Irish assimilation dissolved the stereotype as economic and cultural distance closed

Evidence

The Irish stereotype, however, could not help but soften as more and more Irishmen rose out of the ranks of unskilled labor and merged in speech and manner with the older population. By the early eighties, they were generally well regarded. It was almost a proverb to say that a good workman does as much as an Irishman; and even the harshest critics of the Irish looked forward confidently to their assimilation. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 161

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Social whiteness for immigrant groups was conditional on Protestant assimilation; Assimilation into whiteness fails where physical difference is perceived — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian…, 579; The Irish moved from an oppressed Irish race to an oppressing American race — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 31

Broader Connections

• Social whiteness for immigrant groups was conditional on Protestant assimilation #qualifies (0.75)
• Assimilation into whiteness fails where physical difference is perceived #qualifies (0.72) — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness, 579