’ s ▁cultural ▁and ▁political ▁main stream s ." ▁ ▁Irish ▁people ' s ▁history ▁has ▁emb rac ed ▁both ▁a ▁legacy ▁of ▁identification ▁with ▁the ▁opp ress ed , ▁and ▁elements ▁of ▁rac ism ▁in ▁the ▁service ▁of ▁Irish ▁national ism , ▁according ▁to ▁F anning . ▁ ▁According ▁to ▁The ▁New ▁York ▁Times : ▁" In ▁America , ▁[ O ' Call ag han ' s ] ▁book ▁connected ▁the ▁white ▁slave ▁narr ative ▁to ▁an ▁influ ential ▁eth nic ▁group ▁of ▁over ▁ 3 4 ▁million ▁people , ▁many ▁of ▁whom ▁had ▁been ▁raised ▁on ▁stories ▁of ▁Irish ▁re bell ion ▁against ▁Britain ▁and ▁tales ▁of ▁anti - I r ish ▁bias ▁in ▁America ▁at ▁the ▁turn ▁of ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁century . ▁From ▁there , ▁it ▁took ▁off ." ▁O ' Call ag han ' s ▁claims ▁were ▁repeated ▁on   I r ish ▁gene al ogy ▁websites , ▁the ▁Canadian ▁consp i racy ▁theory ▁website ▁Global res earch . ca , ▁Ni all ▁O ' D ow d ' s ▁Irish Cent ral , ▁Scient ific ▁American   and   The ▁Daily ▁Kos . ▁The ▁ 2 0 0 8 ▁article ▁on ▁Global res earch . ca ▁has ▁been ▁a ▁significant ▁online ▁source ▁for ▁the ▁myth , ▁having ▁been ▁shared ▁almost ▁a ▁million ▁times ▁by ▁March ▁ 2 0 1 6 . ▁The ▁myth ▁has ▁been ▁spread ▁on ▁white ▁national ist ▁message ▁bo ards ,   neo - N azi ▁websites ,   the ▁far -