Italians in America

Watched a fascinating Public Broadcasting System (PBS) documentary last night called 'The Italian Americans.'  I learned a lot of things that I think most non-Italians may not know, such as the fact that most of the early immigrants to the United States were from southern Italy.  Also, even though I lived in New Orleans for a couple of years, I was not aware that the first wave of immigrants settled in that city; I had always thought it was New York.

Italians were not treated well in New Orleans for the most part.  At one time a popular politician (Irish, if I remember correctly) was gunned down on the street with no witnesses.  The Italians were scapegoated and several men were charged with murder.  Even though a jury found them completely innocent of the crime, a lynch mob stormed the prison where they were being kept and shot and hanged the prisoners.  According to the documentary, New Orleans is also where the term 'Mafia' was first used widely, with very little real evidence that such a thing existed at the time.  The film also discussed the Sacco and Vanzetti case, in which two Italian Americans were unfairly tried and executed, in spite of world-wide public outrage. 

I was also surprised that what is now known as The Bank of America was originally called The Bank of Italy and was owned and managed by an Italian immigrant.  Pretty cool, huh?

We need more such stories to help Americans get beyond the stereotype of Italian Americans.  They were a vital component of the flourishing of this country and too often vilified in TV series like The Sopranos or films like The Godfather.  Both of those were great films, but not to be viewed as history.  Hopefully, a lot of people tuned in to 'The Italian Americans.'

A presto...