AIDA, is the organization that sued The Sopranos, for violating the Illinois State Constitution "dignity" clause. It was a Bold, Brave, Move that garnered the respect and appreciation of the Italian American Community.
AIDA's Message is Clear, their Mission is Just, and they deserve your Support.
AIDA's Chairman, Ted Grippo's letter builds a strong case for Defense of I-A Dignity, but I was most taken with his quoting Harry Golden, an editor and TV personality:
"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."
YOU can help AIDA make a difference!
Belonging to more than one group defending the Community...
is not divided loyalties, it is rather evidence of a greater Commitment!
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AIDA
American Italian Defense Association
>From Theodore W. Grippo, Sr., Chairman
Dear Friend:
Are you concerned about any of the following:
· President Nixon's taped statements that you cannot find an honest Italian, and his reference to Watergate Judge John Sirica, as a Dago judge; or
· ABC newsman, Sam Donaldson's comment on national television about candidate, Geraldine Ferraro's treatment by the press to the effect that if you have a vowel at the end of your name and you run for office, the press has a duty to investigate you; or
· Governor Bill Clinton's comment to Gennifer Flowers comparing New York Governor Mario Cuomo to a mean Mafioso.
Perhaps you think this is old news and no longer relevant. If so, are you concerned about any of the following:
· Senator Kerry's earlier remarks recently repeated on the Don Imus television show. Commenting on Iraqi military strength, Kerry said: "...even the Italians could kick their butts"; or
· In the November election, U.S. Congressman and Maine gubernatorial candidate, John Baldacci, discovered a political opponent airing television commercials that attacked him using phrases from "The Sopranos" spoken with a mob accent; or
· Newsweek's two-page spread of October 14 on "Tony the Torch" that reads more like a "Sopranos" script than a news article because of its liberal use of mobspeak ("Torricelli seemed likely to get whacked in November ... because when you 'rat out' New Jersey, the voters treat you like Big Pussy"); or
· The recent flood of television commercials denigrating or ridiculing Italian Americans with the use of mobspeak and moblike caricatures, i.e., Wrigley Gum, Pepsi Cola, Lycos, Red Lobster, etc.
And what about Italian Americans' civil rights to hold a Columbus Day parade being challenged and disrupted in many cities, especially in Denver, with signs reading "Sons of Italy - Sons of Bitches - Mafia Scum."
This defamation has even found its way into our children's entertainment:
· The "Animaniacs" cartoon series features a group of Mafioso
pigeons known as The Goodfeathers;
· "Muppets Tonight" boasts a muppet Mafia don and his gorilla
bodyguard;
· In "Babe: Pig in the City", the gangster bulldog mobspeaks
like Don Corleone;
and
· The Simpsons refers to those "dirty Italians."
And, millions of teenagers are playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, a video game featuring an Italian American, portrayed as a sleazy ex-con who goes on a rampage. The game mixes blood and gore violence and strong sexual content with an Italian background of pizza, the mob, "Sopranos" type bada-bing, bada-boom moments in a strip club and points for killing prostitutes.
All of this is on top of the last 70 years of some 800 movies and 50 years of endless TV shows depicting Italian-Americans mostly as criminals.
Harry Golden, an editor and TV personality said it all in 1958 -- and it has gotten worse since:
"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."
Is it any wonder that a recent Zogby poll reveals that 78% of teenagers associate Italian Americans with criminal activity or jobs as restaurant workers, and that an earlier poll revealed that 74% of adults associate Italian Americans with organized crime?
There are few Italian Americans in business or the professions that
have not felt the "slings and arrows" of discrimination, ridicule or degradation
because of their heritage.
Is this the legacy we should leave to our children and grandchildren?
Perhaps we owe as much or even more to the honor and memory of our mothers, fathers and grandparents, who so courageously made that dangerous and fearful crossing. They came with nothing, absolutely nothing. They worked and sacrificed to give us a better life. We will have failed them unless we take action to remove this scourge of defamation by the media.
