But we don't want the Irish!*

“Every dog (no distinction of color) has his day”  The caption of this political cartoon reads.  The cartoon, as many were in its era, is complex, with many references to the players of the day(1).  Here we see two men looking at the posters on a wall ranging from a bigoted threat by the KKK to editorials on booting out the Chinese above other posters calling for no Dutch or Irish.  The poster with the “go west” illustration chasing the Indians out is contrasted with a “go east” illustration of the Chinese chasing the Americans out, illustrating the fear the “Red gentleman” refers to; as the “Red gentleman” says to the “Yellow gentleman,” “Pale face ‘fraid you crowd him out, as he did me.”  This cartoon is talking about the hypocrisy of each wave of foreign invaders fearing the next, or even the racial groups in power fearing the others (as is suggested by the anti-Black KKK sign at the top)..  This is further emphasised to great effect by posters such as, “Foreigners not wanted” posted by Pat.Irish.Esq (a group of immigrants who many Americans did not appreciate the arrival of) or ‘“Knownothingism of the Past. “Down with the Irish.  Down with the Dutch.”’ Another sign appears to be a reference to Denis Kearney with "the Chinese must go,” as he was a well known advocate of the time against the rights of Chinese immigrants who he believed “robbed "Americans" of decent employment.”(2)  In the back, a black man waits for his time to come, perhaps playing into a widespread nervousness that free former slaves would somehow come to power that would endanger the power balance in America.  The “Lager Bier Government” may be a reference to German or Dutch immigrants, especially in light of the poster against both the Dutch and the Irish.  All of these groups brought their home country customs with them to America and were deemed a threat to the American way of life.

(1) Lecture 2
(2) "Denis Kearney." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.



* Quoted from the movie Blazing Saddles via IMDB.COM
Olson Johnson: All right... we'll give some land to the niggers and the chinks. But we don't want the Irish!
[everyone complains]
Olson Johnson: Aw, prairie shit... Everybody!
[everyone rejoices]






And I could not leave this one out either considering...
Jim: [consoling Bart] What did you expect? "Welcome, sonny"? "Make yourself at home"? "Marry my daughter"? You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons. 


I love that movie.