General Discussion

hunter

(40,760 posts)

82. Excellent!

Tue Oct 7, 2014, 06:58 PM

Oct 2014

My surname is Scots-Irish. My own Scots-Irish ancestors considered themselves scorned radicals exiled from Europe for their choices of Catholic and Jewish spouses.

It's still very strange.

My white California grandfather coexisted peacefully with all sorts of people. Black or Asian or Native American coworkers, no problem. He had Irish Catholic ancestors himself, but was raised Scots-Irish Protestant. Nevertheless, he was upset when my wife and I announced our engagement. Men in his family did not marry (in his words) "Mexican Girls." He did not attend our big Catholic wedding, but eventually he got past that.

My family surname no longer belongs to the burns-easily-in-the-sunlight redneck freckled melanoma prone Scots-Irish Protestants. This world is a much better place for that.

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One of America's biggest root problems: Scots-Irish culture [View all] AZ Progressive Oct 2014 OP

Very deep shenmue Oct 2014 #1

I think it's a shitload more complicated than that. cali Oct 2014 #2

Agree with you Cali. Ethnic Blame Game... KoKo Oct 2014 #13

Truly! catrose Oct 2014 #40

Then again, sometimes there is a smidgeon of truth in generalizations. Having traveled extensively adirondacker Oct 2014 #42

The Dutch in New York were known to be racists against the American Indians so muntrv Oct 2014 #58

Excuse me? I'm one-eighth Scots Irish. KamaAina Oct 2014 #3

I'm about half Scots-Irish... nt IphengeniaBlumgarten Oct 2014 #14

Welcome to DU! KamaAina Oct 2014 #20

I'm a quarter although half Latina and take my identity from that. eom Cleita Oct 2014 #39

I'm about an eighth or more and I'm black. bravenak Oct 2014 #51

Excellent! hunter Oct 2014 #82

What a load of racist bullocks. Irish Americans are almost predominately Democrats. FSogol Oct 2014 #4

Thanks, I just read that and scratched my head. The Brits are painted as the 'liberals' here, lol? sabrina 1 Oct 2014 #15

The dirt poor Irish came to America to own Southern Slavery Plantations before receiving the FSogol Oct 2014 #29

You mean 'some' of the Irish. There are criminal elements in every culture, they do not represent sabrina 1 Oct 2014 #33

My response was a pure anachronistic joke*. Slavery plantations preceded the FSogol Oct 2014 #37

Scots Irish are the Protestants of Northern Ireland. KamaAina Oct 2014 #21

Thank you, which generally means they were not native Irish people, they were 'planted' on land sabrina 1 Oct 2014 #36

You're confusing the Irish Irish and the Scots-Irish. Thirties Child Oct 2014 #22

Not always. KamaAina Oct 2014 #48

Not true. Fawke Em Oct 2014 #76

The Scots-Irish Americans are not typical Irish Americans. pnwmom Oct 2014 #23

+100 Duppers Oct 2014 #86

Scots-Irish are different from plain old Irish Warpy Oct 2014 #31

As several here have H2O Man Oct 2014 #38

Anecdotally, my family is Scots-Irish. My grandparents came here in the 1890s. FSogol Oct 2014 #45

Right. H2O Man Oct 2014 #56

"Scots-Irish" != "Irish-American". Spider Jerusalem Oct 2014 #43

One of the primary reasons H2O Man Oct 2014 #59

That's the way it was in my family... SiobhanClancy Oct 2014 #85

I agree with that, but I live in Boston and I also see where a lot of Irish Americans are smirkymonkey Oct 2014 #84

As pointed out, this is about Scots-Irish. However, what you said was only once true... Drunken Irishman Oct 2014 #89

Quite an old chestnut, as it happens. malthaussen Oct 2014 #5

Have you read "Born to Fight" by Jim Webb? It's a fantastic window into the history and culture ... Hekate Oct 2014 #6

This thread should go well.....nt msanthrope Oct 2014 #7

This is extraordinarily racist. DemocraticWing Oct 2014 #8

I was thinking they used to justify slave ownership for similar ethnic reasons too. bettyellen Oct 2014 #10

The Scots Irish flooded the South but... Thirties Child Oct 2014 #28

+1. I was about to mention Albion's Seed. winter is coming Oct 2014 #44

Thank you for an injection of historical accuracy theHandpuppet Oct 2014 #64

Oh please. Nationally, the divide is much more about rural vs urban. Educated vs less so. bettyellen Oct 2014 #9

