Anti-Italianism
Encyclopedia
Anti-Italianism is a hostility toward Italian people
utilizing stereotypes about them, such as the idea that the Italians are tolerant of violence, political corruption, Italy
's former alliance
with Nazi Germany
and criminal groups such as the Mafia
. Its opposite is Italophilia
.
In United States, and other English-speaking countries to which they immigrated, such as Canada and Australia, the later Italian immigrants were often viewed as perpetual foreigners in a lower class, restricted to blue collar jobs. Their Catholicism, frequent lack of formal education, folkways and competition with earlier immigrants for lower paying jobs accounted for much of this prejudice. Ethnocentricism and racism exhibited by the earlier settlers toward the Italian immigrants, who seemed different than themselves, were also major factors. Their experiences in North-American countries were notably different than in the South-American countries to which Italians immigrated in large numbers. In Argentina and Brazil, Italians were key to developing these countries, and quickly rose into the middle and upper classes there. Italian Americans have often been viewed mainly as construction workers, chefs, plumbers, or other blue-collar workers. However, by 1990, more than 65% of Italian Americans were managerial, professional, or white-collar workers.
Anti-Italianism can be closely linked to the anti-Catholic tradition that existed in the United States. When the United States was founded, it inherited the anti-Catholic, anti-papal animosity of its original Protestant settlers. Anti-Catholic sentiments in America reached a peak in the nineteenth century when the Protestant population became alarmed by the number of Catholics immigrating to America. This was due in part to the standard tensions that arise between native-born citizens and immigrants. The resulting anti-Catholic nativist movement, which achieved prominence in the 1840s, led to hostility that resulted in mob violence, and the burning of Catholic property. Italian immigrants, who began arriving in the last quarter of the 19th century, were especially vilified because of the millennia-long leadership role of Italians in the Catholic Church and the fact that, from earliest times, the popes were predominantly Italian (Roman Catholicism in Italy
).
Many of the later immigrants from southern Italy brought with them a political disposition toward socialism and anarchism. This was a reaction to the economic and political conditions they experienced in Italy. In America, they were in the forefront of organizing Italian and other immigrant laborers in demanding better working conditions and shorter working hours in the mining, textile, construction and other industries. As a result, they were branded as radicals and labor agitators by many of the business owners and the wealthier class of the time, and were subjected to intense anti-Italian sentiments.
While the vast majority of Italians immigrants brought with them a tradition of honesty and hard work, others brought a very different old-world custom. This criminal element preyed on the immigrants of the Italian enclaves, using intimidation and threats to extract protection money from the wealthier immigrants and shop owners, and were also involved in a multitude of other illegal activities. When the Fascists came to power in Italy, they made the destruction of the Mafia
in Sicily a high priority. Hundreds fled to America in the 1920s and '30s to avoid prosecution. Prohibition
, which went into effect in 1920, proved to be an economic windfall for those in the Italian American community already involved in illegal activities, and those who had fled from Sicily. This entailed smuggling liquor into the country, wholesaling it, and then selling it through a network of outlets. While other ethnic groups were also deeply involved in these illegal ventures, and the associated violence between the various ethnic groups, Italian Americans were among the most notorious. They came to symbolize in the minds of many the prototypical gangster, which had a long-lasting effect on the Italian American image.
In the United States, Italian immigrants were frequently subjected to extreme prejudice, racism and, in some cases, violence. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Italian immigrants were often seen as ignorant uneducatable peasants. Italians were actively recruited to come to the United States after the American Civil War to work mainly in agriculture and as laborers. Most soon found themselves the victims of prejudice, economic exploitation and sometimes violence. Italian stereotypes abounded during this period as a means of justifying this maltreatment of the immigrants. Later waves of Italian immigrants inherited these same virulent forms of discrimination and stereotyping which, by then, had become ingrained in the American consciousness.
One of the largest mass lynching
s in American history involved eleven Italians in the city of New Orleans in 1891.
Nine Italians, who were thought to have assassinated police chief David Hennessy, were arrested, tried, and acquitted. Subsequent to the trial, they were dragged from the jail and lynched by a mob that had stormed the jailhouse, together with two other Italians who were being held in the jail at the time on unrelated charges. Afterwards, hundreds of Italian immigrants, most of whom were not criminals, were arrested by the police.
