Then there are ALL those people "privileged" and "protected" people who INSIST on "Sensitivity", and to treating THEM with Respect and Dignity, and do not tolerate the slightest slur. What are their thoughts and/or actions when "other" people are being ridiculed?? Do I detect an indifferent, self centered, selfish hypocrisy? 

Are Italian Americans the only Americans not entitled to protection from  Discrimination and Defamation on the basis of Ethnicity, and Race???  Are we indeed the only "permissible" targets of Bigotry remaining ??

Try to put yourself in the mind of this 11 year old girl, who if not before, now knows, what her classmates, think of her heritage, and undoubtedly her.....

How many times a day, to how many Italian American children nationwide, do they have their self-respect similarly "spat" on??? 
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Thanks to Manny Alfano... Join IAOV at bottom!!!

ITALIAN AMERICANS MUST SPEAK OUT ABOUT STEREOTYPING

Hartford Courant
Joseph P. Fasi 
Letter to Editor
Sunday, November 10, 2002 

Last month, my wife, 11-year-old daughter and I were subjected to a Renbrook 
School-sponsored skit ridiculing Italian Americans as fat, foul-mouthed, flatulent, stupid people. With purported Italian accents, hand waving and a script replete with "mama mias" and "fettuccini alfredos," the sixth-to ninth-grade actors depicted a family of Italian Americans at "The Garden Olive," an Italian restaurant and the skit's title.

It was clear that the seven or so children on stage had planned, practiced and were now presenting to the Renbrook students, parents and teachers a skit of hurtful, hateful, derogatory Italian American stereotypes. There was no plot; it was simply ridicule. My wife quickly left; I forced myself to be a witness.

In retrospect, I learned something. Until you've been ridiculed for your ethnicity or race - essentially the cards you were dealt at birth - you haven't known humiliation. 

The Renbrook Review is a series of student-and faculty-performed skits. The school sits on Avon Mountain overlooking Hartford, on land donated by the founder of what is now United Technologies. It is an exclusive private school whose pride has been educating the children of Hartford's elite. Others who are willing to pay the price may also attend.

In the past 40 years, our nation has learned that we cannot peacefully prosper unless people are judged solely by their deeds and decisions: by the "content of their character," as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said. 

Children in school in the United States are taught that preconceived notions based on race, religion or ethnicity are hateful impediments to fulfilling our country's unique promise to secure the individual's right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. In other words, impediments to meaningful opportunity.

Yet, an exception to this abhorrence of stereotypes is made for Italian Americans. Renbrook School's skit is a perfect example. Would a skit intended to mock people of the Jewish faith or African Americans have made it past the Renbrook teacher who supervised dress rehearsal? Certainly not. Political correctness is extended to some but not all.

The popular depiction of the Mafia in entertainments from the first "Godfather" film to "The Sopranos" television show is the primary factor emboldening those who stereotype Italian Americans to publicly ply their trade. This typecasting of Italians as criminals and buffoons is in direct contrast to other media portrayal of minorities, who are increasingly cast in positions of power, authority and righteousness. Apparently, America needs an underclass to mock.

T.S. Eliot's poetry is scanned for anti-Semitism. The dialect of Mark Twain's novels is scrutinized for racial epithets. Yet I sat at a middle school performance and no one batted an eye when the culture of an entire ethnicity was brutally mocked.

What's unique about Renbrook's participation in stereotyping is its tender-aged, middle school setting. Like all American children, Renbrook students learn that the American experience of the Puritans, African slaves and immigrants is the search for equality, opportunity and freedom. 

They learn the vital lesson that racism, bigotry and intolerance have caused our most tumultuous times. The hypocrisy of what was put on the Renbrook stage means that the lesson has been learned by neither the Renbrook teachers nor the students.

Italian Americans must accept some of the blame for allowing themselves to be 
America's scapegoats, its newest subclass. First, a few became rich by propagating the stereotype: author Mario Puzo, director Francis Ford Coppola, most of the "Sopranos" cast. Second, the creative forces that help popularize the stereotype rarely have bothered to tell positive Italian American stories. Third, the rest of us keep silent, preferring to wait out the insult until the memory recedes. Finally, too many Italian Americans consider the stereotype acceptable self-deprecating humor.

Italian Americans must speak out. The open, disgusting portrayal that occurred at Renbrook School affects our livelihoods, children, history and future. It is our civil right to be able to participate in school, in government and in work without ridicule. It is a right we share with everyone.
----------------------------
Joseph P. Fasi of West Hartford is past president of the Connecticut Italian 
American Bar Association and the father of two Renbrook students. 
----------------------------
COMMENTS can be sent to:

Hartford Courant at << letters@courant.com >>

and/or

Renbrook School
2865 Albany Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117-1899
Tel: (860) 236-1661
Fax: (860) 231-8206
e-mail: admission@renbrook.org  
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Article can be found at:

ctnow.com: OPED 
http://www.ctnow.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-italians1110.artnov10,0,3524204.story?
coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Doped 

OR

ctnow.com: Home Page 
Under Opinions Section: Other Opinions
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ACCENTUATE the Positive, ELIMINATE the Negative!!!!

Speaking out with One Voice against Negative Stereotyping 

Italian-American One Voice Coalition is a national network of activists enabling the Italian American community to act as one united voice when dealing with defamation, discrimination and negative stereotyping.

Member organizations provide a liaison with the IA One Voice Coalition to disseminate information to the Italian American community and protest with one voice against each outrage against our heritage, culture and character. 

Italian American One Voice - Who We Are 

Web Site:

Italian American One Voice Coalition 
http://www.italianamericanonevoice.org/iaindex.html