Italian_Americans

An Italian American is an American of Italian ancestry and can also refer to a person possessing Italian and American dual citizenship. The following paragraphs will examine the history encompassing the aspects of the Italian American experience from the late 19th Century to today. I will focus on topics such as immigration, persecution, identity, as well as stereotyping. The history of Italian Americans began back in 1880. Immigrant agents would travel abroad roaming the Italian countryside trying to lure peasants to much more welcoming land, also known as the United States. The United States was the best prospective place for the Italians to immigrate, work was waiting for them. "Out of more than 5.4 Million Italians who have come to the United States throughout its history, 80 percent came between 1880 and 1920” (Parillo, 2009, p.191). This period was known as "The Great Migration". A great majority of Italian immigrants came to the United States from Southern Italy such as Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Campania, Naples, Basilicata, Molise, and Abruzzi. Determined to escape poverty, disease, famine, and oppressive Roman governments, Southern Italians began leaving their homes in record numbers during the 1880's. During this time, immigration from northwestern Europe was tapering off and native-born Americans, enjoying a new level of success and prosperity, increasingly rejected menial labor jobs. By the 1890's Italians were the largest groups immigrating to the United States, and it would remain that way until the 1920's (Borsella, 2005, p.39). (when the Immigration Act of 1924 took place) Most Italian immigrants were peasants from rural areas and thus ill prepared for employment in an industrial nation. As a result, they labored in low status, low paying manual jobs as railroad laborers, miners, and longshoremen; in construction they dug ditches, laid sewer pipes, and built roads, subways, and other basic structures in urban areas (Parillo, 2009, p.191). No group in history worked harder then the Italians. On the path to assimilation, Italian Americans have experienced a great deal of suffering. "Italian Americans are the "third most persecuted minority in U.S history" (Borsella, 2005, p.13). However, they did not let these persecutions impede their overall success. In addition to personal ignorance, concepts of identity are to blame for sheer disbelief people exhibit when hearing a statement like one above. Since Italian Americans today, as considered “white” many assume they were always considered white and thus always benefited from “white privilege. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth; due to the large degree of intolerance and violence their forbears encountered, it has often been said that Italian Americans are “historically black” (Borsella, 2005, p.36). Northern Italian Immigrants were not as abundant as the Southern Italian Immigrants yet far from negligible; their numbers contribute to the overall Italian American population. The Northern Italian immigrants included a higher percentage of skilled workers and educated professionals. When native born Americans saw that Southern Italians were generally unskilled, uneducated, incredibly impoverished, and different in appearance, distinctions were made supporting centuries of prejudice that has its origins in Northern Italy : Northern Italians were more prosperous, more “European,” and thus more assimilable to American society; Southern Italians, however, were nothing more than “Africian savages” (Borsella , 2005, p.44). Furthermore, Northern Italians were favored to an extent by Anglos, and the hatred and stereotypes that led to anti-Italian violence in the United States was inherited to an extent from the much older contempt Northern Italians had for Southern Italians. Although there has been a historical difference in identity between Northern and Southern Italians, anti-Italian violence did affect both. Italians remained Italians to most Americans, and especially to Italaphobes. Neither the Northern, nor the Southern were genuinely viewed as “white”. To them, “all Italians were dirty, stupid, criminally prone, and lacking a certain level of whiteness that would make them suitable American citizens” (Borsella, 2005, p.45). Whenever Italian Americans were oppressed or persecuted they assumed an identity that has been referred to as “black” but could be more accurately described as “non white”. “This stands to reasons since the Italians’ poverty, low social status, resistance to assimilation, and swarthy complexions were all factors which led native whites to equate them with blacks or the “darker other” (Borsella, 2005, p.136). Nevertheless, Italians were considered white in many ways as well. “At Ellis Island, even though their complexions were recorded as “dark”, their race was almost always considered and recorded as white” (Borsella, 2005, p.136). Due to the fact that Italians were considered non-white and at other times considered full-fledged “Caucasians” highlights a great deal of ignorance on the part of many Americans. They are ignorant of the true Mediterranean identity that Italic people have carried with them for thousands of years (Borsella, 2005, p.137). New to the country, Italians were naturally strange and exotic; they were different in their looks, dress, customers, language and religion. Sal Lagumina posed in his book Wop! How could Americans fed on a fare of Anglo-Saxon superiority ever accept peoples who looked so funny and behaved so differently, who ate strange and exotic foods, and who wore such colorful but uncouth clothes' How could Americans ever absorb these boisterous, garrulous immigrants and assimilate the crude, simple-minded Italian peasant into urban society' The answers to these questions, I believe, is simple: America could not accept and absorb such people then, and it still cannot. The only feasible hope for acceptance lies in the second generation’s willingness to assimilate (Borsella, 2005, p.139). First generation Italians retained much of their language and customs. It was the second generation that became more Americanized, which produced a strain between the two generations. Italians would did not settle in "little Italy’s" assimilated much more quickly. Some even changed their religions or last names to help accelerate the process. Second generation adults, although drawn to la via nuova "the new way" through schools, movies, and other cultural influences, still adhered to a social structure centered on the extended family. Third and fourth generation Italian Americans are attaining educational levels comparable to those of other white ethnic groups; they are mostly middle class and well represented in the professional fields (Parillo, 2009, p.195). Today, Italian Americans still find themselves the target of prejudicial accusations concerning their allegedly prominent role in criminal activities, a stereotype perpetuated in films and television. Despite their progressive assimilation, the perception of members of this group as potential criminals or as part of the Mafia-connection stereotype still persists (Parillo, 2009, p.195). "The National Italian American Foundation, the National American Italian Association and other Italian American organizations have asserted that the American Mafia in the United States have never numbered more than a few thousand individuals, and that it is unfair to associate such a small minority with the general population of Italian Americans"(wikipedia.org) According to the Zogby national survey, 44 percent of teens say that Italian Americans are most often cast as crime bosses or gang members, 34 percent associated Italian Americans with restaurant workers. (The National Italian American Foundation, Zogby International March 1, 2001) There is no question that the past record of oppression, intimidation, and stereotyping left its mark on Italian-Americans. For at least a couple of generations, many Italian-Americans have felt comfortable being labeled as “goombahs”, “guidos”, and “Mafiosi”; they believe that these terms, these modern day equivalents of the older epithets “guinea” and “dago” acccurately describe what it means to be Italian in America. Still others, embarrassed by the type of people above, feel ashamed about their heritage. Not knowing what true Italian and Italian American culture is, it has somehow been beaten into their heads that Italianita is synonymous with buffoonery, criminality, over-eating, Brooklyn accents and chauvinistic mail machismo - images the media use, incidentally, in their crusades of ethnic derision (Borsella, 2005, p.187). Modern troubles affecting the Italian-American community, such as stereotyping, and ethnic disorganization are mere symptoms of a continuing anti-Italian legacy. Nonetheless, these symptoms can potentially facilitate a new era of persecution, especially as our society continues fragmenting itself along ethnic lines, downplaying the important of history in the lives of all people, and gravitating towards accepting the kind of anti-immigrant nativism that plagued our country a century ago (Borsella, 2005, p.193). In conclusion, though some understand that the Italian experience in America was characterized by hardships, many others do not. We owe it to ourselves to study our past, apply our ethnicity to our future and repeat that process again and again. I believe these are the most effective ways to preserve our heritage and identity, while ensuring that the past never rears again. If we ourselves do not actively combat the negativity, while accentuating the positive and promoting the flories of our civilization, who else will' Today, many Italian Americans still retain aspects of their culture. This includes Italian food, drink, art, annual Italian American feasts, and a strong commitment to extended family.