But, you ask, what can be done about this? That's why AIDA was organized; its' mission is two-fold:
· to educate the public on the positive contributions of Italian Americans to our society through speeches, seminars, letters and position papers; and
· to oppose by legal means discrimination, defamation and negative stereotyping of Italian Americans through education and, when appropriate, the courts. See our web site for examples of these activities, including AIDA's court Complaint regarding "The Sopranos."
AIDA is organizing itself into an active civil rights organization whose principal focus is to protect the rights of Italian Americans, but whose efforts will benefit all Americans.
Our goals for 2003, in addition to our normal activities, are as follows:
· Presentation of a seminar of national experts on the legal, economic, psychological and societal effects of group defamation with particular emphasis on Italian Americans.
· To begin work on the publication of a highly researched position paper advocating a model "Individual Dignity Statute" providing for a declaratory judgment remedy for group defamation - the remedy AIDA sought in the Sopranos' lawsuit.
· To make plans to sponsor the publication by leading experts of a definitive study on how the media has stereotyped and defamed Italian Americans for more than 100 years.
These three projects go to the heart of the matter; they meet our educational aims and can become the intellectual underpinnings of a great movement by Italian Americans to finally put an end to years of media stereotyping and defamation.
You can help in two important ways:
· Commit your membership support to AIDA for 2003: Regular - $25; Silver - $100; Gold - $500; Platinum - $1000; Corporate - $2000; Seniors and Students $15.
· Recruit at least one new member in 2003.
Please return your membership fee for 2003 as soon as you can as work
on our projects is dependent on your generosity. Mail your check
to AIDA, 1800 Division St., Stone Park, Illinois 60165. Your contribution
is tax deductible.
United we cannot fail.
Sincerely,
Theodore W. Grippo
Chairman of the Board
WebSite:
American Italian Defense Association -- AIDA
http://www.aida-usa.org/
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AIDA's directors and officers, all of whom serve without compensation,
are:
Theodore W. Grippo, Chairman of the Board, a senior partner in the law firm of Grippo & Elden of Chicago; he holds a B.S. from Georgetown University, a J.D. from Northwestern University Law School and an LL.M. from DePaul College of Law.
Michael J. Polelle, President, a Professor of Law at the John Marshall Law School; he holds a B.A. with honors from Loyola University Chicago, a J.D. from the Harvard Law School, an LL.M. from the John Marshall Law School and was a Fulbright Scholar in 1959-1960.
Robert Allegrini, Vice President, Director of Public Relations for the Hilton Chicago and Towers; he holds a B.A. in journalism from Northern Illinois University and a Graduate Fellowship in International Relations from the University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Bill Dal Cerro, Vice President, a teacher in Chicago; he holds a B.A. in journalism/communications from Columbia College and Northeastern Illinois University; he is also Chief Correspondent for the Fra Noi Newspaper, and a contributor to the Italic Way Magazine, Ambassador Magazine and Chicago Tribune.
Robert U. Dini, Vice President, is in the private practice of the law; he holds a B.A. from Notre Dame and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Paul L. Caprio, Vice President, is President of Paul Caprio & Associates; he is a political consultant and frequent television and radio guest; he holds a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University.
Paula Waters, Vice President, is Senior Vice President of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.
AIDA's counsel are:
Theodore W. Grippo, Jr., a member of the law firm of Lindenbaum, Coffman, Kurlander, Brisky, & Grippo, Ltd., Chicago, Illinois; he holds a B.A. from Grinnell College, a J.D. from Northwestern University Law School and an LL.M. from DePaul College of Law.
Rose A. Zitiello, co-counsel, Bernard S. Goldfarb, Robert E. Sweeney
Co., LPA, Cleveland, Ohio; she holds a B.A. from Cleveland State University,
a J.D. from John Marshall College of Law and has completed graduate studies
in Human Resource Development from Cleveland State University.
