In this exhibit of cartoons, we see the Irish being stereotyped in ways to show anti-Irish discrimination. In the beginning of this article, author Lisa Wade opens with the history of American discrimination against the Irish;
In the last few hundred years, dark-skinned peoples have been likened to apes in an effort to dehumanize them and justify their oppression and exploitation. This is familiar to most Americans as something that is done peculiarly to Black people (examples, see here, here, and here). The history of U.S. discrimination against the Irish, however, offers an interesting comparative data point. The Irish, too, have been compared to apes, suggesting that this comparison is a generalizable tactic of oppression, not one inspired by the color of the skin of Africans (Wade, 2011)
Wade’s analysis of the Irish being compared to apes is in keeping with David Goldberg’s the “Primitive”, one of the three schemes that Goldberg believes is hegemonic in the production of contemporary production of racial knowledge. Goldberg describes the “Primitive”;
Second, this popular discourse of the Primitive has partially been sustained by the fact that the anthropological critique of the discourse is internal, so much so that it reproduces (even if it transforms) key concepts: primitive society, the primitive or savage mind, totemism, and animism (Goldberg, 1993).
As we see in the cartoon below, the Irish man depicted looks to be bounding around with his hands in the air holding dangerous objects and knocking everything around him over. This behavior describes animalistic behavior or “the primitive or savage mind” as Goldberg uses, as well as his physical traits, his big forehead, the extended mouth and hairy face also depict ape, animalistic traits and primitive imagery. Michael O’Malley at George Mason University writes;
In this cartoon, captioned “A King of -Shanty,” the comparison becomes explicit. The “Ashantee” were a well known African tribe; “shanty” was the Irish word for a shack or poor man’s house. The cartoon mocks Irish poverty, caricatures irish people as ape like and primitive, and suggests they are little different from Africans, who the cartoonists seems to see the same way. This cartoon irishman has, again, the outhrust mouth, sloping forehead, and flat wide nose of the standard Irish caricature (Mason).
This cartoon along with the others shown on this website, all show the Irish in these ape-like primitive caricatures which conveys a lack of social control and decency that encompasses the Irish.
References
Goldberg, D. T. (1993). Racist culture: Philosophy and the politics of meaning. (pp. 1-328).
Wade, L. (2011). Irish apes: Tactics of de-humanization.Sociological Images, Retrieved from http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/01/28/irish-apes-tactics-of-de-humanization/
I find it so odd that Irish were compared African Americans because I really don't think they have any resemblance. Maybe back then they did but I don't see it at all. I feel the Irish may have been dehumanized because society needed someone else to "pick on". Theres always going to be inequality in our society so guess the Irish were the pick. It's silly really, but this is the world we live in...
ReplyDeleteI agree, the "dominant" race is always going to isolate a group of people they feel are inferior. In this case it was the Irish during world war two, it was the jewish population. It is a constant battle, that will not soon end.
ReplyDeleteI feel these cartoons to be a great general statement on oppression. To use Kelly's word dehumanization, and to link that with your use of goldbergs primitive. The key to most oppression, I feel, is to dehumanize, or to cast as lower, as with the use of primitive it sends the message of being closer to nature. The natural world and non-human Animals are subjects of massive oppression and explotation. By linking racialized groups or groups that are seen as lower (women as an example) to the natural world or to be likened to Animals then the message is that it is ok to dominate them or consider them as less valuable.
ReplyDeleteI think your review of these cartoons and their relation to Goldberg's argument in his article are exactly what he's trying to portray. Agreeing with Brittany, I believe that the "dominant" race is always going to have power and dehumanize (as Kelly and James discussed) the others. I would be really interested to see your take on a different group or race being negatively portrayed through images such as these. I found this review really interesting and you made great points relating to what was discussed in class throughout the term.
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