New Jersey newspaper editorial defends anti-Irish, anti-Catholic cartoonist Thomas Nast

Ashbury Park Press, trying pulling a caper like this on Jews and I would bet you would be groveling begging to be forgiven for the next few years, that is, if your pron sheet didn't immediately go out of business

"the danger of viewing history through the prism of today’s morality."!

That's a 'danger'?! Surely justifying bigoted social commentary through the prism of a 150-year-old morality is a greater danger?

Here's a novel idea: perhaps we should try to understand the Immigrant Irish within THEIR historical context, as an utterly dispossessed and marginalized people whose only national crime was their forefathers' unwillingness to be forcibly converted to English Protestantism. They were a group that was ripe for exploitation by the corrupt political system of Tammany Hall.

After all, jrose, there were some blacks who weren't exactly angels, so by the logic I'm reading here, the stereotyping would certainly be justified...

then lets induct all cartoonists who portrayed blacks as ignorant,apes and muslims as bomb making terrorists and see how this flies with them.

The point is that these types of cartoons provided exaggerated stereotypes of The Irish Catholic Immigrant that tended to validate and perpetuate anti-Irish beliefs. There is not a single segment of society that does not possess some negative quality or other, so then why is it ok to target Irish? Were they just worse than everyone else? So because Joe Kennedy was no angel, The Irish in general should be portrayed as a race of apes... Freedom of speech is fine, but HONORING bigotry with this "Hall of Fame" induction is altogether different.

I'm waiting for the assinine editorial from the "Asbury Park" press reminding readers how we need to put Adolf Hitler's anti-semitism into context. Afterall, Hitler grew up in a time of pervasive anti-semitism in Austria, so we shoudn't criticize him for his anti-Jewish bigotry. And Hitler accomplished some good things while Germany's Fuhrer too, like building the Autobahn.

Here more freedom of speech bogsidebunny.All your comments are idiotic and stupid.Now that's much more truthful.But I won't burn your house down at all for been an idiot.

at one time we could call black people the n word. just because you could doesn't make it right

Maybe phlutie would like to have cartoons of Irishman depicted as apes.Phlutie fails to "out" the biasness and through eating anti Catholic politicians who tried very hard to stop catholics from having a political voice.

Hmmm!! I;d say Phlutiephan got it right . We cant go through life pretending it was all hunky dory and that the Irish all came from a land of Saints and Scholars. Joe kennedy was no angel and I'm sure neither were his siblings although I do admire what they achieved for their country. Its the same everywhere by the way. Its only now that the Monarchy in Britain are admitting to many skeletons in their closets including relations who were locked away for decades in mental institutional so that the public would know nothing about them.

Have they made the same excuses for any anti-semites or blatant racists. If so let it happen. If not, keep him out.

Love your take PhlutiePhan!

I am very proud of my Irish heritage. However, you cannot judge the past with revisionist history. As biased as Thomas Nast was, he gives an interesting perspective on history. Joseph Kennedy came from this background. He had a lobotomy performed on an embarrasing daughter. He filled many warehouses with vodka to await the end of prohibition. There was an Irish mafia. There continue to be evil priests in the Church. There is Irish greatness but there is also a seamy side. You can't kill every harbinger of the truth no matter how twisted. That is why St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. Many went to New York.

If Nast made an offensive cartoon depicting the Muslims or their beliefs he would be dust now. There is no defending this type of bigotry.