludes me if you are living in any developed country . Of course if you are not then even the USA is a step up.
The thing is like Trump they want to believe that the brightest and best from abroad seek to come there and no doubt some do.
I suggest that for someone from Canada going south wd require huge salary upgrades just to compensate for social benefits lost and probably more true for EU nations.
As for the arrival of the Irish on American shores well starvation is about as dire as things get for motive and social benefits non existent.
Pretty much well documented that the Irish were not welcomed with open arms I think it took several generations for them to become assimilated.
Generally thats been true for large waves of any ethnic group entering North American countries .
I am always surprised to hear talk from Italians about prejudice against the older generations who came after WW2.
Grew up with many so I was surprised but I was forgetting we were all Rc and going to the same schools-their parents had to make their way in a hostile world and an Orange order dominated one at that.
Well now the Italian diaspora is celebrated here for their contribution.
America’s independence may have been a victory over British imperialism but it also resulted in a new and far more damaging imperialist project, one that threatens all of us.
It was definitely a defeat for British imperialism.
Jefferson himself that they were an “infant empire”.
Phil, any chance you could do a piece on Irish racism, towards the blacks, in America for which Philadelphia , particularly was very prominent. Bernadette Devlin, could give you a hand with some research, comparing Irish attitudes towards blacks, similar to that of Orange attitudes towards, the Nationalist population in the north. Very proud of my heritage, but not naive, or smug enough to think that it is a passport to refined morality, and a historically clear conscience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gESuHAB8zpI
It has been recorded that the American independence charter by GW et al, was based on the treaty of Arbroath, a treaty drafted to affirm Scotlands independence from tyrannical English imperialism.
Beautiful Arbroath Abbey is now a ruin along with many other undescribable and beautiful Catholic Abbeys, Churches and Cathederals destroyed after the reformation.
Something the o/o celebrate making a determined point to March past the remaining and active Catholic churches in Scotland in this the 21st century.
Hi Phil
I would suggest that the event that triggered the Land League was the selfless action by three brave men in Fanad on the 2nd April 1878.
Forever known as “The Fanadpatriots “they showed that landlords like “Leitrim”we’re not going to be allowed to suppress the local Irish any longer.
It is well documented that on his way home to Mayo Michael Davitt stopped in Donegal to meet the local Feinan and Irish Republican Brotherhood members
Landlords all over Ireland new their days were numbered .
Unlike your American friends I was somewhat relieved when Trump defeated the murderess Clinton. Almost single handedly she brought about the ruination of Libya. While he was no angel the Colonel ruled over one of the most stable states in Africa, that provided free health care and education. His crime was to try to remain independent of the West and, worse still, to speak openly about breaking free from a monetary system wherein the US dollar was/is the reserve currency: a system that dictates that ALL oil transactions must be done in US dollars , and so gives the US the power to sanction those countries that try to act independently by depriving them of that currency. Saddam had the same idea and also paid for it with his life.
It was the imposition of a no-fly zone by Clinton and her cronies that brought about the Colonel’s defeat and horrific demise. Who can ever forget Clinton’s inhuman cackling (still available to view online) when she boasted that ‘We came, we saw, he died.’
Libya is now a Hellish place where slave markets flourish, and slaughter is commonplace. Not satisfied with being the author of that disaster, Clinton’s presidential campaign rhetoric included a promise that she would introduce a second no-fly zone in Syria. Had she been elected, and implemented that policy, it would have brought the US into direct conflict with Russia. My fear is that she gets a second chance: that the senile Biden is forced to drop out and she becomes a hurriedly appointed substitute—this possibility is being openly spoken about in US political circles.
I have been to the US many times and consider the ordinary citizens to be a good and generous people. Unfortunately their government/state/ deep state, is firmly in the grip of a neoconservative cabal who have encircled Russia with military bases, and by ‘pivoting’ to Asia are attempting to do the same with China. This was Obama’s policy, and those who welcomed his election were soon to be disappointed. He killed more people with drone strikes than even George W Bush. And among his chosen victims, deliberately targeted, were at least two American citizens. He even boasted to aides that he was ‘good at killing people.’
Who can deny that Trump is a dubious character? But he did try and do a deal with North Korea, and seemed to be getting somewhere until he was undermined by the homicidal warmonger (and Vietnam draft dodger ) John Bolton. The man who, in his recently published book, asserts that when Trump resisted going to war with Iran, he had thereby committed the most ‘irrational act’ that he, Bolton, had ever witnessed. Methinks that had the murderess Clinton been in power, something more pleasing to Bolton, easily the most dangerous man on our planet, would have been the outcome.