In 1899, in Tallulah, Louisiana five Italian Americans were lynched because they had given equal status in their shops to blacks. A vigilante mob hanged three shopkeepers, and two bystanders who were Italian Americans.
In 1920 two Italian immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti
, were tried for robbery and murder. Many historians agree that Sacco and Vanzetti were subjected to a mishandled trial, and the judge, jury, and prosecution were biased toward them because of their anarchistic political views and Italian immigrant status. Despite world-wide protests, Sacco and Vanzetti were eventually executed.
In Australia
, anti-Italian riots occurred on a number of occasions since Italian immigrants, or "wogs" (an Australian
derogatory term for Southern Europeans), first began arriving to the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the midst of an economic depression. Union members were averse to these strangers settling in their midst and competing for work, and it was easy to implant stereotyped fears of high murder rates and secret societies. In Western Australia, where in 1897 Italians competed with Britons for work in the gold fields, Parliament was warned that, along with Greeks and Hungarians, Italians "had become a greater pest than the coloured races in the United States ".
Anti-Italianism is believed to have been a factor in the 1971 beating death of Alfredo Zardini, an Italian immigrant to Switzerland.
In Canada
, anti-Italian and anti-Jewish riots occurred in Toronto
and other major cities in Canada. The Riot at Christie Pits Park was an August 16, 1933 anti-Semitic riot in Toronto between Anglo-Saxon (and ethnic German
) members of a pro-Nazi youth gang called the Anglo-Canadian Pit Gang which was affiliated with the Anglo Anti-Semitic Swastika Clubs, and predominantly Jewish and Italian youth members of the Spadina Avenue Gang. The riot, which occurred over a six hour period, was sparked by a baseball game at Christie Pits between two local clubs, one predominantly Jewish and Italian and one predominantly Anglo-Saxon. About 5 people were arrested and 30 were injured. The riot occurred in the midst of the Great Depression in Canada.
Anti-Italianism was part of the racist ideology of the Ku Klux Klan
, a white supremacist and nativist group that targeted Italians as foreign Roman Catholics, as opposed to Anglo-Saxon Protestants. A hotbed of anti-Italian KKK activity was in Southern New Jersey in the mid 1920s, including a mass protest against Italian immigrants in Vineland
, New Jersey, where in 1933 Italians made up 20% of the city population. However, during the mass protest, the Italians drove the KKK out of town. The KKK soon lost all of their power in Vineland and left the town for good as a result of this incident. Today, over a third of the current residents in Vineland are of Italian descent.
, hundreds of Italian citizens who were believed to be loyal to Italy were put in internment camps in the U.S. and Canada.
Thousands more Italian citizens suspected of loyalty to Italy were placed under surveillance. Joe DiMaggio
's father, who lived in San Francisco, had his boat and house confiscated. Unlike the Japanese Americans, Italian Americans and Italian Canadians have never received reparations, even though President Bill Clinton
made a public declaration admitting the US government's misjudgement in the internment.
's alliance with Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, there was a growing hostility toward everything Italian in the United Kingdom
. The most famous example is related to the sinking of the steamship SS Arandora Star
on 2 July 1940, that resulted in the loss of over 700 lives—including 446 British-Italians being deported as enemy aliens.
During and after World War II
there was much propaganda directed at Italian military performance, usually with persistent stereotypes, including that of the "incompetent Italian soldier". More accurate accounts of Italian performance in World War II show that, in spite of having to rely in many cases on outdated weapons Italian troops frequently fought with great valor and distinction, especially well trained and equipped units such as the Bersaglieri
and Alpini
. Nevertheless, these stereotypes are well entrenched in the British literature, as can be read in the following extract from a Lee & Higham's book:
, Somalia
and Libya
, and in the areas
at the borders of the Kingdom of Italy
. These communities have now been reduced to a few hundred people, mainly due to violent expulsion and persecution.
