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The St. Patrick’s Day turn up is already real for the Irish — but imagine being Black and Irish.
“I’m Black, Irish and German. It’s a fun mix. Im practically a superhero.”- Jstack89
There is an entire demographic of Black Irish whose story began in Ireland as early as the 18th century. According to Historian Lenwood Sloan, African-American women had an average life expectancy of 36 while Irish women could only be expected to live to 18. So out of necessity, “a system of placage was established in which African-American women were placed in the security of white Irish men, creating three to four generations of intermarriage.” – Irish Central
But as we all know, people of European descent aren’t keen on acknowledging anyone with African blood, whether their Irish or not.
“The relationship between Irish-Americans and African-Americans has been strained and, particularly for Irish people, not always a source of pleasant memories of our or our ancestors’ attitudes and actions. The conflict often included violence shown by Irish people towards African-Americans.” – Irish Central
Throughout the centuries, the divide between Irish people and African-American has grown greater. In 1841, over 60,000 Irishmen issued a dissertation asking their fellow Irishmen in America to join abolitionists in an effort to combat slavery. However, they failed to come through. Abolitionist abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison responded with deep disappointed in his compatriots, saying,
“Even to this hour, not a single Irishman has come forward, either publicly or privately, to express his approval of the address, or to avow his determination to abide by its sentiments.”
Two centuries later and the relations between Black and Irish folk are somewhat better. In fact, “the 2006 Irish census recorded 40,525 people of Black African ethnicity and 3,793 people of any other Black background resident in the Republic of Ireland out of a total population of 4,172,013, meaning that 1.06 percent of the population self-identified as Black.”- Wikipedia
Did you know these stars were Irish and Black? Hit the flip to check it out.
Happy St. Patty’s Day: 5 Black Celebs You Probably Didn’t Know Were Irish was originally published on globalgrind.com
