Fall 2014 - Order Sons of Italy in America

How stereotyping shapes the public image of Italian Americans today.
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By Dona De Sanctis
• ANTI-ITALIAN PRIEST Italy is the
curse of the Church, according to Fr.
Ray Blake who, in his August 17, 2014
blog, complained that speaking Italian is
essential for people seeking to advance
Father Ray
in the Church.
Blake
... no
He added that “certain Italian culfan of Italy
ture” is associated with corruption and
inefficiency because it wants to employ “everyone in the
village...even buying a cup of coffee in a bar practically
always involves half an Italian family, someone to take
the order, someone to give the order to, someone to
make the coffee and someone to clear-up afterwards,”
he said. Francis Fraietta, Connecticut
• HOT TEMPERS = COLD GELATO? Italian gelato has less fat and fewer
calories than ice cream so
Haagen-Dazs is selling it
... by pushing unflattering
stereotypes.
A national commercial
Love Italian-style,
shows an attractive young
according to Haagen-Dazs
Italian couple insulting
each other in Italian with English subtitles. They call
each other crazy and selfish; shout and break plates
until the sight of a container of gelato defuses these two
emotional time bombs but only temporarily.
The company has received numerous complaints
about the commercial on its Facebook site, but still airs
the ad. Gina Sicina, New York
• THE ENEMY IS...US
In his campaign to become
the next governor of New York, Republican candidate
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15 ITALIAN
AMERICA
Rob Astorino likened
his opponent, the current governor, Democrat Andrew Cuomo to
a mafia boss. During a
July 28 campaign stop in
Syracuse, NY, Astorino
New York’s Republican
compared Gov. Cuomo’s gubernatorial hopeful Rob
Astorino [L.] and his oppoinvolvement in an anti- nent, Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
corruption probe to a
“mafia boss” making “an offer you can’t refuse.”
Both men are of Italian heritage. The Sons of Italy®
immediately issued a statement criticizing the remark.
• IS NOTHING SACRED? “Those who...have gone
along the evil ways, as in the case of the
Mafia ... are excommunicated,” Francis said
in an outdoor Mass in Calabria June 23.
The pope’s edict could make him a target
for the Mafia because in southern Italy
members of the Mafia gain local support
by portraying themselves as religious men
Political
cartoonist
who support the Catholic Church.
Tom
Stiglich
It was the first time in history that a pope
excommunicated Mafiosi. But two American political cartoonists saw it only as a chance to trot
out tired Mafia jokes. Tom Stiglich is a nationally
syndicated political cartoonist whose work has appeared
in The New York Times, Newsweek, and other important
publications. He drew Pope Francis waking up to find
a severed horse’s head on his bed. Steve Benson of the
Arizona Republic drew Francis extending the cross to a
gangster holding a machine gun and telling him, “I’ve
got an offer you can’t refuse.”
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