Aug 7, 2021Anti-Slavery Activism on Bedford Row (1838–1855)Honouring the Black Abolitionists who lectured in Limerick City in the mid-nineteenth century The transatlantic alliance of dedicated anti-slavery activists who sought to abolish racial slavery in the United States culminated at a local level in Limerick with the visit of a series of leading Black abolitionists to the Independent…Slavery10 min readSlavery10 min read
Apr 11, 2020Were Irish people the “first slaves in America”?On the 27 August 2019 the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris marked the 400th anniversary of the first recorded importation of enslaved Africans to Virginia by calling for a reckoning with her country’s “history of slavery and institutional racism.” Two days later the frequent Fox News contributor and right…Slavery9 min readSlavery9 min read
Dec 16, 2019Collective Punishment: Mob Violence, Riots and Pogroms against African American Communities (1824-1974)In 2015 I launched a volunteer collaborative project which sought to collate (and map) a comprehensive record of white mob violence that collectively punished African American communities across the United States. Framed by racism, segregation and white supremacism, these violent incidents cover almost every aspect of American society. Housing, military…Racism2 min readRacism2 min read
Nov 1, 2019American slaves ‘emancipated’ in MonaghanI recently found this interesting account of slaves being brought to 1830s Ireland by their Irish owner in the Harvard Law School Caselaw Access Project database. This history was disclosed during an important piece of case law that arose in 1850 which included a judgement of implied manumission and a…Slavery11 min readSlavery11 min read
Sep 5, 2019An Irish slave in Antigua“Mulatto Jack” was an Irishman kidnapped in Ireland and sold into perpetual slavery in Antigua. Sixteen years later he was imprisoned as a suspect during a slave conspiracy in 1736. — What does his plight tell us about Ireland’s historical relationship with the Black Atlantic? In October 1736 a cadre of enslaved people in Antigua allegedly planned to free the colony’s slave population by overthrowing the British slavocracy that had enchattled and exploited tens of thousands of people for over a century at that point. This was to be achieved by blowing up Governor William…Slavery10 min readSlavery10 min read
Aug 7, 2019Trump and the El Paso terrorist share more than anti-Hispanic racism.Their white nationalist strategy to deter non-white migration and naturalisation, for the benefit of the Republican Party, is identical. A relatively overlooked aspect of the El Paso terrorist’s white nationalist manifesto was his specific rationalisation of violence against the Hispanic population vis-á-vis strengthening the Republican party’s future election prospects in the state of Texas and nationwide. …Politics4 min readPolitics4 min read
Jan 17, 2019How Haitian “zombie” folklore entered the American imaginationThe Haitian “zombie” folklore and mythology entered white American cultural consciousness during the 1920s-30s, that is, during the U.S. occupation of Haiti. At the same time that U.S. officers were subjecting poor Haitians to forced labour schemes (they reintroduced the corvée system), Haitian culture was being sensationalised, distorted and commodified…Slavery5 min readSlavery5 min read
Nov 30, 2018Conflation and Omission: Angela Nagle’s historical negation of the racism behind the Chinese Exclusion ActIf you wish to support my work, you can make a donation here. There are many substantive critiques of Nagle’s reactionary anti-immigration article out there (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) but I want to take a closer look at her use and abuse…Immigration17 min readImmigration17 min read
Oct 13, 2018Following the money — Irish slave owners in the time of abolitionOriginally published on theJournal.ie in 2014 When the British government finally abolished slavery in most of its colonies on 1 August 1834, it paid slave owners over £20 million in compensation for the loss of their “property.” This was around 40% of the government’s annual expenditure. This exceptionally generous payment…Slavery4 min readSlavery4 min read
Oct 4, 2018Survey of the “No Irish Need Apply” qualification in classified ads in U.S. newspapers (1827–1919)This is based on the research and tweets that I published back in 2015. — If you wish to support my work, you can make a donation here. In the wake of the renewed controversy about the prevalence and impact of NINA in classified ads in U.S. newspapers in 2015, I set about surveying all the available newspaper databases to collect further evidence. After a…Irish Diaspora6 min readIrish Diaspora6 min read
