"This is one of the best speeches I have ever read. It is also one of the
best synthesis, and yet striking histories of anti-Italian American prejudice
and persecution in this country. Finally, it is a rousing call to arms in
defense not just of Italian Americans, but of all humanity. It deserves to
be read and reposted as widely as possible."

[RAA Note: AIDA is the American Italian Defense Association, located in 
Chicago, and the Plaintiff in a suit against HBO/"The Sopranos"]
================================================
WHY AIDA? WHAT DOES IT WANT?

Speech by Theodore W. Grippo
On July 19, 2001 
To The B'nai B'rith Anti Defamation League
At the Union League Club of Chicago

Let me say how grateful I am to B’nai B'rith, the Lincoln Legal Foundation 
and the Public Affairs Committee of the Union League Club, for sponsoring 
this luncheon and providing me with the opportunity to share my views with 
you.

Today, I will talk about more than a century of defamation of the Italian
American community.

Much of the dark history of the world has centered on ethnic, religious and
racial conflicts.  And yet history also shows the noble side of mankind
constantly striving towards ethnic, religious and racial harmony.  The
American experience reflects these conflicting currents.  While our founding
fathers announced to the world that all men are created equal with
unalienable rights, those in power and privilege often extended those ideals
only to members of a favored majority while defamation, scapegoating and
even enslavement of vulnerable minorities was allowed.

Members of the B’nai B’rith Anti-defamation League are aware of the harm
that defamation, discrimination and scapegoating can impose upon a group.
The ADL has worked valiantly to challenge those wrongs wherever it has 
found them.  And those efforts have helped all minorities because the 
defamation of one minority that goes unchallenged contributes to a climate 
of acceptance and leads to the defamation of other minorities.

You may have noticed recent changes in how Italian Americans are reacting 
to the way the media has been stereotyping our community.

The winds of change are sweeping across the Italian-American community.  
No longer are we standing stoically silent as we have in the past.  More and
more we are speaking out against the exploitation of our ethnicity.

Italian immigrants had a hard time in America from the start: They were
shamelessly exploited by business for their cheap labor; hated by the
workers they displaced and despised by more established Americans for 
their ethnicity, traditions and religion.  Politicians, seizing on 
anti-immigrant
bias and encouraged by the crimes of a few, blamed them for the urban
problems of a fast growing America.  They became the favorite scapegoat of
the media.

So one-sided has the media’s assault been that “a few Italians are
 criminals” has become “most Italians are criminals.”  Remember, the
Watergate tapes revealed President Nixon’s attitude that “you can’t find an
honest Italian.”  Quite ironic when you think of his own conduct and the way
Judge Sirica and Chairman Rodino conducted themselves in that drama.

Remember, ABC’s Sam Donaldson’s warning on national television that “if 
you have a vowel at the end of your name and you run for office, you’ll be
investigated.”  Quite ironic when you now hear Sam denouncing racial
profiling.

Remember, candidate Bill Clinton’s clandestine comment to Gennifer 
Flowers that Governor Cuomo acted like some kind of mean Mafioso.  
Quite ironic when you think of how eloquently Governor Cuomo introduced 
candidate Bill Clinton to the American people at the Democratic Convention 
in 1992.

Clearly this prejudice has reached the highest levels of our society.

Now, in order to better understand our situation today, we must look to how
the media dealt with certain historic events of national scope during the
past 150 years affecting Italian-Americans.  I have identified what I
believe are five such major events:

FIRST:  There were numerous lynchings and killings of early Italian 
immigrants.  
Are you aware that Italian-Americans were killed by mob violence in the 
1870's 
and 1880's and that mob violence against Italian-Americans became a frequent 
occurrence thereafter?  From 1892 until 1920 there were killings of Italians 
by 
mobs of Americans on average, every other year during that 28-year period.  
Mob violence and death to Italian-Americans occurred here in Illinois in West 
Frankfort, in 1920.  It was so bad that Governor Lowden had to call out the 
National Guard as hundreds of Italian Americans were assaulted, beaten and 
driven from their homes.

However, the most notorious violence occurred in New Orleans in 1892,
where 11 Sicilians were lynched by a bloodthirsty mob of thousands.  Their
crime?  They were tried on charges they were involved in the murder of the
chief of police.  Even under those circumstances, the trial convicted no one. 
 
