My efforts for the last three years have been to bring "on line" an Italian American PORTAL, which will be ONE place where an Italian American can find Everything about Anything Italian American. (Yes, of course it will have an Italian component, and Italians around the World component).

In the meantime my other efforts have been in supporting those groups who: Eliminate the Negative ( Anti-Defamationists), and Accentuate the Positive (Studies of the Italian American Experience)

The ENDOWMENT of CHAIRS/PROFESSORSHIPS is an important part to effectuating the Accentuating of the Positive. 

That subject has captured our attention in the last several days with the announcement of the D'Amato Chair at Stoney Brook, and Prof. Ben Lawton's disturbing revelations re the Paganucci Chairs at Dartmouth and Colby.

Permit me to digress for a moment. 

It is helpful to distinguish between Chairs for (1) Italian American Studies, (2) Italian Studies, and (3) Italian Language Studies.

All are Important! However when you have Limited Resources, one must establish Priorities. Others may differ, which is their prerogative, but IMHO, I would like to see the I-A Communities resources prioritized toward Italian AMERICAN Studies.

My reasoning is as follows: Italian Studies seem to already have substantial support in the Italian Community, AND General Community. It is a very Elegant and Refined subject matter, dwelling on Rome and the Renaissance. (Unfortunately, periods before or in between, or of a Contemporary nature seem to be ignored. Such a pity). Academics and others feel good about associating with such "elevated" and high society subject matter.

Italian American Studies, (that are SO few in number) on the other hand, are considered by too many as "provincial", and "merely" the struggle of an immigrant group that substantially was poverty stricken, and for the longest time despised. (Never mind that despite the enormous obstacles put in their path, most prevailed). It isn't an Elegant, Refined subject 
matter, fit for high society, and therefore substantially ignored, even though the trials and tribulations, the struggles, the failures and successes are as compelling as any Rome or Renaissance history, and far more germane to the present "condition" of the Italian American Community.

Regarding the Italian Language. Not wanting to, but being forced by scarce funding, to choose between learning the Italian Language and learning about the ordeals and sacrifices and triumphs of my parents and grandparents and their peers, I would choose not being dumb about my historical culture. Damn to have to make a choice!

I therefore am pleased to see when any group or individual is successful in establishing a Chair in Any of the three categories, but I "tear up" when I hear of the establishing of an ITALIAN AMERICAN Chair.

And of course, it makes me passionately angry when I hear that any Chair so endowed, and so scarce, is being "stolen" from us (Paganucci at Dartmouth and Colby).

I leave it to you to ruminate.

Further to the Specifics regarding the D'Amato Chair at Stoney Brook, Prof. Emeritus James Mancuso, shared with me the following message from Frank Cannata. 

Allow me to interject my apologies and plaudits to UNICO whose efforts in this area I have not given sufficient attention or credit to!!! 

FRANK CANNATA'S MESSAGE

Dear Professor Mancuso:

In response to your question about how the D'Amato Chair was created. 

Two years ago, the Brookhaven Chapter of UNICO National approached 
Mario Mignone (Head of the Italian-American Cultural Institute at SUNY 
StonyBrook) about the feasibility of establishing a permanently endowed 
Chair in Italian-American Studies.

UNICO had already taken he lead position in establishing Chairs at:

UCONN (The Noether Chair in Modern Italian History), Seton Hall (The 
LaMotta Chair in Italian Studies), University of California-Long Beach 
(Graziadio Chair in Italian Studies) as well as the DeDominicis Fellowship 
in Italian-American History at UCONN. 

I was invited to make a presentation (at SUNY) and explain what had 
been done in the past by UNICO National to support the establishment 
of endowed Chairs of Italian subject matter. At the meeting was Professor 
Mario Mignone,  Professor Fred Gardaphe, a representative of their 
development group (fund raising), three members of the Brookhaven 
Chapter as well as the Dean of Arts & Sciences. We outlined the history
of UNICO's involvement in the creation of Chairs and a fellowship. 

