A new book from UNLV assistant professor Cian McMahon looks at the historical Irish immigration that took place between 1840 and 1880. We talk to him about the book, and what lessons we can learn from it for the modern debate over immigration.
His book, "The Global Dimensions of Irish Identity: Race, Nation, and the Popular Press, 1840-1880," explores how Irish immigrants had to fight for the right to establish their identities as being a citizen of their newly adopted country and from Ireland -- something that is taken more for granted in modern times.
"To me, it was one of the biggest surprises I came across as I was researching this book was the degree to which immigrants were dissuaded -- discouraged -- from identifying as both Irish and American," McMahon told KNPR's State of Nevada. "I was really surprised to find the degree they had to struggle to fashion this dual identity. What really brought it home for me, of course, was when I thought of the modern day, in which we take for granted that these hyphenated identities are part and parcel of life."
McMahon said the stuggle the Irish faced of having to balance their dual identities is not inherently theirs alone, but one that all immigrant groups face.
"I think it is one of the debts owed to all immigrants who have come to this country, and to countries like it, is the insistence on being able to maintain a loyalty or a solidarity with their home country," he said.
McMahon thinks there are lessons to be learned from the Irish immigration debate that can be applied to the immigration debate today.
"We need to define our terms carefully," he said. "We bounce around terms such as 'legal,' 'illegal,' 'undocumented' -- I think the Obama Administration's newer term is 'lawful perspective immigrant'. What I'm saying is that there's not a right or a wrong with this language, but we have to think about the language that we use, because the rhetoric itself, I think, defines the terms of the debate."
Cian McMahon, assistant professor of history, UNLV
