Growing up Italian- American in Chicago
Growing up Italian- American in Chicago
#italianamerican #italy #findingyourroots #ancestrydna #nytn #familyhistory #genealogy
I had the pleasure of chatting with Fred Gardaphe, a distinguished professor and prolific author, about what it means to be Italian-American. Professor Gardaphe opened up about his journey and his work exploring how Italian Americans have navigated their…
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First , let me state the fact that my maternal grandparents came from southern ITALY. The thin-skinned hostess of NYTN will probably just erase this comment. This " Professor " Gardaphe IS daffy !! This is 2024 , who needs to hear about EVERY ethnic groups grievances from the past ??! I am not Irish , but I`m glad that the Irish nun washed this jerks mouth out with soap !! Miss " freedom of speech" Romero , leave this comment up !!
Well Young Lady, I must apologise! I thought this channel was a Fad type take on Race, But I've listened to a few video's on my walks, and I'm enjoying the content, as a Black man, I must say to hear some Italian American's on the channel differentiate, by saying " White People " took me a while to get my head around, but keep up the good work.
I was in switzerland they call italians the blacks of europe. I saw why! Quite proper. This stupid thing italian american. Big mouth fools
Excellent discussion, as usual
Are we trying out for the victim Olympics?
I missed the part where that is my problem.
Mediterraneans, in general, do not seem to be the same as North Europeans in the US. I bet Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanians feel similarly.
If Italians aren't European or white them the Romans (Rome was a multiethnic empire, but thats not the point) aren't. White in the US means mostly North European and WASP, not so much these days, but Italians have a lot in common with Latinos. So Italian americans are white, just not the American definition of it.
Not all Romans are Italian anymore
Miss Romero , I was born and I lived most of my life only 120 miles south of New York City. The problem with people who grow-up in N.Y.C. and it`s suburbs is that you are raised to NOT be NORMAL Americans . Since about the 1980`s alot of "you people" have moved from that cesspool called New York to eastern Pennsylvania and brought your hateful ethno-centric mentality with you . The "ethnics" of Pa. , except for Philadelphia are MUCH MORE " Americanized " than the people who crawl out of New York City !! I do want to compliment YOU for allowing someone to leave messages that oppose the views of your grievance – obsessed groupies .
Shoutout to all my Abruzzese!!
I'm telling you, the US does not, nor ever did care about "how hard working and respectable" we (as Italians) or any other minority group in this country was. That is a fairytale we tell ourselves that somehow we knew the secret to respectability that earned us a seat at the table.
The truth is that unbeknownst to virtually all Italian Americans, it was the slim but wealthy and powerful segment of our diaspora in the US known as the mafia who purchased our "white" card for us by infultrating their tentacles into the highest levels of corporate and governmental powers.
Were we "worthy" enough on our own merits to be treated as equal and respectable US citizens? Of COURSE!
However, the more power that was weilded at the top by nefarious actors who shared our bloodline, the less advantageous it became for people in US power to use us as political scapegoats without facing financial repercussions or worse.
We were permitted to grow as citizens shrouded by a protection that none of us asked for or were even aware of.
Every ethnic group that came here experienced hardship and didn't really get a warm welcome.
The Netanyahu-supporting Israelis will learn this the hard way. There’s no such thing as an honorary white person (not even for lapdog Clarence Thomas).
Miss Romero , because "elleanna" left ANOTHER comment, I need to respond. Elle , you say that Nigerians are the most populous African group in Italy. Of course they are , because Nigeria is the MOST populous country in Africa !! And WHY do so many Nigerians move to countries around the world ?? It is because Nigeria is a violence-ridden HELLHOLE !! Anyone can read about the country`s appalling rates of violent crime and mayhem !! So I am not surprised that you wanted to move to Europe. I do want to thank Miss Romero for allowing a Truth-Speaker ( ME ) to counter some of the nonsense comments that are left.
Get over it. That was all the past.
Very interesting discussion. This has inspired me to look into my own Nigerian ancestry and learn more about my culture and people. Thank you for this and keep up the good work.
Southern Italians were never “whítes on a leash” or “shade of whíte”, we weren’t seen as “whíte” at all.
At best, Southern Italians could hope to pass for whíte back then, that’s why we changed our names and try to pass as whíte. That’s why Giovanni became John, Giuseppe became Joe, Salvatore became Sam, etc…
The thing to remember is how ppl were treated varied a lot by where and when. However, we have only to look at the ławs passed in the 1920s to keep us out to see were weren’t seen as “whíte”.
As always though, I fully support your channel and really appreciate you bringing these conversations to light.
I always love listening to your videos. I lived for many years with my Sicilian grandma. We spent so much time talking about her youth and how things were here in San Francisco. Sicilians and many of the other Italians were really treated as second class citizens. Just your name was a stigma. The local telephone company would throw out job applications if a person's last name ended in a vowel.
