Miscellaneous
They were the Mexicans of the 1800's -- despised, picked on, abused, and scapegoated. Part of the reason they caught such grief was because they were Catholic, and recent immigrants. Sound familiar? It should. Americans are known for making history, and just as well-known for not learning from it. But when I wrote this very thing in a column, some of my Irish-American readers were furious at the comparison to Mexican immigrants. After all, they said, Mexicans come illegally and the Irish came legally. Well, yes and no -- on both counts.