The representatives of the university were enthusiastic and plans were 
made to formulate a campaign to raise $1.5 Million to endow the Chair.
The Brookhaven Chapter applied to UNICO National's Foundation and 
received $25,000 and obtained an additional $25,000 from an anonymous
benefactor.

The Chapter also began fund raising activities and started with a $3,000
donation.  Individual members of the Chapter also made generous donations
of more than $10,000. Rick Nasti who is associated with the University 
also gave a very generous donation.  In short order approximately $200,000
was raised. 

Through the efforts of Senator D'Amato an additional $1 million was 
raised.The balance of $300,000 will be raised by additional fund raisers.

I sincerely hope this answers your question. 

Best wishes,
Frank G. Cannata

(RAA NOTE: Anyone wishing to collaborate with UNICO in establishing 
a Chair at their local University or College (RAA, Hopefully Italian 
AMERICAN Studies), particularly those with funding sources, may 
contact Mr. Cannata at Telephone: (860)-633-7988 or 
Email: FCannata@compuserve.com )
 

Further to: " Prof. Lawton Reveals Paganucci's Legacy To Italian American Community"

Disclaimer: "Expose" and "Embezzled" are NOT Prof. Lawton's terms, but mine alone. 

Paganucci donation of $3 million each to both Dartmouth and Colby Colleges.... for Italian/ Italian American Studies are "misappropriated", "subverted", "diverted", "lost", "forgotten", "disappeared", "misdirected", if you think the word "embezzle" is too strong. 

But let us Not get entangled in semantics, but in "correcting" the Problem.

Which of our Italian American Organizations is best suited, and or willing to undertake the task of requiring Dartmouth and Colby Colleges to live up to their commitments of Mr. Paganucci's endowments that Prof. Lawton calls for?!!!!!!!

Will it be American Italian Historical Association (AIHA), National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), Sons of Italy (OSIA), National Italian American Bar Association (NIABA), National Italian American Coordinating Committee (NIACC), or a partnership of any or all of the above, or who not mentioned???? 

The following are the critical excerpts from  Paganucci Part # 2: 

PROF. LAWTON REVEALS PAGANUCCI'S LEGACY TO ITALIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

Prof. Lawton quotes Paul D. Paganucci:

..."I also hope that knowledge of Italy spreading from prestigious colleges in New England will help offset the consistent denigration of Italians and Italian Americans in our media that has disappointed me throughout my adult life. It is a form of discrimination based on irrational prejudice that is unequivocally inappropriate! I hate it,. . . I am tired of the depiction of 
Italians and Italian Americans in the media. There should be something like an anti-defamation league."

Prof. Lawton goes on to state (with some editing and paraphrasing):

" Mr. Paganucci donated $2.5 million (to Dartmouth,now grown to $3 million) to fight against Italian defamation, in a positive, constructive fashion. Eventually I discovered that there was a Paganucci prize for the Outstanding Graduating Senior majoring in Italian Studies.  It consists of a book.  Apparently, $3 million does not buy a lot these days....I am told that when asked, the Dartmouth administration said that there was no money to carry out any Italian Studies projects....

(Mr. Paganucci ) also gave $1.25 million to establish a Paganucci Chair of Italian Studies at Colby College. The Chair of French and Italian at Colby, inferred that the Italian Chair could merely expect to teach what my colleagues calls "baby Italian"  for the foreseeable future. I was also told categorically that no other Italian faculty would be hired--this notwithstanding the fact that one of the conditions of the endowment was that Mr. Paganucci would pay for one 
professorship if the college paid for a second.

Mr. Paganucci has passed away.  He can no longer defend his endowments and his legacy. It seems to me that the least the Italian American community can do is to repay his generosity by demanding accountability of the institutions that have received his largesse, but have hidden the light of his generosity under a bushel. "

Prof. Lawton Post to H-ITAM Reprinted

"Paganucci" - Part # 2 of 3

Professor Ben Lawton, 
Chair, Interdisciplinary Italian Studies at Purdue University states:

I can vouch for everything it (Calder's article) says about the character and accomplishments of Mr. Paganucci. 