Indeed two countries, Libya
and Yugoslavia
, have shown high levels of anti-Italianism since WWII, as illustrated by the following examples:
and Casino, and TV programs such as The Sopranos
. This follows a known pattern in which it is possible for the mass media to effectively create universally recognized, and sometimes accepted, stereotypes. The stereotype of Italian Americans is continuously reinforced by the frequent replay of these movies and series on cable and network TV. Other reinforcements of the stereotype have come from video games and board games with Mafia themes, and TV and radio commercials using these same themes.
Movies from early on included portrayals of Italian gangsters. After the early decades of the 20th century, poignant melodramas of destitution and misfortune gave way to a combination of muted "otherness" and grossly stereotypical characterizations.
Because of the common association made, many Italian Americans see films and TV dramas about the Mafia as harmful to their community. This became something of an issue for the HBO series The Sopranos
when people complained about the stereotypical nature of the show. Other Italian Americans feel that such shows are problematic only if they feature the Mafia as a common or accepted part of Italian American life. The entertainment media, as well as fictional films, have stereotyped the Italian American community as tolerant of violent, sociopathic gangsters. Other stereotypes portray Italians as overly-emotional, hot-blooded, aggressive, obsessed with food, and prone to violence. Men are frequently stereotyped as ultra-macho types, of low intelligence. Italian women have had two main stereotypes: the eccentric old woman or the promiscuous young woman. Examples of this can be found in MTV's series, "Jersey Shore", which is considered by many to be very offensive.
The effective stereotyping of Italian Americans as being associated with organized crime was shown by a comprehensive study of Italian American culture on film, conducted from 1996 to 2001, by the Italic Institute of America. The findings showed that over two thirds of the more than 2,000 films studied portray Italian Americans in a negative light. Further, close to 300 movies featuring Italian Americans as criminals have been produced since The Godfather, an average of nine per year. The study also brings to light that, according to recent FBI statistics, Italian American organized crime members and associates number approximately 3,000; and, given an Italian American population estimated to be approximately 18 million, it may be concluded that only one in 6,000 has any involvement with organized crime. According to The Italic Institute of America: The mass media has consistently ignored five centuries of Italian American history, and has elevated what was never more than a minute subculture to the dominant Italian American culture.
Pervasive Italian American stereotyping has also lead to an increase in public slurs and the use of negative-stereotyping rhetoric, and even to the use of these negative stereotypes in political ads. This is illustrated by the following examples:
Three major Italian American fraternal and service organizations, Order Sons of Italy in America
, Unico National
and National Italian American Foundation
have active anti-defamation arms. Another prominent organization, the Italic Institute of America , is also in the forefront of these activities. Three excellent net-based organizations are: Annotico Report, the Italian-American Discussion Network,
and ItalianAware.
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
utilizing stereotypes about them, such as the idea that the Italians are tolerant of violence, political corruption, Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
's former alliance
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and criminal groups such as the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. Its opposite is Italophilia
Italophilia
Italophilia is the admiration, general appreciation or love of Italy, its culture, society, arts and people. The term is used in two basic contexts: in international politics and in cultural context. "Italophilia", "Italophile", and "Italophilic" are the terms used to denote pro-Italian sentiments,...
.
Anti-Italianism in The United States
Anti-Italianism in the United States is a fairly recent phenomenon that coincides with the period of large-scale Italian immigration beginning in the last part of the 19th century. Prior to that time Italians, who had lived in America from the beginning of the 17th century, were respected craftmen, musicians, soldiers, merchants, missionaries, educators, artists and architects. An Italian Filippo Mazzei, a close friend and confidant of Thomas Jefferson, is credited with the phrase "All Men Are Created Equal". Italians played an important role in the settling of the country, and were generally well regarded. Later immigrants, who were escaping poverty and turmoil in Italy, had a much different reception.In United States, and other English-speaking countries to which they immigrated, such as Canada and Australia, the later Italian immigrants were often viewed as perpetual foreigners in a lower class, restricted to blue collar jobs. Their Catholicism, frequent lack of formal education, folkways and competition with earlier immigrants for lower paying jobs accounted for much of this prejudice. Ethnocentricism and racism exhibited by the earlier settlers toward the Italian immigrants, who seemed different than themselves, were also major factors. Their experiences in North-American countries were notably different than in the South-American countries to which Italians immigrated in large numbers. In Argentina and Brazil, Italians were key to developing these countries, and quickly rose into the middle and upper classes there. Italian Americans have often been viewed mainly as construction workers, chefs, plumbers, or other blue-collar workers. However, by 1990, more than 65% of Italian Americans were managerial, professional, or white-collar workers.
