Thursday,
November 16,
Rotolo
MS Stresses MultiCulturalism, Except for Italians-
John Kass- Chicogo Tribune
The
ANNOTICO Report
OK,
John Kass may be
biased, since he is married to a self described "Sicilian", a
beautiful collegian, when they first met, who initially rebuffed John because
she was initially irritated by his "love at first sight"
incessant staring.
I'm
sure she is glad she changed her mind, an we Italian
Americans are grateful for his "I get it" attitude.
Kass unequivocally states that Rotollo
MS "Fuggedaboudit" -- promotes hurtful
anti-Italian stereotypes to children in a public school.
He
was appalled by a teacher's badly written play
that makes fun of Italians. It offers an earthy "casta
charactas"--several rude cartoon Italians
juxtaposed against the clean-cut American FBI agents.
Kass notes that: "American public schools are zealously
multicultural these days. Any image or word is examined lest it be considered
even remotely offensive to some group. School textbooks across the country are
subject to rigorous, almost Orwellian cultural censorship in this regard".
"So it is amazing that the school board in
"Americans
of Italian descent are rightfully exasperated by the constant film references
to the Mafia at the EXCLUSION OF ALL ELSE (caps added), save Italian food. Yet
the frequency of such references tells us more about the American culture than
of the Italian".
"But none of that belongs in a school play financed by tax dollars. Being
a kid is difficult enough without adding negative stereotypes to the mix.
American public schools stress multiculturalism, and multiculturalism welcomes
almost everyone".
Unless of course, you're ....Italian.
By
John Kass
November 16, 2006
When
it comes to the national controversy over that offensive middle school play in
Blame it all on what a beautiful young woman with long black hair and big brown
eyes told me years ago in college. She was irritated because I spent the entire
class staring at her from across the room. Afterward, when I approached, she
gave me a special message.
She politely told me to get lost.
But I declined and clumsily tried to make conversation by asking her, quite
foolishly: Hey, wait, so, you're Italian?
"No, I'm Sicilian," she said, walking away, curiously oblivious to
something I knew about her future that she didn't know--that we'd get married
and have kids and make a life. And so we did.
Our boys are in 5th grade now, and I might as well confess. My sons are not in
the O u! tfit. Their mom
isn't a "made" member. She just got her master's degree and hopes to
teach elementary school.
And I am appalled by a teacher's badly written play produced at
The characters include "Don Vincenzo Medici" and his buddy "Don
Salvatore Palazzo," the Outfit bosses with hearts of gold; and the
matriarch, "Mama Mia Caprese," and her two
sons, "Gino," who has a "shady background," and
"Joey," described in the play as "kinda
dim."
American public schools are zealously multicultural these days. Any image or
word is examined lest it be considered even remotely offensive to some group.
School textbooks across the country are subject to rigorous, almost Orwellian
cultural censorship in this regard.
So it is amazing that the school board in
"That this stuff keeps being perpetuated in 2006 is very
frustrating," said
Dona De Sanctis, deputy executive director of the
Order Sons of Italy in
"We find it very disturbing when a school would put on a play stereotyping
Italian-Americans when they wouldn't think of doing such a thing if it were
stereotyping African-Amer i!
cans or Jewish-Americans," she told us.
The
The Bada Bing is the strip-club hangout for Tony
Soprano's gang. A few seasons ago, many of my colleagues were crazy about
"The Sopranos." They loved it. Then, in one episode, a Bada Bing stripper made a terrible mistake. She questioned
the sexuality of her boyfriend, one of the Soprano bosses.
He asked her to walk outside, to the parking lot, and there he beat her to
death with his fists. Then they wrapped her in a carpet and dumped her
somewhere in the marsh. This shocked and appalled more than a few viewers I
know who, up until that point, were getting a vicarious thrill from the show.
But that's who they are. They're c! riminals.
In real life, out in the
Americans of Italian descent are rightfully exasperated by the constant film
references to the Mafia at the exclusion of all else, save Italian food. Yet
the frequency of such references tells us more about the American culture than
of the Italian.
As the American culture becomes increasingly bureaucratic and timid, it is also
desperate to transform fictionalized Italians into icons of unrepentant male
power, as we watch cable TV from the safety of our living rooms, perhaps even
wincing when the mobster beats the stripper to death.
So, are some Italians involved in organized crime? Is there an Outfit? Yes, of
course. Every ethnic group has its criminals. But none of that belongs in a
school play financed by tax ! dollars.
Being a kid is difficult enough without adding negative stereotypes to the mix.
American public schools stress multiculturalism, and multiculturalism welcomes
almost everyone.
Unless of course, you're European, and particularly, Italian.
----------
jskass@tribune.com
JOHN KASS
BIOGRAPHY (Abbreviated) from
The son of a Greek immigrant grocer, Kass was born
June 23, 1956, on
In 2004, Kass was awarded the Society of Professional
Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi national award for general column writing, the
Scripps Howard Foundation's National Journalism Award for commentary, the Press
Club of Atlantic City's National Headliner Award for local interest column
writing on a variety of subjects, and the Chicago Headline Club's Lisagor Award for best daily newspaper columnist. In
1992, Kass won the Chicago Tribune's Beck Award for
writing.
Kass lives in the western suburbs with his wife and
twin s o! ns. His column appears on Page A2 of the
Chicago Tribune every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
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