Sad to report, just this past week, a "so called" leader of the Italian 
Community in one of our mid sized cities!

This "Soprano" (Read 'Castrati'), This "Spaghetti Italian" (Read an I-A who only
recognizes their Italian and Italian Culture when it served to them on a plate),
This "Quisling" (Read the "The Enemy Within"), and ...well you get the picture.

Now if this "Cafone" thinks this dialogue Defamatory, I hope he will take his 
own advice, and "Ignore Defamation", But NOT what Mr. Giordano writes 
below!! [;-).  
============================================
Identity Crisis: Stereotypes Stifle Self-Development 

By Joseph Giordano
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Psychologist, director of the American Jewish Committee's Center 
On Ethnicity, Behavior and Communications and is co-chairman of 
the Italian American Media Institute.
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There is hardly an ethnic group in American society that doesn't feel 
maligned by 
the media. Although analysis of the media's limited viewpoint often focuses 
on 
racial minorities, white ethnics and national minorities also resent 
stereotyped, negative or unbalanced portrayals. 

What the media that perpetrate them choose to ignore is the extent to which 
ethnic consciousness shapes individual identity. Mass media practitioners. 
particularly, find it easy to forget their viewers' history as children and 
grandchildren of immigrants. They fail to realize how this immigrant heritage 
becomes a sharper of values and attitudes that are transmitted through 
generations and continue as vital forces in their descendants' lives. 

This tendency reflects our new understanding of the role this history plays 
in identity. In fact, research in the field of mental health confirms a deep 
psychological need for a sense of peoplehood, for historical continuity. Our 
ethnicity often plays a major role in determining how we feel about 
ourselves, how we work, how we play, how we celebrate holidays and rituals, 
how we feel about life, death, and illness. 

As a reflector of society's values, the media have a tremendous impact on the 
shaping of our personal and group identities. Radio, television, films, 
newspapers, magazines and comics can convey the rich texture of a pluralistic 
society or they can, directly or indirectly (by omission and distortion), 
alter our perceptions of other ethnic groups and reinforce our defensiveness 
and ambivalence about our own cultural backgrounds. As an Italian-American, 
I've realized this myself when comparing the ethnic invisibility of '50s 
television with modern shows that concentrate on Mafia hit men and multiple 
biographies of Mussolini. Having squirmed as I watch some of these 
portrayals, I can empathize with Arabs who resent being characterized as 
villainous sheiks, Jews seen as mendacious moguls or even the current vogue 
for matching a Russian accent with a kind of oafish villainy. Although such 
stereotypes may or may not serve political ends, they share the cartoonlike 
isolation of a few traits that ignore the humanity and variety of a group's 
members. 

What is the impact of ethnic stereotypes on TV and in film on how people feel 
about themselves and how they perceive other ethnic groups? 

Although research in this area is limited, what is available suggests that TV 
and film's portrayal of ethics does have a deleterious effect on perceptions 
of self and others. In my own clinical work, I have found that minority 
children and adults will often internalize negative stereotypes about their 
own group. Other studies have shown that ethnic stereotypes on television and 
in the movies can contribute to prejudice against a particular group - 
especially when the person is not acquainted with any members of that group. 

For example, in one study of television fiction, both white and black 
children indicated fairly high levels of acceptance that what they were 
viewing was like "real life," including stereotypes about their own ethnic 
groups. 

Teaching Prejudice 

In studies of youngsters who commit hate acts - desecration of religious 
institutions, racial and anti-Semitic indigents - many youngsters apprehended 
reported they got the idea of performing vandalism from news coverage of 
similar acts (the copy cat syndrome). They saw media coverage as conferring 
recognition and prestige, temporarily raising their low self esteem. 

Add to TV fiction and news the rash of "truly tasteless" joke books, radio 
call-in shows that invite bigoted calls from listeners, late-night TV hosts 
and comedians who denigrate ethnic groups, and the impact on peoples' 
perceptions is considerable. While the media cannot be blamed for creating 
the bigotry, their insensitive comments establishes a societal norm that 
gives license to such attitudes and behavior. 

An important cause of distorted and damaging TV stereotypes is the tendency 
of some media executives to view ethnic culture as an "immigrant phenomenon," 
a transitional phase in the process of Americanization rather than a 
continuing influence on people's language, religious lives, arts, politics, 
food preferences and so on. Except for a colorful parade here and a 
human-interest story there, even ethnic news is sometimes suspect - 
"parochial" or "divisive," an encouragement of the nation's "balkanization." 

The media often fail to see that for many Americans, ethnic and religious 
traditions are still powerful influences. At times, these traditions conflict 
with surrounding values, but they are also sources of strength and 
understanding. How they work in second-, third-, and fourth-generation 
families can provide a rich store of story ideas and authentic 
characterizations for writers, directors, and actors. 

Becoming Real 

What, then, do ethnic Americans want? Just accurate portrayals of our lives. 
"Feedback" to us of a sense of pride in who we are. Appreciation of our 
special sadness, joys, achievements, faults, humor, the diversity of our 
lifestyles and the common experiences that bind all Americans together as 
human beings. 

And what can ethnic groups do to make the media more culturally sensitive? To 
begin with, go beyond complaining and work more closely with media executives 
and the creative community. Applaud the industry when it presents 
high-quality, culturally authentic programs. Urge media people to use such 
resources on the ethnic experience as good novels, plays, short stories, 
magazine articles, newspaper stories. 

Of course, some stereotyping is unavoidable in a simplified media like 
television and ethnic groups should understand that. But the media should 
also stop relying on these old negative caricatures. When ethnic groups ask 
for a balanced presentation in programs that reach millions of Americans, 
they are certainly not trying to censor the media. They only want to be shown 
as they are - not better, but surely not worse. 
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http://www.terry.uga.edu/~dawndba/4500Stereotypes.htm