“A tavola non si invecchia”

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ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS

Stock Photo: Ellis Island 1904

Socio Demographics: Ethnicity

• Over 15.7 million• Despite being in the U.S. for more than 120

years, Italian Americans still strongly identify with their Italian roots

• Italian Americans are the nation’s fourth largest European ancestry group after the Germans, Irish and English

Socio Demographics: Ethnicity cont.

• Italian Americans are the only European group whose population has increased since the 1990 census.

• Italian is the fourth European language most spoken in U.S. homes.

Socio Demographic Information

United States Census Analysis• Total population 15,723,000• Male 49.5% (7,789,000) • Female 50.5% (7,935,000) • Population 17 and under 14% (2,240,000)

MARITAL STATUS• Male: Never Married 32% (1,916,000) • Female: Never Married 27% (1,665,000) • Male: Now Married 57% (3,375,000) • Female: Now Married 54% (3,296,000) • Male: Divorced 8% (468,000) • Female: Divorced 10% (623,000)

Socio Demographic Info cont.FAMILY

• Number of Families 3,948,000 • Average Family size 3.08 • LIVING ENVIRONMENT• Urban 88% (13,809,000) • Rural 12% (1,914,000)

EDUCATION• High School Graduate 29% (2,893,000) • Bachelor’s Degree 18.5% (1,843,000) • Master’s Degree 7% (691,000) • Professional School Degree 2% (229,000) • Doctorate Degree 0.85% (84,000)

Socio Demographic Info cont.OCCUPATION

(Employed 16 years and older)TOTAL IN WORKFORCE- 49% (7,692,000)• White Collar Occupations- 66% (5,081,000)• Blue Collar Occupations- 34% (2,611,000) (Includes farmers, police officers & fire fighters)

Socio Demographic: GeographyTHE TEN STATES WITH THE MOST ITALIAN AMERICANS

• New York 2,700,000• New Jersey 1,500,000• California 1,450,000• Pennsylvania 1,400,000• Florida 1,001,000• Massachusetts 860,000• Illinois 745,000• Ohio 676,000• Connecticut 634,000• Michigan 451,000-Detroit 321,000

RECAP

• Italian Americans are above average in their levels of education, income and occupation.

• The vast majority (88%) live in or near a big city, have small families (one child), low divorce rates (8%) and white collar jobs (66%).

Italian American Stereotypes

• Origin of WOP

• (1)Italian dialect guappo swaggerer, tough, from Spanish guapo, probably from Middle French dialect vape, wape weak, insipid, from Latin vappa wine gone flatFirst Known Use: 1908

• (2)informal + offensive: an Italian person ◊The word wop is very offensive and should be avoided. Used as an abbreviation for Italian immigrants “without papers” or "without passport”

• Guinea (slur that is used against

an Italian-Americans that refers

to the Guinea Coast of Africa;

using this slur is a very

offensive way of implying that

Italian-Americans are non-

whites)

Even Mafia-themed advertising that may not include specific references to Italian Americans are perceived by the general public to be about Italian Americans.

• Thanks to the popularity of “The Sopranos” and “Mob Wives” and entertainment like it, most advertising that uses Italian Americans portrays them as gangsters.

•Gorilla Juicehead

•Meatballs

•Guidos

•Guidettes

•Degos

AIDA/NIAF

• American Italian Defense Association and the National

Italian American Foundation have protested the depiction

of Italians in the HBO television series The Sopranos (1999-

present) while ignoring most contemporary presentations

of Italian ethnicity and even applauding the depictions of

Italians in television commercials for Ragu, radio

advertisements for Sprint PCS, and television programs

such as the NBC series Friends (1994-present).

Joey Tribbiani

• The U.S. Census Bureau reports that two-thirds of the Italian Americans in the work force are in white-collar jobs as executives, physicians, teachers, attorneys, administrators, politicians, etc.