At the level of theory, it might be possible to describe the US system of government as one of ‘checks and balances’. But in reality , if the executive can order the assassination of US citizens, without the benefit of ‘due process’, if the executive can have people detained in contradiction to the requirements of habeas corpus, then ‘checks and balances’ are just that: a theory.
I think Trump could get re-elected in November. But If I were him, I’m not sure I’d want that outcome. The deep state has tried to bring him down via the hoax that was Russia-gate, whereby a ‘dossier’ put together by an individual with ties to British intelligence, claimed that Trump had been video taped cavorting with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room, and so was in thrall to the Great Demon that is Vladimir Putin. When that wheeze failed, they tried Ukraine-gate, accusing him of trying use aid to Ukraine as leverage to have them look into the very, very, dubious financial affairs that the Biden’s, senior and junior, had/have going for them in that corrupt state. But that too failed. So what’s next? If Trump gets a second term, Dallas, Friday, November 22nd, 1963, comes to mind.
Michael Cohen: ‘I fear’ Trump won’t peacefully give up the White House if he loses the 2020 election.
Trump is beginning to realise that he will be a one term president and is not even trying to hide his racism any more.
America is a powder keg and Trump is determined to light the fuse.
The US is indeed heading for a dark place as you say Phil, probably kicking off Nov 2020 and raging through 2021
Although the prospect of Trump not recognising defeat may be a possibility, it shouldn’t alter the primary focus to get the vote out and defeat him at the ballot box.
It would truly be a modern tragedy to prepare for the former and not doing the latter.
This happened to the Dems in 2016, where they didn’t bother in the poorer states as they thought it was in the bag and such complacency needs avoiding despite what any poll says.
Of course people need to be alive to the election being stolen eg people denied ballots (coincidently overwhelmingly POC and not Trump supporters), other obstacles to voting (again favouring his side) etc.
These are real tangible obstructions to a free vote that are happening and should be the focus of attention but unfortunately are not the concern of a mainstream media that proclaims its anti-Trump credentials whilst boosting its AND Trump’s ratings.
Reality is though if and when Comrade Trump is defeated in November it will not make much difference to the vast majority of Americans economic life. The Corporate Democrats and that is very much what Biden is will throw a few crumbs to the masses and then get right back to making sure disaster capitalism is the economic order of the day so the rich stay just so and internationally they will be in lock step with the continuation of current American imperialism abroad. The corporate Democrats will not do much if anything about rampant income inequality, poverty wages that are the norm for so many American jobs. They will do nothing about for profit healthy care. They will do nothing about the fact that 24c out of every dollar a US tax payer gives to the government goes to the US military and of that 24c half goes to private contractors and that does not include the money that goes to the many clandestine agencies. They may throw a few crumbs the way of police reform but I doubt they will do anything about the militarization and brutality and violence of the US police. They will do little if anything about guns and rampant gun violence.
So in short yes I really hope Comrade Trump gest defeated but other then bringing to an end the overt racism and crass nature of the current US regime not much will change in America. The US is not IMHO currently a democracy but rather an oligarchy with a ruling elite that is largely bought and paid for by the wealthy and major corporations. Economically the difference between the far right Republicans and the centre right Democrats is the Republicans are all about the top 1% and the Democrats maybe as much as the top 20% from a wealth standpoint. But neither has any interest in or cares a jot about the vast majority of their population. The US needs a Democrat party of FDR but sadly under Biden just as it was under Obama and Clinton they have instead a corporate owned Democratic party and a far right Republican party.
Further more I will say this anybody who thinks Comrade Trump will just leave office if and when he losses in November has not been paying attention. IMHO if it gets to October and he clearly is still going to lose as he is looking like currently, he will engage in some kind of extreme behaviour to try and stop that. What exactly I don’t know but there is no chance he is just going to accept the vote. Plus of course the Republicans will engage in rampant voter suppression, purging of the voter roles, closing polling stations in minority majority districts, shorter voter times etc etc. If all that fails and he looses in November I have zero doubt that he will not just accept the defeat and leave with dignity. Like those we know on the south side of Glasgow he will at best engage in a very nasty policy of scorched earth from November through mid January when the next US president is installed in office.
I largely agree with your analysis about the DNC and Biden.
The near-octogenarian latter is very troubling, almost hiding in his bunker and exhibiting obvious cognitive failings when on display eg introducing his wife as his sister, forgetting the words to the anthem etc.
The pandemic and rebellion against police brutality has worked out well for him, as the focus has been on Trump’s inadequacies, which are many and have led to a healthy lead not due to anything Biden has done.