Six were exonerated, the jury was hung on three and two were never tried.  
The eleven were held in jail after the trail on a claim that additional 
charges 
were to be filed in what appears to have been a set up for the lynchings.  
No one was ever charged or prosecuted, although the authorities and the 
media were well aware of the leaders of this terrible crime.  Article after 
article 
in the newspapers of the day readily assumed that the Italians were properly 
punished.  A widely circulated article justifying the lynchings, but 
disguised 
as an immigration policy statement, was authored by then Congressman and 
later Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.

NEXT:The Communist “Red” scare of the 1920's, which the media blamed on
Italian immigrant workers.  The Red scare was principally responsible for the 
7 year disgraceful trial and agony of Sacco and Vanzetti, and finally, their 
executions.  Whether you believe Sacco and Vanzetti guilty or innocent, 
there is no question they did not receive a fair trial.  If you are in doubt 
read 
then professor and later Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter’s brilliant 
analysis condemning their trial and asserting their innocence.

NEXT:   During the Prohibition Era of the 1920's and 1930's, gangs of many
nationalities were actively breaking the law, but because of the way the 
media reported these events, this era became almost exclusively identified
with Italian American gangsters.

NEXT: During World War II, which for a time made Italy our enemy, more than
600,000 Italian American were subjected to wartime restrictions that
involved the loss of their freedoms, jobs, businesses and property, even as
they had more than 1 million sons and daughters serving and dying in the
U.S. military.  These detentions were something the media played down at 
the time and little or no reporting has been done on this subject until 
recently.

FINALLY:    Senator Kefauver’s plan to run for President lead to his 
politically inspired televised congressional hearings in the 1950's covering 
organized 
crime and its association with Italian-Americans.

There was no media outrage regarding the lynchings or the wartime
detentions.  Quite the contrary, the media was openly antagonistic, often
scapegoating Italian immigrants by blaming them for the social and economic
ills of the nation.  Paralleling, each of these major events, newspapers, 
radio, 
movies and television spewed a deluge of negative stories about Italian 
Americans.  A highly publicized article entitled “What Shall We Do With The 
Dago,” like Henry Cabot Lodge’s article gives you a flavor of the time.  
Author Michael Barone in “The New Americans” provides a deeper insight.  He 
observes that many Americans doubted that Italians were “white”; a witness 
in a congressional hearing in the early 20th century, was asked if he 
considered an Italian a white man, he replied, “No, sir, an Italian is a 
Dago.”  
In the American south, Italians were often segregated and classified as yet 
another race something “between.”  As one southern newspaper put it at that 
time, “the average man will classify the population as White, Dagos and 
Negroes.”

Our children did not escape this prejudice.  Victor Arrigo, respected lawyer
and legislator, has told of his experience, as he put it, of this “carcinoma
of the soul.”  When he was 12 years old on his way home from the public
library with two books under his arm, he was stopped by a policeman.  The
greeting was, “Hey, Wop, where did you swipe those books?”, immediately
followed by a kick in the backside and the parting remark, “Don’t tell me
you Dagos are learning to read,” when Victor showed his library card to
prove his innocence.  He recalled that the trauma of that experience and the
feeling of degradation that followed was deeply ingrained in his memory.

The Italic Studies Institute has found that for the last seventy years, some
800 American movies have been made depicting Italian-Americans mostly as
criminals.  Since the 1960's, television has inundated the public with the
Untouchables and an endless series of mafia stories.  The 1970's brought us
the Godfather trilogy and its progeny of wiseguys, goodfellows and avenging
wives of the Dons.  And now, the Sopranos, followed by advertising agencies,
piggy backing on the publicity of the Sopranos by creating a host of
commercials based on Italian-American gangster types:  Red Lobster, 
Wrigley Gum, Pepsi Cola and Lycos are a few examples.

Is it any wonder that a recent Zogby poll reveals that 78% of teenagers
associate Italian Americans with criminal activities or jobs as restaurant
workers and an earlier poll revealed that 74% of adults associate
Italian-Americans with organized crime.

Now let’s discuss Columbus.