During the Spring of 2000 I spent many hours talking to him, gathering information for the article which appears in the latest issue of VIA. If I were asked to describe him I would have to say:  modest, ethical, honest, diligent, hardworking, industrious, brilliant, kind, generous, fun loving, patriotic, devoted to his family, trustworthy--all to the same degree.

I consider the fact that over time he called me his friend one of the highest honors I have ever received.

What I find a little more difficult to swallow is the alleged commitment of various institutions--among which Darmouth College and Colby College--to the memory of Mr. Paganucci.  Mr. Paganucci gave $ 1.25 million to Darmouth to establish the Paganucci Chair of Italian Studies. When I spoke to him last spring, the value of the chair had grown to $3 million. He also gave $1.25 million to establish a Paganucci Chair of Italian Studies at Colby College.

During one of our many conversations, I asked him why he had preferred not to endow the graduate schools he had attended and where he had excelled, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth or the Harvard Law School? His answer was,

"I prefer to concentrate my gifts at the undergraduate college level . . . because I believe the impact is greater. Since first going to Italy on my wedding trip in 1966, I have come to greatly admire Italian language, literature, and culture. The Chairs at Dartmouth and Colby are intended to signal my own pride in my Italian heritage, diluted though it has become. I
hope that the professorships will encourage others to increase knowledge, respect, and appreciation for the unique inheritance the world has received from Italy! It would be so wonderful if the Chairs at Dartmouth and Colby sparked other donors to make similar gifts to their own schools! I also hope that knowledge of Italy spreading from prestigious colleges in New England will help offset the consistent denigration of Italians and Italian Americans in our media that has disappointed me throughout my adult life. It is a form of discrimination based on irrational prejudice that is unequivocally inappropriate! I hate it, . . . I am tired of the depiction of Italians and Italian Americans in the media. There should be something like an
anti-defamation league."

Mr. Paganucci donated $2.5 million to fight against Italian defamation, in a positive, constructive fashion. But, had you ever heard of him or of the Paganucci chairs? Neither had I. While I was at Dartmouth, as visiting professor last spring, I was never able to find a single Dartmouth student who had heard of those chairs. Eventually I discovered that there was a
Paganucci prize for the Outstanding Graduating Senior majoring in Italian Studies.  It consists of a book.  Apparently, $3 million does not buy a lot these days.

None of the Italian faculty who were there at the time had a clear idea of what the Paganucci Chair was or what it was supposed to do. So far as I could tell, none had actually met him.  Did you hear about the search for this chair? I didn¹t think so. Why? Because it was never announced.

Last spring there were $3 million in the Dartmouth Paganucci Chair for Italian Studies. But I am told that when asked, the Dartmouth administration said that there was no money to carry out any Italian Studies projects. 

As for Colby College, Mr. Paganucci encouraged me to apply for the position. He had talked about the fact that he was pained by how little had been done at Dartmouth with his Chair and so we discussed what the conditions of the gift to Colby were and what he wanted to see accomplished. He told me that wanted to see an Italian program, with a major, a conference somewhat like Italian Cultural Studies (now at Florida Atlantic University), a publication, a web page, etc.  But, when I talked to the Chair of French and Italian at Colby, I was told, in essence, to pay my way to a glorified cattle call at the MLA. I was also told that I could expect to teach what one of my colleagues calls "baby Italian" for the foreseeable future. I was
also told categorically that no other Italian faculty would be hired--this notwithstanding the fact that one of the conditions of the endowment was that Mr. Paganucci would pay for one professorship if the college paid for a second.

Mr. Paganucci has passed away.  He can no longer defend his endowments and his legacy. It seems to me that the least the Italian American community can do is to repay his generosity by demanding accountability of the institutions that have received his largesse, but have hidden his the light of his generosity under a bushel.

Ben Lawton

Maine Today.com
Friday, March 2, 2001

FRIENDS REMEMBER PAGANUCCI AS BRILLIANT, DEDICATED, WISE 

By Amy Calder, Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- Paul D. Paganucci was wildly successful in the business
world, but he never forgot his Waterville roots, say those who knew him.

