Hacker News Reader

I was astonished when I first learned that in the United States, it wasn't until partway through the 20th Century that people of Italian or Jewish ancestry were considered "white."

View on HN

Isn't that a myth? Like pink and blue supposedly previously having been associated with the reverse genders.

not a myth, although popularly touted as a myth by people to whom this fact is inconvenient. it's very easy to google examples of racism towards irish and italian immigrants.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=irish+need+not+apply&sour...

here's where the "myth myth" started and was easily debunked by a high school student

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/High-school-studen...

But that just confirms it as a a myth - "I really hate the Irish, so I'll pretend they aren't white"

Reply on news.ycombinator.com