Takaki chapter 6

In chapter 6 Takaki explains how the Irish were treated in America and why they immigrated. The Irish were viewed as savages like the slaves and were not given the respect they thought they deserved. Takaki explains how they had to struggle to keep their jobs and how certain stereotypes accompanied them.
The Irish had somewhat survived a famine and lived off of potatoes for a long time. Irish families would receive letters from family members in America saying how they were able to be independent and get good jobs, so more of their family members immigrated to America to have the same opportunity as them. Unfortunately the conditions on the ships were almost unbearable. The ships reeked of the smell of previous immigrants and the Irish were pack into small shelves. Takaki states that, “20 percent of the immigrants died during the passage or immediately after arrival.” When trying to get a job in America the Irish had only one choice. The only job they could obtain happened to be the most dangerous of them all. The Irish started laying down the railroad tracks and some men would fall into ditches, or be crushed by the beams. Accidents happened all the time and became very common in the news. As the Irish struggled with jobs and continued to strike another problem arose. The Irish people were being compared to the black slaves who made them classified as savages. The Irish saw blacks as “a soulless race” and were appalled to be compared to them. The only difference between the blacks and Irish is that the Irish were allowed to vote. The blacks would not obtain their suffrage until many years later.
The Irish women became servants and obtained different jobs, but what really drove the Irish to succeed? It seems as if the Irish wanted to belong and be together as they were before coming to America. When the Irish immigrated they split up to find jobs and many of the Irish women seemed to obtain jobs where they would have housing and food provided in exchange for their labor. In the end the Irish were happy to be away from the British rule and America was their new home.
I thought this chapter was interesting and I learned something new. I never thought about some of the struggles the Irish had to go through and how they were compared to the black slaves.