Anti-Italianism can be closely linked to the anti-Catholic tradition that existed in the United States. When the United States was founded, it inherited the anti-Catholic, anti-papal animosity of its original Protestant settlers. Anti-Catholic sentiments in America reached a peak in the nineteenth century when the Protestant population became alarmed by the number of Catholics immigrating to America. This was due in part to the standard tensions that arise between native-born citizens and immigrants. The resulting anti-Catholic nativist movement, which achieved prominence in the 1840s, led to hostility that resulted in mob violence, and the burning of Catholic property. Italian immigrants, who began arriving in the last quarter of the 19th century, were especially vilified because of the millennia-long leadership role of Italians in the Catholic Church and the fact that, from earliest times, the popes were predominantly Italian (Roman Catholicism in Italy
Roman Catholicism in Italy
The Italian Catholic Church is part of the global Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, curia in Rome, and the Conference of Italian Bishops. In addition to Italy, two other sovereign nations are included in Italian-based dioceses, San Marino and Vatican City...
).
Many of the later immigrants from southern Italy brought with them a political disposition toward socialism and anarchism. This was a reaction to the economic and political conditions they experienced in Italy. In America, they were in the forefront of organizing Italian and other immigrant laborers in demanding better working conditions and shorter working hours in the mining, textile, construction and other industries. As a result, they were branded as radicals and labor agitators by many of the business owners and the wealthier class of the time, and were subjected to intense anti-Italian sentiments.
While the vast majority of Italians immigrants brought with them a tradition of honesty and hard work, others brought a very different old-world custom. This criminal element preyed on the immigrants of the Italian enclaves, using intimidation and threats to extract protection money from the wealthier immigrants and shop owners, and were also involved in a multitude of other illegal activities. When the Fascists came to power in Italy, they made the destruction of the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
in Sicily a high priority. Hundreds fled to America in the 1920s and '30s to avoid prosecution. Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, which went into effect in 1920, proved to be an economic windfall for those in the Italian American community already involved in illegal activities, and those who had fled from Sicily. This entailed smuggling liquor into the country, wholesaling it, and then selling it through a network of outlets. While other ethnic groups were also deeply involved in these illegal ventures, and the associated violence between the various ethnic groups, Italian Americans were among the most notorious. They came to symbolize in the minds of many the prototypical gangster, which had a long-lasting effect on the Italian American image.
Violence against Italians
One of the largest mass lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
s in American history involved eleven Italians in the city of New Orleans in 1891.
Nine Italians, who were thought to have assassinated police chief David Hennessy, were arrested, tried, and acquitted. Subsequent to the trial, they were dragged from the jail and lynched by a mob that had stormed the jailhouse, together with two other Italians who were being held in the jail at the time on unrelated charges. Afterwards, hundreds of Italian immigrants, most of whom were not criminals, were arrested by the police.
In 1899, in Tallulah, Louisiana five Italian Americans were lynched because they had given equal status in their shops to blacks. A vigilante mob hanged three shopkeepers, and two bystanders who were Italian Americans.
In 1920 two Italian immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
, were tried for robbery and murder. Many historians agree that Sacco and Vanzetti were subjected to a mishandled trial, and the judge, jury, and prosecution were biased toward them because of their anarchistic political views and Italian immigrant status. Despite world-wide protests, Sacco and Vanzetti were eventually executed.
In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, anti-Italian riots occurred on a number of occasions since Italian immigrants, or "wogs" (an Australian
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
derogatory term for Southern Europeans), first began arriving to the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the midst of an economic depression. Union members were averse to these strangers settling in their midst and competing for work, and it was easy to implant stereotyped fears of high murder rates and secret societies. In Western Australia, where in 1897 Italians competed with Britons for work in the gold fields, Parliament was warned that, along with Greeks and Hungarians, Italians "had become a greater pest than the coloured races in the United States ".
Anti-Italianism is believed to have been a factor in the 1971 beating death of Alfredo Zardini, an Italian immigrant to Switzerland.