Italian Values/ Norms

Family Size• Strong Roman Catholic

traditions• Southern Italy

descendants more traditional, emphasis on larger family/includes extended and community living in

Social Interactions

• Great pride in social interactions; good reputation, approval

from peers

• Humor, agreeability, reliability, success > assertiveness

• Region plays big part in norms

• North- punctuality, reliability, organization, economic success

• South- friendliness, warm character, leisure lifestyle

• Technological advances changed values as well; outside

influences

Cultural Competency• Differences in Northern/Southern Italians• Individualistic/ Industrialized vs Traditional/ Collectivistic• Social relationships vs Business Success• Speaking more with body language, especially southern

Italians• Dictionary specifically for gestures• Hug/ Kiss on both cheeks• No dirty hands

• Eating Customs• Two main meals, skip breakfast• Dinner party atmosphere, no snacking

Education

• Italians take education very serious

• In Italy, Monday through Saturday (required attendance)

• Intense levels of study

• Exam to enter higher secondary school (traditional American High

School)

• Emphasis on school passed on to American counterparts

Values found in proverbs• Family:

• Proverbs contain aspects of culture, relate to any situation or topic

• family, food, women, the weather, love, and friendship

• “Tal padre, tal figlio” = “like father, like son”

• Strong family ties, anchor of social structure

• Major support system.

“Con nulla non si fia nulla”

• “Of nothing comes nothing”

• Very conscious about appearance; the clothes make the

(wo)man

• Clothing says a lot about person’s education, social standing,

family background

• Thoughts of others decided on first impressions; physical

appearance extremely valued

“Chi dorme non piglia pesci”• “He who sleeps, catches no fish”• Work hard, play hard mentality

• In Italy; 6 day work weeks, 8am-1pm/3pm-7pm• Big break for lunch, return afterwards

• Bocce

Language• Federico Fellni,

movie director• WWII• Alien and Sedition

Acts of 1798• Nowadays, a way to

get in touch with family heritage

Strengths• Erik Amfitheatrof observed in 1973 that, "The children of the

Italian immigrants no longer feel Italian. They are American. In shedding a sense of apartness from American life, they have also relinquished their once-powerful emotional associations with a remote Italian world”

Strengths-Sojourners• Desired:

• immediate employment• maximum savings• quick return

• Consisted of mostly:• young, single men of prime working age (15-35)• clustered in America's urban centers.

“campanilismo”• ^^ represents an enduring symbol of devotion to, and love of

ones region, city, town, village• their family-centered peasant cultures and their fiercely local

identifications• As they increasingly interacted with fellow

immigrants, campanilismo gave way to national identity

“Little Italy's”

What are the facts:• Highly concentrated• Kin and village-based chain

migration networks• New World societies

• Cultural patterns were constantly evolving

• Interplay between older forms brought from Italy and new inventions forged in the United States.

• Many attempted to recreate old-world celebrations and rituals upon arrival in the United States

World War One• WWI also produced

countervailing pressures that generated more intense nationalism among Italians and powerful drives toward assimilation—"100 percent Americanism"—in the wider society

Second generation conflicts with first generation• Heavily influenced by the

traditional contadino culture passed on from their parents

• Traditional notions of: proper behavior, stressing collective responsibilities toward the family, strict chastity and domestic roles for females, rigid chaperonage and courting codes, and male dominance

• Clashed with the more individualist, consumer-driven American values children learned in schools, stores, and on the streets.

• Problems of marginality, lack of self-esteem, rebellion, and delinquency were the outcomes

Strengths of today

• Geographically concentrated in the old settlement areas• Pronounced attachment to the values of domesticity and

family loyalty• rely heavily on personal and kin networks in residential

choices, visiting patterns, and general social interaction• suffer from stereotypes associating it with criminal behavior,

especially in the form of organized crime and the mafia• Television and film images of Italian Americans continue to

emphasize criminals, "lovable or laughable dimwits" who engage in dead-end jobs, and heavy-accented, obese "Mamas" with their pasta pots.

“At the table with good friends and family you do not become old”