A commenter provides supporting evidence for my view that it was worse back then. He cites three articles from the North American Review. For example, one of them says,
The original population of the States, it is true, was mixed. But there was nothing unassimilable in the Dutchman, the Frenchman or the Swede. Irish immigration frightened Americans into Know-nothingism. But about the worst that it did, after all, was to fill the ranks of Tammany. It has found its level and is a source of alarm no more. Not so the Italian, with his Mafia, or the Eussian and Polish exile. The spirit of European revolution and of European anarchism is invading American cities.
Read the whole comment.
In terms of Hispanic-Americans, even in California we need to remember that schools were segregated with white and hispanic students until Mendez vs. Westminster, 1946.
hmm but Irish, Pols, Italians, are not a different race
Very droll. As if race had anything to do with “racism.”
That is the modern simplified version today but it was not 100 years ago. Remember what Europe was doing 100 years ago? Having an all out war to prove which white European race would dominate the continent.
Otherwise in the US, the use of Euro-American was used all over the place and most cities had strong Euro background segregation. In cities like Boston there were all kinds of Irish Not Wanted signs 100 years ago. After WW1, the assimilation process accelerated with different Euro backgrounds.