We don’t have time today to talk about Columbus’ contributions to western
civilization.  I’ll leave that to honest historians, but I want to bring to 
your 
attention that Italian Americans in Denver Colorado have been intimidated 
since 1992 from holding a Columbus Day celebration by AIM, the American 
Indian Movement.  In order for the Italian American community to hold a 
celebration in October of 2000, they were coerced by city, state and federal 
authorities into signing an illegal agreement requiring them to eliminate any 
reference to Columbus in the celebration.  Fortunately, the ACLU threatened 
suit on this unconstitutional arrangement.  As a result, the Italian American 
community declared the agreement void, and held a Columbus Day 
Celebration in Denver last October for the first time since 1992.  AIM did 
everything they could to disrupt the parade.  During the parade signs were 
held reading “Sons of Italy”?“Sons of Bitches” – “Mafia Scum”.  AIM has 
threatened continued opposition to Columbus Day parades.  What is most
disturbing is the active participation of governmental authorities 
restricting 
the rights of assembly and free speech of Italian Americans.

How are we to deal with all of this?  Listen to what Harry Golden, Editor of
the South Carolina Israelite and sometime TV celebrity said in 1958:
“Has any group in this country since the very beginning had a worse press
than the Italians?  I doubt it.  Their bootleggers and gangsters (no more
and no less than others) have been spread across the front pages for years
and years.

The Italian has become almost a stereotype for the gangster and the mobster.
This, of course, is not only unfair but untrue.

Yet what makes it remarkable is that the Italians do nothing about it.  They
have no organized press relations or defense groups.”

Now, let me tell you about Dorothy Rabinowitz, a Pulitzer Prize winning
journalist.  She wrote an inspiring article in The Wall Street Journal
several years ago entitled “An Army of Schindlers from Italy”.  The article
spoke of the heroic efforts of many Italians to save Jews from the Nazis; of
Italian soldiers turning their guns on Nazi soldiers to save Jews on their
way to concentration camps; and of Italian authorities forging identity
papers to save Jews.  The end of the article indicated that Ms. Rabinowitz
was writing a book on the subject.  I called her to see when it would be
published.  She told me that she was working on the book but because of a
busy schedule, had deferred it’s completion.  But then she turned the
conversation on me and asked what I was doing about that ridiculous TV 
show The Sopranos – that it was a most despicable show – that no other 
group would tolerate such a show.  Ms. Rabinowitz shook my conscience.  
>From then on, I realize that something had to be done and ultimately AIDA, 
the American Italian Defense Association, became the answer for me.

AIDA was organized on April 6, 2000.  For the past year, we have developed
membership, monitored the media and voiced our objections to defamatory
presentations.  AIDA’s most aggressive action was taken on April 6th of this
year, when it filed suit against Time Warner Entertainment Co. regarding the
Sopranos.

The basis of our case centers on two provisions of the Illinois Constitution. 
 

The Individual Dignity Clause which provides:
“To promote individual dignity, communications that portray criminality,
depravity or lack of virtue in, or that incite violence, hatred, abuse or
hostility toward, a person or group of persons by reason of or by reference
to religious, racial, ethnic, national or regional affiliation are condemned.”

The Right to Remedy clause, which provides:
“Every person shall find a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries and
wrongs which he receives to his person, privacy, property or reputation.  
He shall obtain justice, by law, freely, completely, and promptly.”

AIDA claims that The Sopranos breaches the Dignity Clause and therefore is 
a “wrong” within the meaning of the Right to Remedy Clause, thus providing
AIDA with a cause of action.

However, AIDA does not seek to restrict the free speech of Time Warner or
its ability to distribute the Sopranos anywhere nor does AIDA seek damages.
AIDA’s only remedy is to ask for a declaratory judgment that The Sopranos
breaches the Dignity Clause, this and nothing more.

During the first week following the filing, members of AIDA including myself
and our counsel appeared on various television programs which were replayed
in 85 outlets before millions of viewers.  Hundreds of stories appeared in
newspapers and magazines throughout the country.  We received hundreds 
of e-mails, telephone calls and letters in support of our action and the
endorsement and support of all major Italian American organizations.