In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, anti-Italian and anti-Jewish riots occurred in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and other major cities in Canada. The Riot at Christie Pits Park was an August 16, 1933 anti-Semitic riot in Toronto between Anglo-Saxon (and ethnic German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
) members of a pro-Nazi youth gang called the Anglo-Canadian Pit Gang which was affiliated with the Anglo Anti-Semitic Swastika Clubs, and predominantly Jewish and Italian youth members of the Spadina Avenue Gang. The riot, which occurred over a six hour period, was sparked by a baseball game at Christie Pits between two local clubs, one predominantly Jewish and Italian and one predominantly Anglo-Saxon. About 5 people were arrested and 30 were injured. The riot occurred in the midst of the Great Depression in Canada.
Anti-Italianism was part of the racist ideology of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, a white supremacist and nativist group that targeted Italians as foreign Roman Catholics, as opposed to Anglo-Saxon Protestants. A hotbed of anti-Italian KKK activity was in Southern New Jersey in the mid 1920s, including a mass protest against Italian immigrants in Vineland
Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 60,724...
, New Jersey, where in 1933 Italians made up 20% of the city population. However, during the mass protest, the Italians drove the KKK out of town. The KKK soon lost all of their power in Vineland and left the town for good as a result of this incident. Today, over a third of the current residents in Vineland are of Italian descent.
Italian American and Italian Canadian internment during World War II
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, hundreds of Italian citizens who were believed to be loyal to Italy were put in internment camps in the U.S. and Canada.
Thousands more Italian citizens suspected of loyalty to Italy were placed under surveillance. Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
's father, who lived in San Francisco, had his boat and house confiscated. Unlike the Japanese Americans, Italian Americans and Italian Canadians have never received reparations, even though President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
made a public declaration admitting the US government's misjudgement in the internment.
Anti-Italianism in the United Kingdom
After Benito MussoliniBenito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's alliance with Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, there was a growing hostility toward everything Italian in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The most famous example is related to the sinking of the steamship SS Arandora Star
Arandora Star
SS Arandora Star was a British registered cruise ship operated by the Blue Star Line from the late 1920s through the 1930s. At the onset of World War II she was assigned as a troop transport and moving refugees. At the end of June 1940 she was assigned the task of transporting German and Italian...
on 2 July 1940, that resulted in the loss of over 700 lives—including 446 British-Italians being deported as enemy aliens.
During and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
there was much propaganda directed at Italian military performance, usually with persistent stereotypes, including that of the "incompetent Italian soldier". More accurate accounts of Italian performance in World War II show that, in spite of having to rely in many cases on outdated weapons Italian troops frequently fought with great valor and distinction, especially well trained and equipped units such as the Bersaglieri
Bersaglieri
The Bersaglieri are a corps of the Italian Army originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Piedmontese Army, later to become the Royal Italian Army...
and Alpini
Alpini
The Alpini, , are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is Alpino ....
. Nevertheless, these stereotypes are well entrenched in the British literature, as can be read in the following extract from a Lee & Higham's book:
- Because many writers have uncritically repeated stereotypes shared by their sources, biases and prejudices have taken on the status of objective observations, including the idea that the Germans and British were the only belligerants in the Mediterranean after Italian setbacks in early 1941. Sadkovich questioned this point of view in 'Of Myths and Men' and 'The Italian Navy', but persistent stereotypes, including that of the incompetent Italian, are well entrenched in the literature, from Puleston's early 'The Influence of Sea Power', to Gooch's 'Italian Military Incompetence,' to more recent publications by Mack Smith, Knox and Sullivan. Wartime bias in early British and American histories, which focused on German operations, dismissed Italian forces as inept and or unimportant, and viewed Germany as the pivotal power in Europe during the interwar period.
- Bias includes both implicit assumptions, evident in Knox's title 'The Sources of Italy's Defeat in 1940: Bluff or Institutionalized Incompetence?' and the selective use of sources. Also see Sullivan's 'The Italian Armed Forces.' Sims, in 'The Fighter Pilot,' ignored the Italians, while D'Este in 'World War II in the Mediterranean' shaped his reader's image of Italians by citing a German comment that Italy's surrender was 'the basest treachery' and by discussing Allied and German commanders but ignoring Messe, whose 'Come finì la guerra in Africa' is an account of operations in Tunisia, where he commanded the Italian First Army, which held off both the U.S. Second Corps and the British Eighth Army.