New England, and other parts of NE, the Irish HockeyMom Oct 2014 #11

There wasn't that much intermarriage between the two groups ... Thirties Child Oct 2014 #30

Read damn near anything the late, great Joe Bageant ever wrote. hifiguy Oct 2014 #12

Deer Hunting With Jesus... haikugal Oct 2014 #34

Another + for Joe Bageant's work Tom Ripley Oct 2014 #72

+1000s. His essay "Drink, Pray, Fight, Fuck" says it all. DinahMoeHum Oct 2014 #81

Oy Jaysus WilliamPitt Oct 2014 #16

At least it was a well written pile of shit. Throd Oct 2014 #18

But a pile of shit nonetheless. cordelia Oct 2014 #91

I dunno if this is quite 100% accurate, TBH. AverageJoe90 Oct 2014 #17

Scottish Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit ~ No one cuts/attacks me with impunity aikoaiko Oct 2014 #19

"People with these cultural roots are the reason why the Republican party continues to exist" KamaAina Oct 2014 #24

LOL- true. There are sociopathic grifters of all ethnicities out there. bettyellen Oct 2014 #52

Shite. Sheldon Cooper Oct 2014 #25

Bazinga! KamaAina Oct 2014 #46

Thems fightin words seveneyes Oct 2014 #26

My dad's side of the family was Scots-Irish, landed in the northeast, babylonsister Oct 2014 #27

My grandmother was a Scotch-Irish person, a Carr. I don't know when they Cleita Oct 2014 #32

"Their cultural roots in Calvinism also suggests why they don't support the government helping the muntrv Oct 2014 #35

Strange OP. H2O Man Oct 2014 #41

Bullcrap! KT2000 Oct 2014 #47

k/r Dawson Leery Oct 2014 #49

"and the Scots-Irish are very much a culture of honor, muntrv Oct 2014 #50

Reagan was English-Scottish on his mom' side, Irish (as in, Irish Catholic) on his dad's YoungDemCA Oct 2014 #77

Reagan was the sort who would sell his soul for a blow job. hunter Oct 2014 #83

This is fucking racist bullshit. The Irish make up the most liberal Democrats that I know. TeamPooka Oct 2014 #53

Sounds somewhat simplistic to me. elleng Oct 2014 #54

The book this article is based on is an attempt to explain southern white rural violence. fifthoffive Oct 2014 #55

If they're going to blame 2 centuries back for a culture of violence, look at the Cavaliers. politicat Oct 2014 #88

The correct term is Scotch-Irish. rogerashton Oct 2014 #57

Scotch is a kind of whiskey. Manifestor_of_Light Oct 2014 #68

What you say is correct. But rogerashton Oct 2014 #69

What a load of shite. edbermac Oct 2014 #60

This article is so full of historical flaws I don't even know where to begin theHandpuppet Oct 2014 #61

+1 KoKo Oct 2014 #62

Well get the red out Oct 2014 #63

This article is five years old. Demit Oct 2014 #65

The Protestant vs. Catholic warfare has always been intense in my family. hunter Oct 2014 #66

This French and Native American son of the south has no quarrel with this study Tom Ripley Oct 2014 #67

Well fuuuuuuck me! OriginalGeek Oct 2014 #70

What do they mean by "herders"? ladyVet Oct 2014 #71

Reiver cultures everywhere tend to like violence AngryAmish Oct 2014 #75

I think the reality is far more complicated than this... YoungDemCA Oct 2014 #73

I'm Irish, Scots-Irish and Southern. Fawke Em Oct 2014 #74

Well I am Scots-Irish. People are not their upaloopa Oct 2014 #78

And this kind of post is why I wish for an UNREC button... DeadLetterOffice Oct 2014 #79

All generalizations are bullshit tularetom Oct 2014 #80

But that's terrible cultural history. It doesn't work. politicat Oct 2014 #87

Excellent post theHandpuppet Oct 2014 #90

K&R right here... This is a great read, it'll take a while to digest it. Thanks for posting this. freshwest Oct 2014 #93

If someone started a thread on the "African culture" from which many American blacks are descended, Nye Bevan Oct 2014 #92