I think what he said is so very pertinent today and should be listened to before you judge him, as the most sensitive Italians and other "pure race" proponents hate the message he presents. Many things are being uncovered today and it really offends so many who think one way…And cannot face certain uncovered truths…Peace
Miss Romero , I thought that I was finished with this discussion, BUT then a ridiculous comment came-in from "elleanna 5869" Elleanna , I don`t know what you are being taught in that Italian "university", BUT the U.S.A. has been having a "massive wave of illegal migrants" for MANY years , and we have never ( to use your wording ) "drown the ships and shot the people" !! Also , the United Kingdom has been liberal toward immigration to an extreme, so that now English people are a minority in their great capitol city , London and I think Birmingham also !! Birmingham was mostly destroyed by bombing and fire-bombing during World War 2 , when the British stood against Nazi Germany and Fascist ITALY !! You need to learn FACTS and HISTORY.
so interesting to listen to. I had to laugh at his hospital experience with the osso bucco!
Italians are a Jewish variation that's it.
Not just Italian Americans, it's also Portuguese, Greeks, Spaniards and some Balkan peoples. Anglos have ancestral memory of the Romans conquering them and are subconsciously intimidated, when In reality we are the most compatible with their culture and way of life.
Danielle always drops such great content. I’m very happy to watch this interview and find out more about Italian American culture.
First , I will re-state the fact that my mother was an Italian-American. QUESTION — Why don`t " Professor " Gardaphe and Miss Romero have a discussion on how shabbily Black visitors and sub-Saharan immigrants are treated in today`s ITALY ??
We should all have pride in our heritages!
Wow! What do you like about how the nun treated this boy?
You are either Italian or American. Italian American means nothing
To this day I get called the “n” word by racist whites for being Italian and a “white boy” by non white racists.
Italian American culture is different from Italians in Italy. American culture is mostly commercialized trash
Crazy stuff
Such a great discussion, Danielle! I've gotten behind in your posts, but am catching up. So many things the professor mentioned are relevant to my experiences growing up in a 2nd-3rd generation American-Italian family.
Still working on my dual citizenship, my application is now in the hopper for the consul's review. They say I should hear within 6mo-1 year. Patience is a virtue hard practiced by this American-Italian. 🤷🏻♂️😂🇮🇹❤️🇺🇲 Now working on tracing my dad's side for my annual trip this Fall.
Thanks for all you do!
I remember that I watched reruns of Rocky and Saturday Night Fever as a kid. During that time, I didn't understand why there was so much emphasis on the main characters being Italian. (Rocky was the "Italian Stallion"). I didn't know that Italian-Americans were also discriminated. As an Asian person who lived in Asia, I thought of all the characters as white – no distinction among them, that all were treated equally in American society. Thank you Danielle and the professor for a very informative vid.
my Father is from ,CIRELLA Di Plati ITALY Calabria-,,,,,,Wish I could talk to you ,,,,,,Got Great Stories -,,,,From Youngstown,Ohio
But you're from Sicily, not Italy. Most of these so-called Italians who live in America are from Eastern Europe, not Italy.
Sorry to say but all Italians are not white they don't even look white they depict a white fashion because they were determined to be white here in America for the sole purpose of being used by white Americans that were already outnumbered by negroes and other people of color so they gave Italians the right to associate yourself as being white but not without saying how bad they were treated and how often they were subjugated to the same ruthless and just as black people
My brothers and I weren’t allowed to learn and speak Italian by my mother who thought it would hurt us when we went to school.The sad thing is almost all my friends spoke Italian and English .It didn’t bother me then but 60 years later it does.
2nd generation Italians are pieces of sheet. I'm Iranian guy in Houston who lived in San Francisco. Anytime I wear a beanie somebody complains I'm assimilating to their culture.
A man of Italian heritage once told me to go back to Africa. I do present as African American. However, my father's paternal line goes back to a male ancestor who came to the U.S. from Ireland in 1679. I have Native American, Asian and African dna too. I also traced African ancestors back to the 1700s in the U.S. What I should have said to this idiot was that am descended from people who were in the U.S. long before his.
I have some Italian ancestry on dad's side. But like you said, being from NYC, it's like even if you're not Italian in NYC growing up there was a lot of Italian influence there.
I am African-American. And I felt this gentleman's comments were very interesting. I've grown up in an Italian community of West Suffolk County, New York . I have always believed Italians to have a distinguished ethnic identity. Our community has Italian restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores. The culture is quite prominent here in Long Island. His term, "White people on a leash", really shocked me! Italian-Americans and African-Americans in Long Island have gotten along fairly well in my opinion. And it always seems that Black women would do their best to make the fanciest Italian type dishes; as if they were Italian. But I do think it is a shame that Italian culture is not as available in higher education for Italian students; as it is for other ethnic groups.
@nytn I would also recommend Samuele Pardini's book In the Name of the Mother, to this day the most rigorous study to put in conversation Italian American and African American culture
🤯I did not know fly fans existed!! Thank you for another fantastic video❤
So, I had Irish nuns as grade school teachers as well. Maybe Italian students were never a problem in the first place. Maybe Irish-America is the problem. Maybe German-America is the problem.
It's amazing how similar his experiences are to First Nations elders' stories about residential school. Trigger warning: One elder I met told me about a nun who ripped open a shower curtain and started hitting her for singing in her First Nations language in the shower. It wasn't allowed. She was under 10 years old, I think 6 or 7.