Anti-Italianism after World War II
Former Italian communities once thrived in their African colonies of EritreaItalian Eritreans
Italian Eritreans are Eritrean-born descendants of Italian settlers as well as Italian long-term residents in Eritrea.-History:...
, Somalia
Italian Somalians
Italian Somalis or Italo Somalis are Somali descendants from Italian colonists, as well as Italian long-term residents in Somalia.- History :...
and Libya
Libyan Italians
Italian settlers in Libya typically refers to Italians, and their descendants, who resided or were born in Italian Libya, in the colonial period preceding independent Libya.-History:...
, and in the areas
Italia irredenta
Italian irredentism was an Italian Irredentist movement that aimed at the unification of all ethnically Italian peoples....
at the borders of the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
. These communities have now been reduced to a few hundred people, mainly due to violent expulsion and persecution.
Indeed two countries, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, have shown high levels of anti-Italianism since WWII, as illustrated by the following examples:
- Libya. Some 150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting about 18% of the total population. All of LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
's Italians were expelled from the North African country in 1970, a year after Muammar al-GaddafiMuammar al-GaddafiMuammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
seized power (a "day of vengeance" on 7 October 1970).
- Yugoslavia. At the end of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, former Italian territories in IstriaIstriaIstria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
and DalmatiaDalmatiaDalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
became part of YugoslaviaSocialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
by the Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947. Economic insecurity, ethnic hatred and the international political context that eventually led to the Iron CurtainIron CurtainThe concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
resulted in up to 350,000 people, nearly all Italians, choosing to leave the regionIstrian exodusThe expression Istrian exodus or Istrian-Dalmatian exodus is used to indicate the departure of ethnic Italians from Istria, Rijeka, and Dalmatia , after World War II. At the time of the exodus, these territories were part of the SR Croatia and SR Slovenia , today they are parts of the Republics of...
. Furthermore, the nearly complete disappearance of the Dalmatian ItaliansDalmatian ItaliansDalmatian Italians are a mostly historical Italian national minority in the region of Dalmatia, part of the Republics of Croatia and Montenegro.-Characteristics:...
(there were 45,000 or nearly 20% of the total Dalmatian population in 1848, while now there are only 300) has been related to democideDemocideDemocide is a term revived and redefined by the political scientist R. J. Rummel as "the murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder." Rummel created the term as an extended concept to include forms of government murder that are not covered by the...
and ethnic cleansingEthnic cleansingEthnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
by scholars like R. J. RummelR. J. RummelRudolph Joseph Rummel is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii. He has spent his career assembling data on collective violence and war with a view toward helping their resolution or elimination...
.
Italian-American Stereotyping
While Italian Americans in contemporary American society are generally not subjected to the same virulent discrimination and bigotry endured by the early Italian immigrants, they are faced with a different issue that many Italian Americans consider problematic for their community, which is pervasive negative stereotyping. The stereotype of Italian-Americans is the standardized mental image which has been fostered by the entertainment media and movies, especially movies such as The Godfather, GoodFellasGoodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
and Casino, and TV programs such as The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
. This follows a known pattern in which it is possible for the mass media to effectively create universally recognized, and sometimes accepted, stereotypes. The stereotype of Italian Americans is continuously reinforced by the frequent replay of these movies and series on cable and network TV. Other reinforcements of the stereotype have come from video games and board games with Mafia themes, and TV and radio commercials using these same themes.
Movies from early on included portrayals of Italian gangsters. After the early decades of the 20th century, poignant melodramas of destitution and misfortune gave way to a combination of muted "otherness" and grossly stereotypical characterizations.
Because of the common association made, many Italian Americans see films and TV dramas about the Mafia as harmful to their community. This became something of an issue for the HBO series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
when people complained about the stereotypical nature of the show. Other Italian Americans feel that such shows are problematic only if they feature the Mafia as a common or accepted part of Italian American life. The entertainment media, as well as fictional films, have stereotyped the Italian American community as tolerant of violent, sociopathic gangsters. Other stereotypes portray Italians as overly-emotional, hot-blooded, aggressive, obsessed with food, and prone to violence. Men are frequently stereotyped as ultra-macho types, of low intelligence. Italian women have had two main stereotypes: the eccentric old woman or the promiscuous young woman. Examples of this can be found in MTV's series, "Jersey Shore", which is considered by many to be very offensive.
