Saturday,
April 26, 2008
The
ANNOTICO Report
Italian
American Activists in
In
the1960s, the push for "Minority Rights" and an emphasis on
Minority ethnic studies, to teach Minorities their "Victimization"
and PRIDE in their Heritage and Culture, and took an Anti-Eurocentric view
of history, that erroneously labeled ALL White Europeans as
"Oppressors", rather than realistically the Anglo Saxons, made
study of ANY European history unpopular.
Ironically,
the greatest surge of Italian Immigrants came between 1880-1920, and themselves
were treated in a most cruel manner, and only until 1940 did Italian Americans
begin gain any respect, when they were weighed down by Mussolini's
policies, and then by the 70s started to recover again, when they were
"blitzed" with the "Godfather" and the torrent of
"imitators" that tied the 'mafia" anchor around the
Italian- Americans neck.
Italian
Americans wound up having the "worst" of both world.
First
they were considered "inferior"
Then,
they were lumped in with Europeans that were "Oppressors", and looked
down upon.
Often,
Impression is more important than Reality.
Contra
Costa Times
By
Eric Louie
Staff
Writer
March
31, 2008
Ralph Lucchetti's parents started their east
But the
55-year-old owner of the Fruit Bowl, which includes a fruit stand, bakery and
ice cream shop, say the roots of other area Italian-American farms go much
deeper.
"My family
doesn't go that far back," he said. "I'm kind of the unique
one."
Lucchetti will be one of several
speakers next month at a conference at Las Positas
College in
The conference is
the first event in a partnership between the Western Regional Chapter of the
American Italian Historical Association and the community college. Organizers
hope to hold more events discussing the history of those immigrants, said Teri
Ann Bengiveno a Las Positas
history instructor and president of the historical association chapter.
Bengiveno said the majority of
Italian immigrants, especially in
Ken Scambray, an English professor at the University of La
Verne who grew up in Fresno, said census records show nearly 23,000
foreign-born Italians in California in 1900. That grew to nearly 101,000 by
1940.
"Italians
were the largest (group of) foreign-born Europeans in
Lawrence DiStasi, a Bolinas resident working on the conference, said
Italians worked along with other immigrants in agriculture.
"A lot of
them started small. Very often they would work for someone else," he said.
DiStasi said many have now become owners. "Most
of them are still there."
Yet they say it
is a history that's not widely recognized.
Scambray said the 1960s push for
ethnic studies and away from a "Eurocentric" view of history made
studying Italian history unpopular.
"There
developed an anti-European sentiment," he said. "People stopped thinking
about Europeans in the
Bengiveno also said their community
also has not pushed hard for recognition.
"Italians
and Italian-Americans really haven't demanded the story be told," she
said. "It's not going to be told by itself."
She said the
focus on Italian-American history has been on the East Coast, where the Italian
population is bigger.
That, however, is
beginning to change, conference organizers said. They are supporting AB1863, a
bill introduced in January that would encourage schools to include the
contributions of Italian-Americans in social studies. A similar bill had made
it to the governor's desk during the previous legislative session, but was
returned at the request of the Assembly, according to the state's legislative
information Web site.
As for Lucchetti, the farm owner, he said the number of
Italian-American farms is declining along with the disappearance of family
farms. Some farmers don't have children, and some of their children have gone
into other businesses.
Lucchetti said he remembered
telling his dad, now deceased, that he was going into farming.
"He said I
was crazy," Lucchetti said. But he said many
Italian farmers remain. "I'd say we're still a significant force."
Eric Louie covers
education. Reach him at 925-847-2123 or elouie@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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