The financial genius, who was a long-time Colby College trustee and
retired chairman of the executive committee of W.R. Grace Co. in New York
City, died Monday at 69.

Paganucci, of Hanover, N.H., was remembered by friends and Colby
officials this week as a brilliant man who was dedicated and wise, yet 
modest.

"I think that people at Colby will miss him as a friend and just as
a wonderful guy," said Stephen Collins, Colby communications director. "I
think his wise counsel in fiscal matters also will be missed -- the
guidance he provided the college."

At the time of his death, Paganucci was vice president and treasurer
emeritus of Dartmouth College, where a service will be held for him at 11
a.m. Friday.

A 1949 Waterville High School graduate, Paganucci graduated from
Dartmouth in 1953, and later from the college's Amos Tuck School and
Harvard Law School.

A 26-year member of the Colby Board of Trustees, Paganucci was
chairman of the board's investment committee and last year donated $1.2
million to Colby to establish an endowed professorship in Italian language
and literature.

In 1988, he established Colby's Paul and Marilyn Paganucci
Scholarship Fund to help graduates of high schools in central Maine attend
the school.

"When I think of Paul, I think of a real gentleman -- a very, very
successful gentleman with modesty, which is hard to find these days," said
Joe Boulos, who served on Colby's investment committee with Paganucci.

Boulos, president of the Boulos Co., a commercial real-estate
company in Portsmouth and Portland, said Paganucci was highly respected by
committee members.

"When he spoke at the investment meetings, everyone paid attention,"
 he said. "Everyone respected Paul and his views."

While extremely successful, Paganucci was very friendly and
 approachable -- qualities not often present in someone of Paganucci's
 caliber, according to Boulos, who planned to attend Friday's service.

"He never really forgot his roots -- he was from Waterville, Maine,
 and he knew it, and he was proud of it," he said.

Paganucci was known to pals at Waterville High School in the late
 '40s as "Pag," according to Donald Freeman, a retired department-store
 buyer and merchandise manager who lives on Burleigh Street.

Freeman grew up with Paganucci and later played football with him at
 Waterville High.

"He was a pudgy kid, and I thought he didn't look much like a
 football player, but he turned into a whale of a player," Freeman said. "I
 think he had this mental toughness that he carried into his career. It
 doesn't surprise me at all that he became as successful as he was."

A 1959 Colby College graduate, Freeman said Paganucci lived across
 from the high school on Gilman Street, an only child, who sported a perpetual
grin.

"He was always very positive about things," Freeman said.

As Paganucci grew more and more successful, Freeman said he and
 others did not see him, but they often read about his accomplishments in
 the newspaper.

"He didn't stop," Freeman said. "He obviously was a brilliant human
being."

Former Colby President William R. Cotter last year told the Morning
 Sentinel that Paganucci deserved much of the credit for the successful
 performance of the college's endowment and its diversification into new
 investment circles. The endowment fund's value had increased more than
12-fold since 1979, Cotter said. He described Paganucci as the conscience
of the Board of Trustees.

In an interview with the Sentinel in January, 2000, Paganucci said
he was honored to be asked to serve on the Colby board. While he never
attended the college, he developed a relationship with it in the 1970's,
giving keynote talks there at business and management symposiums -- since
named the Colby College Institute for Leadership.

Collins said he first met Paganucci when he (Collins) was a Sentinel
correspondent.

"He explained his fondness for the college as being a result of
growing up in its shadow," Collins said.

Paganucci served in the U.S. Army Reserve and later was president of
 W.R. Grace & Co. He served in several capacities at Dartmouth, where, under
 his tenure as vice-president and treasurer, the college's endowment tripled.

Paganucci helped found the Ledyard National Bank which, in less than
a decade, become a leading bank in the Upper Connecticut River Valley
region, with eight offices, nearly $200 million in assets and a trust and
 investment division with holdings of more than $400 million.