The effective stereotyping of Italian Americans as being associated with organized crime was shown by a comprehensive study of Italian American culture on film, conducted from 1996 to 2001, by the Italic Institute of America. The findings showed that over two thirds of the more than 2,000 films studied portray Italian Americans in a negative light. Further, close to 300 movies featuring Italian Americans as criminals have been produced since The Godfather, an average of nine per year. The study also brings to light that, according to recent FBI statistics, Italian American organized crime members and associates number approximately 3,000; and, given an Italian American population estimated to be approximately 18 million, it may be concluded that only one in 6,000 has any involvement with organized crime. According to The Italic Institute of America: The mass media has consistently ignored five centuries of Italian American history, and has elevated what was never more than a minute subculture to the dominant Italian American culture.
Pervasive Italian American stereotyping has also lead to an increase in public slurs and the use of negative-stereotyping rhetoric, and even to the use of these negative stereotypes in political ads. This is illustrated by the following examples:
- Canadian politician Ed HavrotEd HavrotEdward Michael Havrot is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1975 and again from 1977 to 1985, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party....
controversially used anti-Italian slurs while serving in the Legislative Assembly of OntarioLegislative Assembly of OntarioThe Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
, referring to one of his Italian-CanadianItalian-CanadianAn Italian Canadian is a Canadian of Italian descent or heritage. According to the 2006 census of Canada, 1,445,335 Canadians consider themselves to be of Italian origin. The Italian-Canadian population climbed by more than 12% and half have combined Italian origins along with another ethnic...
opponents as a "wop".
- In March 2008, Rev. Jeremiah WrightJeremiah WrightJeremiah Alvesta Wright, Jr. is Pastor Emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ , a megachurch in Chicago exceeding 6,000 members...
caused controversy when he noted in an article that the Italians looked down their "garlic noses" at the Galileans. The Joint Civic Action Committee of Italian Americans said it was "saddened" by the comment, while the Italian American Human Relations Foundation called it an example of "hatred".
- On February 26, 2009 Curtis SliwaCurtis SliwaCurtis Sliwa is an American anti-crime activist, founder and CEO of the Guardian Angels, and radio talk show host and media personality.-Guardian Angels:...
began a discussion on his radio show about an Italian-American museum being granted federal money for its future construction. Sliwa, upon reading the headline stated,"The Italian-American Museum in Little Italy
Sliwa later apologized for the comments he made during this conversation in a letter to the president of the Italian-American museum. He stated in part, "I certainly wouldn't want any of my comments to be construed as my having negative feelings toward the museum or the Italian-American community as a whole."Little ItalyLittle Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...
? What the hell is that? I mean, what do you need an Italian-American Museum in Little Italy for? Plus, what do we need to be spending federal tax dollars? You go to the Italian-American Museum, you make a contribution. Or, you have an enforcer there from the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Colombo, Bonanno crime families who forces you to pay a contribution?
- A campaign ad against Democrat Alexi GiannouliasAlexi GiannouliasAlexander "Alexi" Giannoulias is an American politician who served as Illinois Treasurer from 2007 to 2011. A Democrat, Giannoulias defeated Republican candidate State Senator Christine Radogno in November 2006 with 54 percent of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in 12...
, a Greek American, uses unflattering stereotypes of Italian-Americans and concludes that “Tony Soprano would be proud of Alexi Giannoulias”.
- A campaign ad against Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino RossiDino RossiDino Rossi is an American commercial real estate executive, former Washington State Senator, two-time Republican candidate for Governor of Washington, and former Republican candidate for United States Senate. His first run for the Governor's mansion in the 2004 election became the closest...
used the theme of The Sopranos as background music.
- On July 3, 2011, during the TV program "Newsmakers", NY State Senator Greg BallGregory R. BallGregory R. Ball is an American business executive, former active duty Air Force officer and member of the New York State Senate. He is a resident of Carmel, New York....
