(1) SUCCESS ON THE HIGH SEAS
(2) OUR COUSIN VINNY 
(3) MODERN GLADIATOR - Manny Alfano
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(1) SUCCESS ON THE HIGH SEAS

The famous Royal Caribbean Cruise Line recently had a great idea: How about a 
vacation trip with a Mafia theme? Yes, a Mafia Cruise Trip, including a 
theater show featuring “lovable” Italian gangsters along with references to 
Italian food, language, music, etc. Thanks to Dona DeSanctis at the National 
Italian American Foundation and West Coast activist Richard Annotico, the 
word got out and our activists got busy. Many of them pointed out the 
absurdity of such an enterprise, noting how such a “fun event” not only 
makes a mockery of Italian culture, but would be totally unacceptable if 
directed at any other group of Americans. (Think about it: Can you imagine a 
song-and-dance show about urban drug dealers?)

Chicago’s own Walter Santi weighted the results in our favor, writing a 
thoughtful e-mail to the cruise line’s marketing director about how this type 
of defamation has been going on for decades. Walter’s credo — that people 
act more out of ignorance than malice —proved to be the key here, as he 
contrasted the wisdom of his years with the naiveté of the cruise line’s 
young marketing person, who admitted that she wasn’t aware of how extensive 
such defamation has become. 

The result? No more Mafia theme. Instead, the criminal theme has been 
replaced with criminal characters who have “generic” names — specifically, 
last names mirroring the signs of the zodiac (for example, Angela 
Sagittarius, Mark Taurus, etc.). Strike up another victory for our cugini 
across the nation. And don’t forget to patronize Royal Caribbean for being so 
receptive to our concerns.

(2) OUR COUSIN VINNY 

There’s a morning sports show on New York radio station WNEW-AM, called “The 
Sports Guys,” featuring a couple of “shock jocks” named Craig and Blain. 
According to listeners of the station, the two regularly refer to New York 
Jets quarterback Vinnie Testaverde as “Vinnie the Guinea.” The station has 
by now received many phone calls and e-mails from outraged Italian Americans 
(would anyone dare use a derogatory term in relation to athletes of 
non-Italian racial and ethnic backgrounds?), and they have gotten at least 
one response from the show’s hosts. Dr. Manny Alfano received a reply from 
Blain Ensley, in which he said, “both Craig and myself are part Italian … we 
mean no harm … it’s said with love.” Look closely at this response, and 
you’ll notice, it isn’t an apology. More over, Ensley is saying that they’re 
just kidding around, and besides, it’s OK, because the hosts are part 
Italian. So does that mean it would be OK for an African-American radio host 
to refer to Michael Jordan as “Mike the Moolie”? Or how about an Hispanic 
broadcaster calling Mr. Sosa “Sammy the Spic”? Well, “Vinnie the Guinea” is 
just as ugly as any other ethnic or racial slur and just because the person 
issuing the slur is part Italian, that doesn’t mean it’s all right. In fact, 
it’s not only sick, but sad. Sad that these two guys have no appreciation of 
their heritage and that they sully their lineage by acting like this. 

If you have any thoughts on this, the WNEW home page is at www.wnew.com, 
clicking on “The Sports Guys” icon will bring you to their page, and you can 
then click on “feedback” to send your comments to them. Or, you can e-mail 
Craig and Blain directly at www.craig@wnew.com and www.blain@wnew.com.

(3) MODERN GLADIATOR

In this section of the column, I pay homage to people or organizations who 
have made a major difference in making anti-defamation efforts a reality. And 
I can’t think of a better first choice than Dr. Manny Alfano, a man who’s 
been at the forefront of fighting negative stereotyping since the early 
1970s. 

A native of Newark, New Jersey, Alfano has had a dual career: first as an 
elementary school teacher in the Newark School System from 1969 to 1995, and 
then as a licensed chiropractor since 1982 (now semi-retired). Though his 
educational background  undoubtedly contributed to his curiosity about his 
Sicilian  heritage, Alfano’s ethnic “rebirth” was actually inspired by his 
young African-American students, many of whom developed pride about their 
heritage through civil rights marches and the broadcast of shows like 
“Roots.” Alfano was even instrumental in developing that pride, having 
taught aspects of black history during his years of teaching.

 (An interesting sidebar: Many of our activists similarly began their careers 
helping other minorities develop ethnic pride — African Americans, Hispanics, 
Asians, etc. So much for the popular stereotype of “racist” Italians.)

Alfano is a member of the Order Sons of Italy in America and serves as 
national chairman of the Anti-Bias Committee of UNICO National. Back in the 
mid-’90s, Alfano realized that the Internet provided a unique opportunity to 
bring cohesion to national anti-defamation efforts. Thus was born the Italian 
American One Voice Coalition (Una Voce), an Internet information network 
created by Alfano and other East Coast activists. Thanks to their efforts, 
items about offensive movies, TV shows, etc. are immediately broadcast on the 
site, reaching an ever-widening group of concerned Italian Americans who can 
then respond with a click of a button. You can log onto his Web site by 
typing in http://members.aol.com/ItaliaAmOneVoice.

“The Internet has truly revolutionized the Italian-American anti-defamation 
movement,” says Alfano, who has appeared on numerous radio and television 
shows over the past four years. “It’s become a unifying force. In the old 
days, we’d find out about things almost by accident, then it’d take a while 
to send out letters, make phone calls and so on. Today, we have the 
information at our fingertips, and we can respond right away. It has 
definitely made a difference.”

Thanks to this new technology, the mainstream media now acknowledges that 
yes, Virginia, not all Italian Americans enjoy being portrayed as vicious, 
foul-mouthed criminals. 

Quick example: Alfano has instituted an annual “Pasta-Tute” Award, which 
shines a harsh spotlight on Italian Americans in politics, movies, etc. who 
have done the most to “dishonor” their heritage. His winner in 2000 (no 
surprise) was David (DeCesare) Chase, creator of HBO’s mob series “The 
Sopranos.”  TIME Magazine carried an item about the award, and David Chase, 
in a separate interview in Newsweek, grumbled aloud about receiving such a 
“stupid” award. Chase retaliated by making a character on his show — 
Richard, Dr. Melfi’s ex-husband  and an Italian-American activist — a 
humorless, grumpy, self-absorbed complainer. 

Clearly, we’re bugging the heck out of the powers-that-be. And Alfano and his 
electronic “Roman Legions” deserve major kudos for that. Bravi! 

JIM SCALZITTI'S  "Media Watch" column, will highlight OFFENSES against the 
Italian-American community. Jim would be interested in receiving Emails 
detailing information regarding such Offenses at << jscalz@earthlink.net >>. 

BILL DAL CERRO'S  "Sempre Avanti" will highlight ACTIVISM in RESPONSE 
to those Infractions. Likewise, Bill would be interested in receiving Emails 
detailing information regarding such Activism Response at 
<<bdcerro@yahoo.com>>. 

PAUL BASILE is requesting information any existing Italian-American 
antidefamation WEB  SITES, so that Paul can add it to his Resource List.
He can be reached at << FraNoiNews >>. PLEASE do not send Paul
Anti Defamation information. He is drowning in Emails as it is! 
That information is to be directed to either Jim or Bill. 

Please add the above Names and Email Addresses to your "ADDRESS BOOK". 

By two seperate ANNOTICO Reports I will be sending those two Columns.