I remain hopeful that some things will change, if Biden is elected, that never would under Trump. When Sanders first talked about Medicare for All 5 years ago he was pretty much a lone voice but now all Dems mention improvements, if not the full package. Also since the pandemic this has only increased, not from any ideological conversion but from the simple fact public health is only as good as the poorest people and without it no-one is safe.
Also great Union hard-fought and won employee healthcare insurance is no use to the tens of millions who’ve been thrown in the scrapheap who will be looking for something to fill the gap.
I also remain hopeful on policing reform, as this will happen at both the national and local levels, where there’s already movements for change to divert resources to more appropriate areas eg in New York, more is spent on police in Schools than counsellors, psychologists etc who are professionally trained to deal with the actual problems eg MH, drugs etc, which is just wretched.
Although nationally this is unlikely to go anywhere near what’s required, if it results in targeted communities feeling less “hunted” (the actual word used by young black men) then hopefully this leads to a higher level from which to further push for more meaningful reforms.
I take on-board that Trump won’t voluntary want to give up the White House but it also needs to be acknowledged that he has a pretty weak hand to play. When he did his church and bible stunt this was openly dissented by a senior military figure, who was immediately fired but such open dissension doesn’t happen with strong presidents.
The Intelligence community has also been very hostile to him, he has fired several of them and virtually all exes are anti-Trump, so its unlikely he would be able to garner much support there if it became a democracy civil war.
I totally agree on voter suppression, which is where focus should be on, as that is real and happening and not on hypothetical post-election scenarios.
Greg Palast (https://www.gregpalast.com/) is very good on this area, which horrifically is estimated to deny 10m votes (largely POC and Dem votes).
Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast is an excellent piece of work.
You green tinted one eye view seems to have forgotten the highland clearances that forced many thousands of Scots to flee to america too. Trying to put today’ ethics onto history is a fools errand. Times have changed and people’s morals and ethics have changed with the times. We should not forget our history, but trying to paint the past with today’s way of thinking doesn’t work.
Oh dear…
I’m in a charitable mood so here goes:
The Highland Clearances were a crime against humanity.
However, they were done by Scots to other Scots.
The Duke of Sutherland was not English.
The internal provenance of the Clearances is one factor that there was never a Scottish equivalent in North America of the Fenians or, indeed, of Noraid.
Sorry to contradict you, but George Levenson Gower WAS English. He married the Countess of Sutherland and was later elevated to the title of Duke.
Doesn’t change the point you’re making though.
Many thanks.
My substantive point was that the clearances were enacted by Clan chiefs who had been socially re-constructed into capitalist landlords.
Consequently, they saw their kinsmen as disposable tenants.
Because of the Flight of the Earls Ireland’s native aristocracy were on Continental Europe by the late 18th early 19th century.
Therefore, the crimes of early capitalism in Ireland had an ethnic edge to them.
It was done by outsiders.
Conceded.
phil you seem to miss the point regarding the famine in Ireland that enough food was sold oversea sent from Ireland by Irishman who were only interested in making a profit, a point that is conveniently over looked
In the 1840s the land in Ireland was still overwhelmingly in British hands-as it had been since the Penal Laws.
It would be a generation before the activism of the Land League in the 1880s would correct that situation and create a native landowning class once more.
A new landowning Gentry and Nobility in Ireland but the same Land economics.
The Clan Chiefs became tax collectors for the Dukes.
Financial Consultants from Edinburgh visited their lands and produced reports showing economics of land for growing sheep over land for providing food for inhabitants. People who needed fed cost money, sheep ate heather and brought in money. No brainer.
When the arse fell out of the sheep market, the Clan Chiefs ended up broke with no tenant sheep farmers and no sheep.
Few Clan Chiefs held on to estates and castles.
The Dukes picked up everything.
The Dukes were Descended Norman’s and some Vikings who entered Scotland with King David I.
The Campbell Dukes of Argyll were Viking. Bell was a Viking name, their black and yellow gyrony on their coat of arms straight off their Viking shields. They set up camp on the Argyll peninsula, Camp Bell, as simple as that.
The Dukes who ended up with all the land were not ancient Scots.
Nobody today can understand what history was like or the decisions made. They all lived and died in their times. Nobody today did any of those things or can be blamed.
No American Irish descendants would be alive today if their ancestors hadn’t emigrated. Not their parents nor their grandparents, etc…. they wouldn’t have even been born in Ireland. People would have married different people. There wouldn’t have been a JFK for instance.
Ditto slavery. Blacks in USA Today wouldn’t exist without slavery or the wind rush immigrants to the UK from the West Indies. They logically owe their entire existence to slavery which brought their ancestors together on the same plantations from different tribes.
People today can say it was all terrible but no one alive today is responsible for doing any of it and no one should feel guilty about what other people did hundreds of years ago.