The Role of the Family in the Transmission of Ethnic Identity among the Irish of Savannah, Georgia

ABSTRACT To better understand the importance of family in the transmission of ethnic identity, this paper suggests answers to the following questions: (1) How strong is the ethnic identity among members of Irish organizations in Savannah, Georgia? and (2) How important is family in the transmission of ethnic identity among members of these groups? The role of family in the transmission of ethnic identity is an important one as indicated by the quantitative and qualitative findings. The strength of ethnic identity was salient among older respondents, among those who attended church regularly, and among members who attached higher levels of importance to religion, ethnic organizations, and family in forming and maintaining their ethnic identities. The importance of ethnic organizations and particularly the importance of family as transmitters of ethnicity are most significantly related to the strength of ethnic identity. This discussion is part of a larger study about members of Irish organizations in Savannah as well as a contribution to the ongoing scholarly debate about the transformation of ethnic identity or ethnic consciousness among Americans of European ancestry (Alba 1990; Brodkin 1998; Gans 1979, 1994; Glazer 1997; Greeley 1974; Hout and Goldstein 1994; Ignatiev 1995; McDermott and Samson 2005; Nagel 1994; Waters 1990). During the last 40 to 50 years there has been much debate among social scientists about ethnic groups and their rate of assimilation in American society (Alba and Nee 2003; Chong 1998; Ebaugh 2003; Gans 1979, 1992; Glazer and Moynihan 1970; Gordon 1964; Greeley 1974; Sears, Fu Henry, and Bui 2003). The transformation taking place today among ethnic groups is more complex than simply distinguishing whether the United States is a melting pot or culturally pluralistic (Alba 1990:3). Nagel (1994:154) stated that while some scholars point to a "weakening of ethnic boundaries in the white American population" others show "a maintenance or increase in ethnic identification" thus producing what she calls an "ethnic paradox. " Gans (1979, 1994) argued that ethnicity and religiosity have become mostly subjective identities for contemporary white European Americans. Later-generation white ethnics may practice what Gans (1994:577-578) calls symbolic ethnicity, "The consumption and use of ethnic symbols intended mainly for the purpose of feeling or being identified with a particular ethnicity, but without participating in an existing ethnic organization (formal or informal) or practicing an ongoing ethnic culture. " Symbolic religiosity is defined as, "the consumption of religious symbols apart from regular participation in a religious culture or in religious organizations. " Hammond and Warner (1993:66) determined that religion and ethnicity "maintain a significant relationship in late-twentieth century America, but it is just as plausible to note that this relationship systematically varies from one kind of ethnic group to another" such that "groups with high rates of ethnic identity tend also to have high rates of religious identity" (Hammond and Warner (1993:63). Hammond and Warner (1993:66) believe that even though religion and ethnicity presently influence each other, this relationship will decline in the future as more Americans choose their own religious and ethnic identities instead of accepting those identities ascribed to them at birth. One's religious and ethnic identities have become increasingly voluntary (Waters 1990). Ethnicity in the United States is being transformed among white European Americans and symbolic ethnicity is one outcome of such a transformation. Two other outcomes are a stronger emphasis on regional identities (based on geography) and the development of a panethnic European American identity (Alba 1990; Kivisto and Ng 2005). We addressed the issues of symbolic ethnicity, symbolic religiosity, a panethnic European American identity, and regional identities in previous papers. …