Salvator LaGumina, a founder and former president of AIHA, has 
generously donated to AIHA a supply of copies of "WOP", the 1999 
revised version of the 1973 original  classic collection of anti -Italian 
literature in American history.  

You can buy it from AIHA for $14 including postage.
  
Please send a check made out to: AIHA , and send to 
Dominic Candeloro  
169 Country Club Rd.
Chicago Heights, IL 60411.  

 ~" WOP! '~ A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF ANTI-ITALIAN
DISCRIMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES ........
SALVATORE J. LAGUMINA

PREFACE !
More than two decades ago my book, WOP: A Documentary History 
of Anti-Italian Discrimination. became the first major publication on the
topic of intolerance against Americans of Italian descent. That work
delineated the record of antagonism and hostility that awaited Italian
immigrants and their issue by recording discriminatory episodes that 
were for the most part blunt, curt, and flagrant.  

A revisit of the woeful terrain indicates that current anti-Italian 
discrimination is manifestly disparate from the past in that whereas 
in the pre-World War II era deprecating Italian Americans was blatant 
and unapologetic, its contemporary counterpart is much more subtle 
and elusive. 

Discrimination in our times is in fact seemingly much less obvious, 
much more implied and somewhat evasive , indeed circumstances 
require that it appear to be more subdued in view of society's greater 
sensitivity toward ethnic prejudice, in view also of the greater societal 
prominence of Italian Americans in public life and of the anti-defamation 
activity of Italian American organizations. But discrimination, 
stereotyping and demeaning Italian Americans has not vanished; 
it remains as a negative factor, albeit far less conspicuous.  

The current basis for anti-Italian discrimination lies in stereotyping, 
guilt by association and non-inclusion. Various television shows in the 
1970s and 1980s can be cited as promoting parodies and caricatures 
of Italian Americans as silly, boisterous and ignorant thereby lending 
credence to an unflattering image of people who best serve society as 
the butt of jokes, completely devoid of positive features that "deserve
comment let alone emulation.  

While de facto exclusion of Italian Americans in certain fraternal and 
recreation clubs is largely over, there are still instances in which 
ethnicity remains an impediment. When avid golfer John A. Segalla, 
a wealthy Connecticut builder, was denied membership in a golf club 
because "you have an Italian name," he responded by building his own 
golf club- in 1993.  

As in the past linking Italian Americans with criminality remains the 
predominant characteristic of stereotyping. Given a spate of popular 
commercial and television movies such as Godfather I, Godfather II, 
Godfather III, The Untouchables, and Goodfellas, it could almost be 
guaranteed they would further reinforce Italian American criminality in 
the public mind. 

Against this background it becomes possible, even acceptable, to 
describe Tony Barone, a respected Creighton University basketball 
coach, "with a face out of Goodfellas." One wonders whether the press 
would have been so heedless in describing other ethnic groups with
disapproving connotations.

Acceptance of the criminal categorization stereotype is so endemic 
that even otherwise esteemed jurists embrace its context. In his 
lacerating decision while imposing life sentences to three convicted 
mobsters in May 1993, Senior United States District Judge Jack B. 
Weinstein relieved himself of observations which, while intended to be 
instructive, were widely condemned as destructive in that they 
reinforced negative images. After hearing testimony that individuals 
"had been lured into organized crime by the ethos of the neighborhood 
as young twigs bent by their..seniors," Weinstein proceeded to assert, 
"I believe there is a large part of the young Italo-American community 
that should be discouraged from going into this line of work." It is 
revealing to note that the pervasiveness of the stereotypical Italian 
American malefactor persists even among respected members of 
society.

Guilt by association is another insidious anti-Italian pattern. The mere
suggestion that one bearing an Italian name is connected with 
mobsters or illicit activity is enough to consign the unfortunate individual 
to censure and disapproval. This was clearly illustrated in 1992 when 
New York City Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman recommending against 
granting a city contract for a construction project to Frederick DeMatteis 
of the Leon DeMatteis Construction Co., despite the fact that his 
construction firm presented the lowest sealed bid for the work and that 
the firm had executed work projects satisfactorily for the city previously. 

