Essay On Italian Americans

As an Italian-American, I was and am still told by my mother, grandparents, and great-grandparents how proud I should be of my heritage. I was taught to respect my great-grandmother who, after arriving in America along side her husband, fully committed herself to raising her four sons and eight nieces and nephews in a two-bedroom house in Pennsylvania. She was motivated by the drive of a better life in a new, strong country for the young-ones she loved. I was taught to treasure both food and family, praying each night through the Blessed Mother. I was handed Pizzelles and Almond cookies as snacks throughout the day, and listened to Dean Martin through the stereo almost every night. My grandmother’s family came from Mezzogiorno, while my grandfather’s family hailed from the North Country. Though I had never been to Italy, as a child, I still knew the significance of being Italian and was thankful. It was not until I entered public school that I began to understand the teasing that my own ethnic group was subject to on a near daily basis.

Life in Italy in the 1930’s caused difficulty to some Italians during that time period. During the 1930’s a large number of Italians who had opposed the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini arrived in the United States. After the news spread in Italy about the bombing of Pearl Harbour almost all Italians supported the war against Benito Mussolini. At this point, Italy was slowly becoming under the Nazi rule, the significance of a woman’s role in Italy was emphasised as they were expected to accept the fascist ideology. Girls were expected to get married and conceive lots of children. Many young women in Italy felt the pressures of politics that were dominated by men and felt that women’s rights were disappearing

The first Americans came from Asia, beginning as early as thirty thousand years ago, over a land bridge that formed at the Bering Strait during the Ice Age. The new immigrants were hunters and gatherers, and over a period of fifteen thousand years various groups spread over the American continents. By the time of the European “discovery” of the New World, there were perhaps as many as 100 million native Americans, the vast majority living in Central and South America.

First lets focus on the culture of these two beautiful but very different countries. Italy for example has a collectivistic society, while the U.S. has a very individualistic one, and the population of the latter is very affective compared to the more neutral U.S.. The two cultures also express themselves differently since the U.S. population tends to be very specific, while the Italians are more diffuse when talking about something important. Due to the fact that the Italians are more affective, they tend to demonstrate further their feelings by protecting and helping their sons as much as possible, and the whole culture could be perceived as an ascribed one, especially by achieved ones. Just by thinking that some of the best poets, writers, thinkers, musicians, astronomers, scientists, inventors, and explorers were and are still are Italian can clear this misconception. Also other aspects are different, for example the social

Asian Americans are a diverse group of people who are among the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. Despite their minority status, they often surpass Whites in America and do so while holding on to their cultural values regarding family, education, and success.

Spicy Italian food has nothing on Cajun or Creole food! We love hot and spicy, from fried chicken to crawfish, boiled in spices and lemons. I descripted, in detail, how to make several well know Southern dishes and she talked pasta. I told her about pasta, the Cajun way. Food is a big part of the Italian and Southern cultures. Food brings families together at the table where it is a big

“ They rely on a viewer's preconceived idea of how a particular person or ethnic group should act and merely fulfill these expectations. External signs and cues are used to indicate and suggest the veneer of culture. Dress, eating habits, and language accents are exaggerated…” Even though the directors of the movie did not directly refer to Italian Americans, the way they portrayed the characters based on their language, clothes, food and etc. indirectly told the audience that the characters were of Italian background. By seeing this occur in every movie and show, the public got accustomed to seeing Italian Americans as the mafia and failed to recognize that the mafia was only a small percentage of Italian Americans and the rest were just like ordinary people trying to make a better life.

With Nicholas working in a factory and Florence as a schoolteacher they were able to scrape by and provide a modest life for their children. Growing up my grandfather described a general disdain felt towards his family by other members of the town. This attitude stemmed from the general dislike of Italian-Americans in the country during this time. Even after Nicholas returned from his time in World War 2, people still would treat him as second class. Luckily Italian-American families in the area developed a tight-knit community, mostly centered around going to church. These were the people my grandfather credited with helping pull his family up and comfort them during the hard times. For instance when my grandfather’s brother died in a car accident the community joined in the mourning and helped with the funeral. Or when my grandfather’s

B. While others crossed the border to obtain a better eminence of education for their offspring, especially, those looking to obtain a sophisticated step ahead of the rest.

Italian American and Greek American parents are devoted to raising their children, and caring to them well into their adult years. While the Irish American culture allows their children to move out, prepared or not, the Italian American and Greek American cultures would not do this willingly. The Italian American and Greek American cultures believe that they will not have as much an impact or closeness, and their children could venture into trouble if not advised everyday of their lives. With that being said, Italian American and Greek American children often live in their parent’s homes well into their adult years. What might be surprising to other cultures, especially the Irish American culture, is that even newly married couples are welcomed to live in their in-laws home until they find, or until they can afford, their own home. The Italian American and Greek American cultures are even big on assisting their relatives in finding employment, and this ties into the importance of family businesses, where they will hire and keep their success

Americans have not only defined themselves by their religious, ethnic and racial identity, but also by their individual freedom and common values. America has become a nation where its people can fight for what they believe in. Our founding fathers have formed America to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Being apart of the American culture and living on the land founded by our leaders specifies the meaning of the American Identity.

The struggle and isolation were forgotten for a moment as "new immigrants found ways to maintain culture and create community" (Ewen, 226). As many Americans looked on with disapproval, there still arose a clash between parents who wanted to preserve the traditions of the old country while the younger generation wanted desperately to assimilate. This division appeared in issues such as love and marriage, dress, and social behavior. Even as different views developed between the older and younger generation, many social events remained traditional with the ideals that were common in the Old Country.

The old stock Americans weren't used to the immigrants and for this reason they thought less of them and oppressed them.  The Italians and other immigrants were blamed for many of the nations problems.  For example, the government led raids on immigrants’ houses because they feared the immigrants were communists.  This was evidenced in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, when two Italian immigrants were convicted for murder and the prosecution had no real substantial evidence.  They were convicted mainly because of their beliefs, not their actions.  Religious beliefs also brought the immigrants problems.  The KKK was openly anti-Catholic and most of the Italians were catholic.  The immigrants and Italians also helped to bring on prohibition.  The Americans didn't approve of their drinking habits; therefore the prohibition amendment was made for this and other reasons.  Job competition was also a major reason for the racist feelings of the Americans.  Native white workers saw the immigrants as competitors for the jobs that they felt they should have.  A good example of this competition was “birds of passage.”  These were Italian workers who came to work in the U.S. but later returned to Italy with the money they earned in the U.S.  From 1899-1924 3.8 million Italians came to the United States, but 2.1 million left to return to Italy during the same

American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and

Italian-American attitudes towards speech not only is representative of their family-orientated culture, but also for the role oral traditions as a medium for providing younger generations the necessary values and beliefs to thrive in what otherwise was a foreign society with different ideologies. Throughout Mount Allegro, Mangione repeatedly talks about the idea of second-generation Italian immigrants being able to speak the parent’s language, or mother tongue, Italian (Mangione 20 and 49-50). His mother, who reinforced the rule of only speaking Italian in the household, emphasizes the importance of being able to communicate in a language shared by everyone in the household: “I don’t want to hear anything but Italian in his house. You will