American identity politics have a weird and convoluted history. To understand it, you need to know how “white” and “black” were formed.

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America originally had a binary system: Those who were English, and those who weren’t. Other Western Europeans were allowed in early on, especially as indentured servants and white slaves. Bacon’s Rebellion largely ended white slavery and shifted to cheaper foreigners for slaves.

Eaten European arrived and were tolerated. Italians were viewed with some suspicion early on. Most ethnic groups found a niche and settled in. Think Italian barbers, French bakeries, etc.

There was always a hierarchy with English heritage at the top, then shifting to prioritize all of Western Europe verses eastern, and shifting again to accommodate Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, subgroups like the Irish were viewed as barely human.

A lot of the groups viewed with most suspicion came from Catholic nations, while those from Protestant nations were more easily accepted.

The Catholic Irish specifically had been viewed as subhuman by the original group, English, for so long, it became natural to hate them.

The Irish only “became white” in America once civil rights took off, became skin color not national origin. Prior to that, Irish, Chinese, and blacks occupied the bottom rung in society and competed for scraps to survive, which is why they’re still hostile to each other today.

Look at the transcontinental railroad and you see these three groups competing for garbage wages to work deadly jobs. That’s one reason the Chinese were despised early on, they took the trash jobs the Irish and blacks depended on because no one else would hire any of them.

When civil rights and desegregation came into play, the other European descendants begrudgingly accepted the Irish as part of the new “white” identity as lines formed over skin colors. And the Irish hated the blacks for “stealing their jobs”.

It’s an ugly and fascinating history

Look back even further to the dawn of the new world and you see the Irish working as slaves and indentured servants until Bacon’s Rebellion. The blacks replaced them after that, too.

LOTS of resentment between Irish and blacks as they scraped in the same gutters to survive.

Fast forward to modern times and you see the same ingrained patterns today. Low-class whites (usually of Irish descent) pitted against blacks and Asians for low-paying jobs in grungy neighborhoods.

The Irish were placated with “white” status so they feel above the others.

Now you’ve got the upper classes talking about “white privilege” and how ALL “whites” are to blame. Those from the lower classes are often Irish and resent this because they were only accepted as fully human during civil rights. Prior to that they were dehumanized with the rest.

This is a layer of racial tension few are aware of at all. It’s another reason dividing people by skin color is not only evil but totally inaccurate and obliterates these realities.

The Irish and blacks were pitted against each other for scraps. Irish descendants are still angry

None of these facts fix any of our modern issues. But to find a solution and unite as one American people, we must understand where each piece of our nation comes from. We must understand one another and what each of us is descended from.

Remember this convoluted history when you see stories like this. It may more accurately read: “Upper-class English-American kills lower-class Irish-American over white privilege dispute and the treatment of Black Americans.”

If you really want to dive deep on many of these conflicts: “Lower class Irish-Americans pitted against each other as upper class battles over white privilege.”