Holtzman's attempt to link DeMatteis with convicted mobsters by 
insinuation, intimation and innuendo overrode ardent investigation and 
exculpation with the result that guilt by association placed DeMatteis 
on the defensive. The latter, however, had the will and the resources to 
fight the smear tactic as well as the strong support of Italian American
organizations and went on to demonstrate that he had never been 
connected with the named crime figures and was instead a bona fide 
businessman who was victimized because of his Italian ancestry. 

The truth of the matter was sustained by the New Jersey Casino 
Control Commission which conducted a thorough review of his 
application for a casino service industry license which it granted in 
January 1991.  Vindication for DeMatteis, and by extension to Italian 
Americans, came in DeMatteis' appeal in a strongly worded brief of 
October 7, 1992 in which New York :" Supreme Court Justice Alice 
Schlesinger rebuked Holtzman  and the city administration for denying 
DeMatteis a contract on spurious grounds that reflected ethnic prejudice.
Other than innuendo, speculation and guilt by association particularly 
by one with an Italian surname, there is simply no evidence of a 
probative value to show a link between petitioner and corrupt activity.

It was guilt by association or more accurately the alleged sins of the 
father that formed the nexus of anti-Italian discrimination experienced 
by New York City Corrections Commissioner Catherine Abate. Media 
preoccupation with her father's supposed unsavory past, rather than 
her exemplary record of twenty years of out-standing public service 
followed her appointment to a major law enforcement position in the 
nation's largest city. Italian American organizations denounced the
affair as inequitable and unjust maintaining individuals should be judged
only by their own actions and not alleged actions of any parent.
The smear campaign notwithstanding, Abate was able to retain her 
position. One can only speculate that this was due to the steadfast 
support of Italian American organizations and officials. 

While federal, state and city law-enforcement officials maintain that 
ordinarily agencies do not investigate backgrounds of people seeking 
positions there are exceptions leading to speculate that these 
exceptions escalate when Italian Americans are involved.

Altogether sufficient data has surfaced to indicate that discrimination
still abides. While the grossest, bluntest and most desensitized 
examples of yesteryear happily have been relegated to the dust bin of 
history, the more sophisticated, astute and elusive types remain on the 
scene to varying degrees. Anti-discrimination laws, greater sensitivity 
and proper education have all helped to diminish discrimination of 
course; however, it would be foolish in the extreme to believe that 
bigotry is over. Without succumbing to paranoia it seems prudent to be 
aware of its pernicious presence and detrimental possibilities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface 
1 Introduction.
9 Anti-Italianism: The Embryonic Stage , (Pre-1880) 
21 The Maturation of Anti-Italianism (1880-1890) 
52 Xenophobia During the High Tide:- of Italian Immigration (1890-1914) 
72 Roman Catholicism as an Obstacle-, to Assimilation (1890-1914) 
163 The Establishment's Solution to the "Foreign Problem" (1914-1930) 
181 'Anti-Italianism in the Vortex of Economic and Political Turmoil 
(1930-1945) 
227 The Post-World War II Period: Ongoing Problems 
247 Notes 
313 Bibliography 

GUERNICA .. TORONTO.BUFFALO.LANCASTER (U.K.) ~ 1999 - ~
Copyright @ 1973, by Salvatore J. LaGumina and Straight Arrow Books.
Copyright @ 1999, by Salvatore J. LaGumina and Guernica Editions Inc.
WOP! was originally published in 1973 by Straight Arrow Books, New York.
Excerpted articles appear in their original form without alteration or
correction by the publisher.
Antonio D' Alfonso, Editor. Guernica Editions Inc. RO. Box 117, Station ~
Toronto (ON), Canada M5S 2S6 2250 Military Rd., Tonawanda, N.Y 14150-6000
U.S.A. Gazelle, Falcon House, Queen Square, Lancaster lA11RN U.K.