Quote:
Originally Posted by JManc
I am really surprised by the high % of solely Italian/ Irish. I would have thought they would be much lower considering generations of mixing.
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Same. But I also think that in those days mid 1800s to early 1900s, keeping within your kin was not only much more common but also encouraged. Further, the number of first- and second-generation Irish and Italian Americans, along with far fewer ethnic/racial groups to marry into, meant that high percentages of "ethnic purity" were likely.
Today, "assimilation" through the lens of miscegenation typically occurs with the second generation to be born in the new country. But back then, that social integration was probably delayed by an extra generation or two. Specifically in NYC, the "options" for a long time where Irish, Italian, Jewish, German, and English. From an Irish perspective, the Catholic/Protestant cultural division and the far fewer numbers of more-assimilated German and English were barriers to miscegenation; Italians and (obviously) Jews were seen as very different.