In class, we recently read an article about the inconsistency of assimilation models of immigrant groups, which particularly refers to the Irish immigrant group as well.
“Although the experiences of European groups coming to the United States in the early-20th century suggest that full assimilation generally occurs within three to four generations, no fixed timetable governs completion of the process.”
As racism and other forms of discrimination plays a role in how fast a group can assimilate into a new culture, the Irish did, however slowly, gain education and raise up in the ranks. The article also mentions how economic factors play a role in how well a group can fit in.
Inconsistencies also exist to form barriers: sometimes, learning a language comes faster than becoming prominent in the job market, so it’s difficult to assess how assimilated one group is because of all these factors. As said in the article, “Assimilation may be incomplete because it is blocked outright, delayed, or merely unfinished. But the type of incompletion matters, because each type is freighted with different implications for theory, and thus for policy.”
As such, the Irish first faced racism when they immigrated to the United States, but because they were not black and did not associate physically (occupationally or residentially) with them, eventually came to be seen as “white.”
The article then goes on to critique assimilation models, mainly one called the “straight-line” convergence, where over-time, assimilation just happens (norms, values, behavior, etc.) It agrees with the racial/ethnic disadvantage model which believes that assimilation is often just blocked because of the immigrants’ race that may linger for a long time, and even become a subconscious effect.
This article would be very helpful for my essay as the assimilation models are very relevant to the assimilation patterns of the Irish. In fact, most of the models can be talked about in relation to Irish assimilation. I believed that this article was well written as it addressed the positive and negative aspects of all the assimilation models and kept a fair viewpoint throughout.
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Thought Bubble 
It is interesting to think about how the process of assimilation can vary within a single immigrant group, let alone different incoming groups. You made a good point about how the Irish came to be seen as white because they did not have a dark skin color as blacks. How profound of an impact do you think that had on their path to integrating in the United States?
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I think at first, the Irish had a tough time integrating into society, but because they had white skin, overall it was a much easier process for them to assimilate as generations passed on and their social status rose.
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