, speaking on the possibility of Governor Andrew CuomoAndrew CuomoAndrew Mark Cuomo is the 56th and current Governor of New York, having assumed office on January 1, 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 64th New York State Attorney General, and was the 11th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development...
running for President of the United States in 2016 after his recent victories in Albany, was quoted as saying: "I think he is going to have a tough time running for president. First, let's be honest, he is an Italian American. I would like to see it get done, and also he is going to have a tough time in the southern and western primaries". That was interpreted as an "anti-Italian" comment by some critics, suggesting that it would not have been acceptable if anybody had said the same thing on TV about any candidate, replacing "Italian American" with "African American", "Latino", "Asian", "woman", etc.
Italian-American Organizations
A number of organizations have been active in combatting stereotyping and defamation of Italian Americans in the media, and in shedding positive light on their history and accomplishments. The country's largest Italian American anti-bias organization, the Italian American One VOICE Coalition, has a nationwide network of activists who are dedicated to fighting stereotypes and defending Italian culture and heritage.Three major Italian American fraternal and service organizations, Order Sons of Italy in America
Order Sons of Italy in America
The Order Sons of Italy in America is the largest and oldest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States. A similar organization also exists in Canada.-History:...
, Unico National
Unico National
Unico National is a service organization of Italian Americans established in Waterbury, CT in 1922 to "engage in charitable works, support higher education, and perform patriotic deeds". At that time, the trial of anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti was in the news, and many stories fostered a belief...
and National Italian American Foundation
National Italian American Foundation
The National Italian American Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational foundation that promotes Italian American culture and heritage...
have active anti-defamation arms. Another prominent organization, the Italic Institute of America , is also in the forefront of these activities. Three excellent net-based organizations are: Annotico Report, the Italian-American Discussion Network,
and ItalianAware.
See also
- Anti-CatholicismAnti-CatholicismAnti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
- Istrian exodusIstrian exodusThe expression Istrian exodus or Istrian-Dalmatian exodus is used to indicate the departure of ethnic Italians from Istria, Rijeka, and Dalmatia , after World War II. At the time of the exodus, these territories were part of the SR Croatia and SR Slovenia , today they are parts of the Republics of...
- Italian AmericanItalian AmericanAn Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
- RacismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
- Racism in ItalyRacism in Italy- Fascist Italy :Racism developed in 1938, during a period of increased alliance with Nazi Germany culminating in the Pact of Steel. The issue of racism in Fascist Italy before this is debated, although some Fascists held racial views before the alliance with Giovanni Preziosi being a prime example...
- UNICO NationalUnico NationalUnico National is a service organization of Italian Americans established in Waterbury, CT in 1922 to "engage in charitable works, support higher education, and perform patriotic deeds". At that time, the trial of anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti was in the news, and many stories fostered a belief...
- Fascist League of North AmericaFascist League of North AmericaThe Fascist League of North America was an umbrella group for fascist Italian-American organizations founded in 1924. With the rise of fascism in Italy, grassroots Fasci clubs started to form in Italian-American communities in the United States. Despite hostility from the Italian diplomatic...
- ItalophiliaItalophiliaItalophilia is the admiration, general appreciation or love of Italy, its culture, society, arts and people. The term is used in two basic contexts: in international politics and in cultural context. "Italophilia", "Italophile", and "Italophilic" are the terms used to denote pro-Italian sentiments,...
- Hetalia Axis Powers
Further reading
- Connell, William J. and Fred Gardaphé, eds., Anti-Italianism: Essays on a Prejudice http://us.macmillan.com/antiitalianism/WilliamConnell
- Smith, Tom. The Crescent City Lynchings: The Murder of Chief Hennessy, the New Orleans "Mafia" Trials, and the Parish Prison Mob http://www.crescentcitylynchings.com
External links
- http://www.rps.psu.edu/0405/dark.html
- http://books.google.com/books?id=hWkQNm6MOxQC&pg=PP1&dq=On+Persecution,+Identity+%26+Activisim&ei=CifeRvWdJ6WQ7wLv-f3LDw&sig=AA4wPK8NNR2OIVAom9_h9QDC4L0