When I was growing up, I owned a book. The front of it said “The Polish Joke Book” and the back said “The Italian Joke Book”. Yes, gentle reader. We told ethnic jokes when I was growing up. We even laughed at them.
I remember one of them: “New Italian Snow Tires: Dago through snow, Dago through mud, Dago through rain, but when Dago flat, Dago ‘wop, wop, wop’”.
Hysterical.
And what brought this up? It was a tweet screenshot below that was in response to a comment about white Scottish slaves that were finally freed.
This got me thinking about my Italian immigrant grandfather. He was not accepted into WASP society either. He was considered a “wop”1 a “dago” and other terms of derision by the current group of Americans who happened to be of Irish descent.
He was given the most menial of jobs. He was mocked for his accent. He was thoroughly “otherized”. But he knew that if only these people knew who he was they would like him. So he continued. Treating those who treated him badly with if not kindness, respect until they came to accept him as a peer.
He taught his children to love America, have respect for authority and the law, and a deep love of God. He spoke English exclusively in the home, and my grandmother would correct bad grammar and usage. I remember her telling me: “You ain’t supposed to say ain’t because ain’t ain’t in the dictionary!”. They gave their children American names. Mary instead of Maria, John instead of Giovanni. Their children were better able to fit in than they were and subsequently were more successful.
Now some of my grandparents friends from the “old neighborhood”2 did not have this attitude. They stayed in their old neighborhood spoke Italian exclusively and did not choose to raise their children as Americans. These people remained poor, uneducated and did not succeed. Many of their children suffered the same fate.
Those people were not accepted into the general American society. My grandparents and their friends like them were. They were Catholic, went to Mass on Sunday, but did not bring their religion into mixed company.
They assimilated, and melted into the melting pot of American life giving flavor to the mix. The others remained chunks floating around excluded from the mix, though still in the pot.
Many of the other groups who have a tendency to succeed, most notably many Asians, have the same attitude. They want to learn to speak English well. They gave their children American names, even if they had Asian names when they emigrated. They work together focusing on education for the children, and building businesses here.
You also see this attitude of assimilation among many immigrants from Africa.
However, if you do not partake of the widespread WASP culture in your area, most likely you won’t be accepted in those areas. If you give your children other than WASP names, they will have a difficult time being accepted into WASP society. If you don’t speak proper English, the same thing. If you choose to dress differently or have a chip on your shoulder, people won’t want to be around you, and only you are to blame.
Actually meant “without papers”.
The “ghetto” where many of the Italian-speaking immigrants settled.