Sometimes the most Stupid amongst us can be more Dangerous to the Italian American community than some of our worst Bigoted Enemies.

It continues to astound me that some Italian Americans amongst us firmly and sometimes very venomously maintain that Media Negative Stereotyping has NO effect, and we should ignore it, ..and do Nothing.... despite ALL evidence to the contrary.

Those "enemies within"...then heap Insult on Injury.. by improperly characterizing those who legitimately and justifiably communicate their concerns, as.. "whiners".

We cannot afford to tolerate continued "infamia" of the Media OR our "Quislings"!

I am therefore puzzled by OSIA continuing to "embrace" people such as Bill Tonelli, (who represents the type of person I refer to) by Inviting him to OSIA panels, and by Promoting his book. This person in any other community would be "shunned". Instead we give them "sustanance". How counter productive!!! Such contradiction!!!

With that said, I strongly applaud OSIA for their continued campaign to "educate"
the media (See the following).

Yes, it is a "small" step, but I admire OSIA's persistence, perseverance, and tenacity. " Any long trip is a series of small steps".
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BULLETIN FROM SONS OF ITALY:

Dona De Sanctis, Ph.D.,Deputy Executive Director,Order Sons of Italy in America  has just advised me that she has received confirmation from Parade Magazine, that it will run the article below on Oct. 12.

It is based on information in the OSIA report, "Italian American Stereotypes in U.S. Advertising," that OSIA sent to the mainstream media in July.

The article will be in the popular Intelligence Report column.

Parade Magazine is the most widely read Sunday supplement in the U.S.
It reaches 37 million homes every week.

This is the first time that Parade Magazine has run an article on the unfairness of Italian American stereotyping.

OSIA thanks Manny Alfano of the Italian American One Voice Coalition; UNICO National, Italian American Pride and the many individual supporters who sent us examples of commercials and ads that stereotype us for this report.
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THE INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Advertisers love to portray Italians as fat, dishonest, mob-connected characters.

But many of the 26 million Italian-Americans, the nation’s fifth largest ethnic group, are saying Basta (enough).

Two new respected polls show that Americans are absorbing a lot of these negative attitudes:  78% of teens associate Italians with mob-related activities or blue-collar jobs; up to 74% of adults associate Italians with organized crime.

The reality is a lot different.  Less than .0025 percent of Italian-Americans are involved with organized crime, according to the Justice Department, and two-thirds of Italian-Americans work as doctors, teachers, executives, attorneys, and other white-collar jobs.

“Madison Avenue, Hollywood, and television have a long tradition of stereotyping Italian-Americans as either violent gangsters or lovable losers.  But these stereotypes are damaging,” says Joseph Sciame, national president of the Order Sons of Italy in America.
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Dona De Sanctis, Ph.D.
Deputy Executive Director
Order Sons of Italy in America
219 E Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002

Tel:  202/547-2900
Fax: 202/547-1492
Web:  www.osia.org