A USA expatriate Brit writes to Beppe Severgnini of Corriere Della Sera:
"Italians, be proud of your country".

Jeffrey, the Brit, is most complimentary, and gets it 90% right, with his praise of Italy's History, Culture, and Bella Vita attitude.

I can't really expect Jeffrey to get it perfectly right, because so many Italians don't get it, and even many Italian Americans don't get it.

Those of us that DO get it, recognize that like the Black, Hispanic, Jewish, and Asian Communities, that you can NOT allow the Media to shape a negative image of your community, by a continuum of derogatory portrayals.

Those communities realized that all the positives, they could take pride in, that they  were easily negated by a flood of negatives, and took aggressive actions against those negatives, so that now today, they all enjoy positive images, while Italian Americans have a 74% negative rating.

Anyone who doesn't realize the merit of the Black, Hispanic, Jewish, and Asian
Strategy, and the terrible price that has been paid by the Italian American community's Passive attitude deserves the Ostrich Award, and will insure that
"It will always be so", as Jeffrey predicts.
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ITALIANI, SIATE ORGOGLIOSI DEL VOSTRO PAESE
Corriere Della Sera
February 17, 2004

Caro Beppe,

I am a devoted reader of "Italians" and would write to you in Italian if my Italian was up to the task.

I'm writing in response to "Noi, amati e inimitabili ma derisi nel mondo."
(We, dear and inimitable but laughed in the world. ??)

As a former Brit who has lived in America for many years (including New Jersey, home of the "Sopranos" and Boston's North End, an Italian enclave), I think you Italians protest too much about the perceived derisive views of non-Italians.

I recommend a reading of "Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World," by Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish (Anchor Books, 2001). From Ovid to Dante, Brunelleschi to Palladio, Montessori to Rossellini, and Volta to Ferrari, Italians have had, and continue to have, massive impacts on art, music, culture, science, and technology.

My Italian teacher, Paulo Rigo, a retired ENEL engineer, often laments that contemporary Italy is a "mess," yet he, along with many Italian expatriates, cannot wait to reurn to his beloved country even for a short vacation.

Italians are often wonderfully warm people who enjoy life to the utmost in ways that the rest of the world can only envy at a distance.

Let's remember that Italians did not invent "organized crime." Bribery and corruption existed long before "tangenti."

You Italians should be proud of your country and its people. There are no good reasons why "noi italiani siamo il punching-ball di tutti." (We Italians we are the Punching-Ball of everybody.)

You will only be a punching-ball if you bristle at every mention of the word "mafia." As I am sure you discovered during your sojourns in the U.S., Americans are intensely proud of their country and are very sensitive to criticism from outside, particularly from "the Old World."

It will always be so but that does not mean that there is any less to admire in the U.S. One might not admire the politics and policies of a Bush, a Berlusconi or a Blair but that does not mean that a way of life is disappearing. Italians, be proud of your country and its heritage.

You can be sure that there will be much to take pride in the future--and not just "la moda, la macchina, e il mangiare."

Beppe, please continue to remind your readers that very few "stranieri" think Italy is crime-ridden and all Italians are "mafiosi."

Indeed, many Americans feel that "la vita e bella" in Italy more than anywhere else in the world. Con i miei migliori saluti a tutti gl'italiani,

Jeffrey Bairstow, jeffrey_bairstow@yahoo.com

Corriere della Sera - Italiani, siate orgogliosi del vostro paese
http://www.corriere.it/solferino/severgnini/04-02-17/03.spm