Reborn in 1878: America's Number One Bandit

Chapter 56 This is a life-or-death racial struggle

When the latest issue of the California Chronicle appeared in major cities across the United States with the photograph titled "Tears of Marin County," the Irish immigrant community was in an uproar!
From apartments in New York's Five Points district to dockworkers' unions in South Boston, and slaughterhouses in Chicago, anger is everywhere!

"Atrocity! This is the kind of atrocity only the army would commit!"

In an Irish pub in San Francisco, a railroad worker who had just finished work angrily said, "They burned down our church! They beat our women and children! Just because that gang of thugs happened to be Irish too?"

"This is a massacre! This is persecution!"

Another elderly man, his eyes brimming with tears, said, "We were bullied by the British in Ireland, so we fled here, thinking it would be a land of freedom!"

"We built railroads, dug tunnels, and shed blood and sweat for this country! But we never expected that they would treat us like Native Americans!"

"Resist! We must resist!"

The young man jumped onto the table, raised his arms, and shouted: "We can no longer be lambs to the slaughter! If the law doesn't protect us, we'll protect ourselves with our fists and guns!"

Anger is burning in every Irish community.

In mainstream American society, however, public opinion presents a completely different viewpoint.

In a cigar club, several gentlemen are enjoying Cuban cigars and discussing the news in the newspaper.

"You did the right thing."

One banker flicked his cigarette ash: “I even think that Buck is still too kind.”

"He should hang every man of gun-carrying age in that shantytown from the trees."

"Yes."

The factory owner next door agreed: "You never know which one of them is your employee by day and will turn into a masked robber at night."

"Look at the fighting ability of those bandits, they are definitely not an ordinary rabble."

"I bet they definitely have the support of the Irish community!"

"This is where the problem lies."

The banker concluded, "They stick together, are xenophobic, and adhere to their Catholic faith; they simply cannot truly integrate into our country."

“Now that they have such frightening violent tendencies again, I think it’s time to re-examine our immigration policy.”

"The Irish should be banned from entering the country, and those who are already here should all be sent back to their plague-ridden, dilapidated island!"

"But they are white people after all, much more reliable than those yellow-skinned monkeys and blacks."

"reliable?"

The factory owner scoffed: "A white man who'll stab you in the back at any moment, or an Asian man who just buries his head in his work and doesn't dare to fight back, which would you choose?"

"At least the latter won't burn down your manor and cut off your head!"

……

Marlene Farm.

Inside the small building, Lawson sat in a comfortable armchair, holding the same newspaper in his hand.

The newspaper featured a close-up of the old Irish woman wailing, which took up a huge portion of the page.

That aged and desperate face was enough to move anyone with a kind heart.

But Lawson remained unmoved.

He has no sympathy for any Irishman.

They wouldn't even consider whether these people are innocent.

This is a war, a life-or-death racial war!

Does it matter whether they are innocent or not?
When Dennis Kearney's Workers Party chanted "Chinese must get out" in the streets of San Francisco and incited rioters to burn down Chinatown, did they consider whether the Chinese were innocent?
When Chinese laborers earned half the wages of white laborers but suffered ten times the bullying and exploitation, who ever spoke a word of justice for them?
No.

This era, this country, is a giant and bloody arena.

This is not a contest between good and evil.

This is a life-or-death racial conflict!
What we're fighting for is land, jobs, and the space to live with dignity. In this struggle, anyone who shows weakness is a fool.

If they don't smear and ruin the Irish, they'll throw all the mud at the Chinese.

History has already proven this.

Lawson threw the newspaper into the fireplace.

The paper curls and turns black in the flames, eventually turning to ashes.

"Not enough," he muttered to himself.

What he needs to do next is take this opportunity to pour another bucket of oil on the fire.

The label of "Irish" is completely associated with words like thugs, gangsters, and untrustworthy dangerous individuals.

……

San Francisco, Workers' Party headquarters.

Dennis Kearney slumped in his chair, furious, and took deep breaths.

His anger stemmed not only from the plight of his compatriots.

His intuition told him that there was a conspiracy at play.

Someone is framing them!
Someone is deliberately trying to ruin the reputation of all Irish people!

Kearney himself has done this kind of thing many times; he's all too familiar with this method!
A gang that appeared out of nowhere, specifically targeting the railway company Pinkerton, and even choosing to impersonate the already notorious Irish!

This is not a simple robbery.

Robbers are after money; they wouldn't so blatantly offend the California government or a behemoth like Pinkerton.

The reason they did this was to wipe the Irish out of California's political landscape!

who is it?

Were they the railroad tycoons who saw him as a thorn in their side? Or the bankers who feared the labor movement? Did they want to undermine his Workers' Party by tarnishing the reputation of the Irish people?

"This can't go on like this!"

Kearney slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

He addressed his equally indignant subordinates, speaking passionately:
"Brothers! Open your eyes and see! This is a conspiracy! A conspiracy against all of us Irish!"

"Someone is using a group of thugs who appeared out of nowhere to smear us all with a stain that can't be cleared!"

"They want to turn us into rats in the street, they want to drive us back into the Atlantic Ocean!"

"I, Dennis Kearney, will not allow this to happen!"

"I'm going to Northern California myself! I'll see for myself what kind of bastards those so-called 'Irish robbers' really are!"

"I will go and unite our fellow countrymen who are suffering! I will tell them not to be afraid! We Irish people must unite to fight this conspiracy!"

"Boss! Don't go!"

A trusted confidant immediately advised against it: "Northern California is too chaotic right now! It would be too dangerous for you to go!"

Colney burst into laughter: "I am the flag of Ireland!"

"If that gang of thugs really dares to lay a hand on me, Dennis Corney, it will prove to the whole world that they are not real Irishmen at all! They are devils sent by the enemy to frame us!"

This is a huge political gamble.

If he wins the bet, he will become the undisputed hero and leader in the hearts of all Irish people in America.

But what if you lose the bet...

No, he won't lose!

"Prepare the carriage!"

(End of this chapter)