Anti-Italianism: Now Coming To An Assemblyman Near You

People laugh at me when I say "anti-Italianism is a real thing." Many people think that it has to be burning crosses on our lawns, regular beatdowns and an open denial of jobs or opportunities to be labeled "hatred." For years, I've been saying the exact opposite. The media's "Italian syndrome" is such that it has hijacked Italians and the Italian community as its go to "chief suspect" for either stupdity or criminality.

What happens on MTV and what happens on HBO is affecting the public's opinion of us, whether you'd like to believe it or not. People believe its acceptable to call regular, hard working, intelligent Italians guidos (which has now grown into it being acceptable to call Italians guineas) and people also readily believe that Italians are 100% Mafia, through and through. All of this happens with little backlash.

Case in point: Assemblyman Don Wagner, (D) California.

On speaking against a bill proposed by Italian American Anthony Portantino (D)- California that would eliminate redevelopment agencies and replace them with an alternative program, Wagner stated:

"...lawmakers should not buy an insurance policy that Tony Soprano is selling us."

This prompted Portantino to rise up and demand an apology for the Italian American community. Wagner responded with:

"I will apologize to any Italians who are not in the Mafia and engaged in insurance scams"

While Wagner stated that his apology was sincere, Assemblyman Gatto (another Italian American) later stated he was "absolutely" offended by the apology, adding that it seemed to insinuate that all Italians are in the Mafia.


This is where the Italian image is- a representative in 2011 America is openly labeling an Italian a gangster. When he was asked to apologize by the Italian he offended, he essentially said,

"If there are any Italians who aren't in the Mafia or defrauding people, I apologize to you."

My idea that anti-Italianism is real can be plainly seen in this event. Wagner NEVER would have insinuated that other groups were just living, breathing stereotypes. But, when it comes to Italians, its all fair game. This started with the evolution of the "mob movie" and the production of shows like Mob Wives, Jersey Shore, and yes- even The Sopranos.

We come from a proud and storied culture- why have we been relegated to second class citizens when it comes to our image and achievements? More importantly, why do we continue to allow this to occur?