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Article: The Irish Hobo.(From other works)(immigrants)
- Article from:
- Irish Literary Supplement
- Article date:
- September 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Irish Studies Program. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"Tramps often threw up barriers of their own to black migration. The large number of Irish immigrants in America's tramp army suggests that the road itself may have served as a critical racial proving ground for poor white men. Notorious for their particularly virulent brand of white supremacy, Irish immigrants accounted for almost one-half of police station lodges and vagrants. Jacob Riis's disdain for his fellow tramps stemmed in part from his dislike of the 'Irishmen' with whom he was forced to share the road. While German-, English- and native-born men all found their places in the great army of tramps, the Irish wayfarer became a common Gilded Age stereotype, one ...