The racial unsettling really hurts me, especially when innocent lives are lost. It’s a victim mentality that would make one think that no one understands, but with regards to discrimination and prejudice I think all races can speak to it and understand. As for me, I can’t speak about any other race other than my own….
To my knowledge I am a full-blooded Italian; more specifically I am Sicilian – first generation born here in America.
Today, in 2016, Italians are loved. Our food, our clothing styles and designers, our cars and even family traditions are honored and appreciated. But this only started changing in the 1940’s. Matter-of-fact, we were hated and seen as lower than scum, additionally being treated as such with slang terms for us as WOP (With Out Papers), Guinea or Dago. There are currently about 26 slang names for Italians; none are good.
Italians in the late 19th Century were considered “sub-human”. Italians had darker skin, couldn’t speak the language and were predominately Catholic in a very Protestant land. Often times Italians were hanged by mobs simply for being Italian; for being different. In 1927, Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for murders they never committed even though they had alibis, ballistics evidence and support that they were innocent. However, they were guilty of being Italian and that justified their murders.
In 1891, the largest mass lynching in U.S. history took place in New Orleans. The victims of this lynching were not African-American, they were Italian. Slain police chief David C. Hennessy was ambushed on his way home by a group of thugs waiting for him and just before his death he stated that the “Dagoes” were responsible. Although the group of Italians they held in custody were found “Not Guilty”, the public took it upon themselves to serve as judge, jury and executioner. Eleven innocent Italian men were killed that night, very publicly and gruesomely by a mob of 6,000 to 8,000 men. The next morning 42 of the nations newspapers approved of the lynching’s. Because of this, what followed was a movement to arrest and attack Italians nationwide.
John Parker, an organizer of the lynch mob later became governor of Louisiana and in 1911 is quoted saying that Italians were: “just a little worse than the Negro, being if anything filthier in [their] habits, lawless, and treacherous.” Even Teddy Roosevelt stated that the lynchings were “rather a good thing.”
So how did it change?
Simply put, it was time and conforming to American customs. For example, instead of continuing to name their children obvious Italian names, immigrant parents started opting for the English variant. The response of the Italian was not “to fight back” or protest a movement. They didn’t go after the lynch mobs or the Ku Klux Klan that was after them. They put their head down and just worked harder and pushed their children into society by attending school and becoming better. They didn’t sit on the anger that they had been mistreated and wanted justice. Italians weaved themselves into American culture not using hate or anger against anyone. They became better by proving they were smart and stepped into every area of business, even serving in the military for WWII.
Today, the line between Italian and “American” is very blurry if it even exists at all. It took a long time and innocent people died unjustly, but the response of the Italians didn’t cause future frustration or wars. There was no “his side” or “my side”. There was no movement for “us against them” and they never let their anger show. They used it as fuel to get stronger and become more.
No one deserves to be discriminated. No race is perfect or flawless. Each person, no matter their color or background needs to conduct themselves as decent human beings. Facts need to be proven before judgment spurs action. This is how we, as human beings, must act if we are truly being human. Issues aren’t solved with anger, they are solved with truth and patience.
One day I hope all color and race lines are erased so the testimony of the people is: “We are one Nation under God.”
Becoming Invincible 