“The Most Recently Discovered Wild Beast” (1881) is one of a series of nineteenth-century images portraying the Irish as violent and subhuman. Native-born Americans criticized Irish immigrants for their poverty and manners, their supposed laziness and lack of discipline, their public drinking style, their catholic religion, and their capacity for criminality and collective violence. In both words and pictures, critics of the Irish measured character by perceived physical appearance.
Political cartoons such as the “Wild Beast” offered an exaggerated version of these complaints. The Irish-American “Dynamite Skunk,” clad in patriotic stars and stripes, has diabolical ears and feet and he sports an extraordinary tail. around his waist he is wearing an “infernal machine,” a terrorist bomb that was usually disguised as a harmless everyday object, in this case a book. in the cage next to him, sketched in outline, is a second beast.
This year though, I think St. Patrick’s Day deserves a little bit more attention and respect for what the history of Ireland and Irish culture represents, especially the Irish diaspora in the U.S. I am, of course, talking about the current battle taking place in the U.S. regarding immigration.
In many ways,
the events of today are similar to those that took place from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, with an increasing number of Irish citizens traveling to the U.S. They came to escape starvation during the potato famine, to find work or to escape the tyranny rule of imperial Great Britain. But what many who came soon discovered is they weren’t necessarily welcome here.
That sounds a lot like what’s happening to immigrants coming from Mexico and refugees coming from the Middle East. Though the phrases used to describe modern immigrants are different and it’s now illegal, to some extent, to hire based solely on ethnicity, the same sentiment still seems clear from many Americans: “We don’t want you here.”
The lesson to be learned here is where the Irish population in the U.S. is today. Descendants of the Irish who were once denigrated for their heritage are now some of the most influential people in America. Many of us are mayors, senators, presidents and CEOs.
For the first time in a while, those who control our government have displayed the same intolerance toward modern immigrants that those in the 19th and 20th centuries displayed to the Irish.
Just be forewarned: If you are anti-immigrant, history will likely frown upon you. For more than a hundred years now, Americans have been fighting back against newly arrived cultures. You know what happens just about every time? The immigrants end up becoming a major backbone of our country.
It will be particularly ironic when those who are anti-immigrant have their grandchildren and future generations celebrating holidays associated with those groups, the same way we now celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
1) What is the message of the political cartoon?
2) Describe two or three specific details of the cartoon that support that message.
3) How were Irish Immigrants often criticized by native-born Americans? Why?
4) What similarities are there between the events of today and the events of the past?
5) What lessons can we learn from the popularity of St. Patrick's Day?
