The Investigation of the Irish and German Stereotypes in the United States

Xenophobia: the fear of the “other.” This phrase can be used to describe American citizens especially in the past towards new immigrants. This can create extreme racism, stereotypes, and prejudice towards the other race. The stereotypes created in these conditions are never completely accurate and cannot be used to describe every individual of a given nationality.. People have always been deemed “different” by their skin color, facial characteristics, clothing, culture, and their place of origin. Immigrants faced no exception and were often portrayed in the media as unequal to the WASP’s of the time. There are multiple stereotypes for the Irish, and the German’s; however, the essence of the stereotype is always the same. It is meant to degrade others, and to make the stereotyper’s feel superior.

The Stereotypes of Irish American's:

The 1840s-1850s were considered the Famine Era for the Irish. This describes the potato famine happening in Ireland that was a huge push factor for the citizens. This pulled many immigrants to America, predominately New York. This huge wave of people were looking for jobs to make a living and provide for themselves and their families. However, American citizens were not always welcoming of new comers. This is shown a multitude of times throughout history, with other groups as well. Common words to describe the Irish were “dirty,” “diseased,” “leprous,” “ragged,” “brutish,” “odorous.” Clearly no one would want to be called any of these words. Their stereotypical appearance is usually described with red hair and their said mannerisms usually include fighting and drinking. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t want to be described with any of these words. They are used to dehumanize individuals and to justify harsh actions against them. This link has pictures and descriptions of some photos I will show next. These are cartoon images depicting negative pictures of the Irish that were most likely in Newspapers
Cartoon Examples of the Depiction of the Irish:

As described above, there are many negative stereotypes of Irish American’s. The first image I will present has an Irish man sitting on a barrel labeled “Uncle Sam’s gun powder.” He has a bottle of rum in his hand and looks like he’s in a drunken rage.  Also, his face is less human, and more ape- like. This is an example of a strategy to dehumanize the Irish, and make them look more like the “other.” He is made to look un-tame and dangerous to the safety of America. 

The next image is from Harpers Weekly, a newspaper. It compares the skull size of a white man, to that of a negro, and an Irish American.This picture shows the proportional and correct head shape (white), versus the disproportional shape (Negro and Irish), claiming that it correlates to the intelligence of the racial groups. 

I believe that these images and other ones like this are extremely awful and disrespectful. It’s sad that people back then portrayed the Irish like this. Hopefully everyone now knows that stereotypes are often incorrect and cannot be generalized to every individual of a specific racial group. Unfortunately, there are still stereotypes, even though they may not be as hurtful, they may be incorrect. Here is a video I have found of a young man addressing the Irish stereotypes in an entertaining manner. This can be used to represent how people now a days still give stereotypes to the Irish. This shows that there are still present issues in America and other Countries as well involving false assumptions. 

The Stereotypes of German American's:

German immigration peaked in the 1850’s. With this wave of Germans, came a wave of stereotypes. They were often associated with beer, and snack foods such as pretzels, cheese, and sausage. Pictures in the media often have a heavy set German Man with a beard, drinking beer. Even the German schools, which taught the German language and culture, were viewed by the nativists as a place filled with drinking and smoking. In fact, since the Germans were tied together with alcohol, this led to the nativist prohibition movement. After WWII, many Germans were portrayed as anti-semantic due to the individuals that participated in the tried extermination of the Jews.  An article I have found discusses the constantly changing stereotypes of the German's that cannot be applied to every single individual. Here is a video I have disovered with a young man talking about the stereotypes of Germans. 

The Irish Compared to the German's
"Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about a group of people. These characteristics may be partly true or false. But they can lead to prejudice. People should be careful with negative and devastating stereotypes. In the end, we are all individuals who should be judged for our own specific behaviour." This quote I came across in the article that I posted the link in the paragraph above. I agree that you cannot place a specific characteristic upon a whole group of people. We are all individuals and should be treated that way. The Irish and the Germans both have some stereotypes that are the same. The stereotypical drunk immigrant is portrayed in the media as both the Irish and the Germans.  People using this stereotype are not only clumping together one ethnicity, but two; creating a huge group of people with the same said characteristic and removing individualism. Another similarity would be the fact that in old illustrations they are depicted in a manner that makes them look inferior to the white race; they often are drawn with a blank expression on their face, making them look unable to function properly in society. 
Modern Depictions
Both the Irish and the German's are still stereotyped to this day. Irish are tied together with St. Patricks Day, wearing green, and having red hair. They are also still associated with drinking, as well as their German counterparts. Here is a stereotypical image of how some people see Irish men.

As shown above, this stereotype is seen in a foolish manner, making fun of the Irish and not taking the group seriously. The German's are still stereotyped with drinking and snack foods as seen in this next image. 

He is drawn with an absurd look on his face, making it seem like all he does is drink and eat sausages. This modern depiction is not very far off from how the German's were pictured in the 1800s. This shows that stereotyping is still a problem and that even though some people have moved away from making these assumptions, there are still people out there who believe this is how the Irish or the Germans look and act. 

My Opinion

Stereotypes have existed since the mixing of cultures and races begun. In America I believe we have had extreme stereotyping, racism, and prejudice because we are in fact a melting pot of cultures. It disgusts me to see how unaccepting people can be towards other groups that they are not apart of.  This issue may never go away, however, I believe that it has gotten more unacceptable in society to use stereotypes casually. For instance, there is rarely any posters, or newspapers with negative stereotypes against racial groups. This most likely is due to our modern avoidance of controversy. Hopefully this will eventually lead to the ceasefire of these hurtful assumptions and the degradation of others will be nonexistent.