While some Italian Americans have been quoted as “loving the program” or
they find nothing offensive about it, or “if you don’t like it, turn it off” 
– we say 
The Sopranos is a vulgar, violent and profane depiction of not just “mob” 
characters but of Italian Americans and their families in general and a 
desecration of their traditions.  One of the most serious objections is that 
there is no balance in the program.  All the characters, including the 
non-mob characters are lacking in virtue.  Tony Soprano’s children, his wife, 
his sister, 
his mother, his next door neighbor the doctor, his friend the restaurant 
owner, 
his parish priest, his psychiatrist, are all portrayed as Italian Americans, 
are 
not members of the mob but are all lacking in virtue, and they all condone or 
accept Tony’s vile, profane and murderous conduct, leading to the conclusion 
that such conduct is acceptable to Italians in general or part of the Italian 
personality.  Moreover, the program expressly suggests that criminality is in 
the blood or the genes of Italians, and that Italians as early immigrants had 
little opportunities other than to turn to crime.

Because of those kinds of messages, repeated in episode after episode,
replayed again and again, for 3 years, like an ethnic assault, we believe
The Sopranos has gone over the line and breaches the Dignity Clause.

And for those who disagree, and I’m sorry to say some in our community 
think we should lighten up, I point to the polls and say this is not the 
legacy
that we should leave to our children and grandchildren.

But perhaps we owe as much or even more to the honor and memory of our
mothers and fathers and grandparents, who so courageously made that
dangerous and fearful crossing, they came with nothing, absolutely nothing,
but the desire to give us a chance for a better life.

Now, I don’t want this talk to be remembered as just another rant about the
victimization of one ethnic group.

There is a larger issue here.  The defamation of any ethnic, religious or
racial group is bad for all Americans because it undercuts the very essence
of what America was intended to be.  Let me quote your own Joe Morris from 
a letter he wrote me:

America stands, for every people, as humanity’s greatest beacon of freedom,
tolerance, dignity, justice, advancement and hope.

These ideals cannot be fully realized if we tolerate stereotyping or 
scapegoating of even the least and most vulnerable of our minorities.  Such
wrongs can lead to a kind of balkanization, with groups competing against
one another for power and privilege, or at the very least to defend their own 
dignity.  Diversity can be our strength only when diversity is respected and 
honored.

We believe the media has a major responsibility in this matter.  They have
been blessed with the benefits and protections of our Constitution.  They
should use their power to advance the ideals of the very Constitution that 
has 
given them so much.  If not, our national motto – “E Pluribus Unum” – out 
of 
many, one, will be lost.

And to the entertainment industry, we say - entertainment should not be
judged by its popularity, the acclaim of critics, the awards it receives or
how well it is presented or written.  It must meet a higher standard.  We
believe that standard is the Individual Dignity Clause.

Let me remind you that at an earlier time, Leni Riefenshtal was acclaimed 
a genius and that her film “Triumph of the Will” and other works were very
popular – but they were used by Hitler for his propaganda purposes.

Let me also remind you – that at an earlier time – “Birth of a Nation,” an
extremely derogatory film about African Americans, was very popular – it was
acclaimed a great epic.  Its scenes are still studied and admired in film
schools.  No less an authority than President Woodrow Wilson admired the
film.

Let me make the point that propaganda poisons populations and again that
defamation or scapegoating of one minority that goes unchallenged ultimately
opens the door to defaming or scapegoating other minorities.

There is no better statement on this point then that made by an obscure
Protestant minister to the renowned theologian Dietrich Bonhoffer: When 
Hitler attacked the Jews, I was not a Jew, therefore, I was not concerned; 
and 
when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I 
was 
not concerned; and when Hitler attacked the Unions and Industrialists, I was 
not a member of the Unions and I was not concerned; then Hitler attacked me 
and the Protestant church and there was no body left to be concerned.

--- There may be a silver lining in all of this.  A sleeping giant may have 
been awakened.  The irony perhaps poetic irony is that the excesses of the 
media 
may have finally aroused Italian-Americans and hopefully many other 
Americans to be concerned, and in the end, we, the group so often defamed,
may be the group to help eliminate negative stereotyping, defamation and
scapegoating of all minorities.

In a larger sense, AIDA is a call to brotherhood for all Americans to be
concerned and to oppose such wrongs.

AIDA’s mission can best be summarized by the words of the poet, John 
Donne in what was his call to brotherhood: I’ve taken the liberty of adding 
two words of my own – I think you’ll be able to identify them:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, 
a part of the main; any man’s death [or defamation] diminishes me, because 
I am involved in mankind; therefore never send to know for whom the bell 
tolls, 
it tolls for thee.

Thank you.