Matt Yglesias posted an interesting map the other day:
It’s a map drawn from US Census bureau data on ethnicity and ancestry. According to the census, however, some 7% of Americans look puzzled when you quiz ’em about their ancestry and write American rather than “Irish” or “Polish” or Korean” or “Cuban”. This map shows where those American-Americans live, leading Matt to argue, vis a vis Jim Webb’s prospects for the Vice-Presidency, that “Webb’s favorite ethnic group, in short, seems to be the ethnic group with the least ethnic consciousness.” (I concur with Matt, incidentally, in recommending Eve Fairbanks’ fine Webb profile in this week’s New Republic)
Well, yes, and that’s one of the reasons Webb felt compelled to write his history of the Scots-Irish in America, Born Fighting. It’s precisely because he felt that his ain folk were, to borrow from Ian Fleming, “a tough, forgotten race” that Webb leapt into the fray.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in