The Irish Americans got good jobs, and they even got into office - they became part of the communities. We tried to do that here in England but they didn’t want us. We were just the butt of the joke. We were stupid or drunk. We had to hide who we were. When I went to visit my sister in Chicago I wasn’t surprised that she had got involved in the civil rights movement, but one night we went to dinner with my cousins and they were being racist. They talked about black people the way the English talked about us. I told them they were being hypocrites. I was only sixteen but I couldn’t believe it. They didn’t really take much notice of what I said. Now you see the Irish in England do it too. There is a difference between the Irish Americans and the Irish in Britain, but there’s also a difference between the Irish that remember what it was like, and the Irish with big cars and houses that think they’re better than other immigrants.
—I asked my Mum why she felt the culture of Irish Americans differed from that of the Irish in England and this was her answer. I thought it was kind of ace. (via titotansey)
(via thisisnotireland)