He also served on boards of many businesses and was an active
 alumnus of Dartmouth. He was a director of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation
 and of the Grace Foundation and an advisory member of the investment
 committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This story can be found online at:
http://www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/010302paulpaga.shtml

   To reach Amy Calder   Phone: 861-9247   acalder@centralmaine.com

STONY BROOK NAMES NEW PROFESSORSHIP FOR D'AMATO

Long Island's Newsday
by Olivia Winslow, Staff Writer

SUNY Stony Brook officials announced yesterday they are establishing an 
endowed professorship in Italian-American studies in honor of former U.S. 
Sen. Alfonse D'Amato.

D'Amato, a three-term Republican senator from Island Park who was unseated 
in 1998 by Democrat Charles Schumer, was lauded for his strong support of the
university and as a prime example of the power Italian-Americans have achieved
on Long Island and nationwide. He was the first Italian-American senator from
New York, officials added.

"First of all, the senator has been very helpful to Stony Brook," president
Shirley Strum Kenny said yesterday. She pointed to his success in getting 
$2.5 million in seed money for the creation of the university's cancer 
institute in 1998, and additional federal support when Stony Brook got involved in 
managing Brookhaven National Lab, also in 1998.

"He is a man recognized on Long Island for really delivering to his 
constituents and he certainly delivered to Stony Brook," Kenny said. "We are 
recognizing that." The $1.5-million endowed professorship is financed through 
$1 million inpledges from private donors and $500,000 in state money.

D'Amato, in a statement released through his spokeswoman, Lisa Dewald,
said he was "deeply honored" by the university's action. That it comes from 
Stony Brook, which he praised for being "one of the nation's great public 
colleges on his beloved Long Island, makes it all the more special." An 
international search will be conducted to fill the endowed professorship. 
University officials are looking for someone who will teach courses that will 
explore the Italian immigrant experience, as well as foster collaborations 
between the university and the community.

D'Amato was feted at a reception the university held last week that drew 
several hundred people, university officials said, including Sanjay Kumar, president 
and CEO of Computer Associates, and Gov. George Pataki, who in a 
university release called D'Amato a "tireless supporter of higher education." 
D'Amato tapped Pataki when he was a little-known state senator to run against 
former Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1994 and helped orchestrate Pataki's stunning 
victory.

Noting Long Island's large Italian-American population-27 percent, according 
to the 1990 census- Mario Mignone, a professor and director of Stony Brook's 
Center for Italian Studies, said D'Amato embodied the gains Italian-Americans 
have made. He also said D'Amato has been involved with the kinds of issues 
that are explored in courses at the center, one of the largest Italian 
studies centers in the country and one of several ethnic studies programs at Stony 
Brook.

One university professor who did not want to be named chuckled when he learned
of the designation, joking, "Obviously, it pays to be a Republican senator.
You'll get your name all over the place." That said, the professor said he
thought the professorship in D'Amato's name was positive. "No one can doubt he
brought a lot of money to Long Island. It's a game that all senators play and 
he played it very well." Said Suffolk County Legis. David Bishop (D-West 
Babylon): "I didn't agree with his political philosophy but he always brought home 
the bacon. While I didn't vote for him, I appreciate his efforts for Long Island." A 
spokesman for Schumer said the senator had kind words for D'Amato's honor,
saying he was "pleased to hear it."

The Italian American OneVoice Committee charged today that AT&T has 
reneged on its promise to cease producing and airing advertisements 
featuring Italian American stereotypes, and the activist group  is 
demanding that AT&T remove the commercial from airwaves immediately.

According to Dr. EmanueleAlfano, chairman of the IAOVC, the airing of 
an AT&T telephone services commercial featuring a former cast member 
from "The Sopranos" HBO television series, shatters  a promise made
to thegroup in April, that the utility giant would "not tolerate, and 
will take swift action to cancel, any advertising that could be 
perceived as offensive."

At issue is the currently running AT&T telephone services television 
spot featuring former "Sopranos"cast member Vince Pastore attempting 
to intimidate a school teacher on behalf of a student who failed to 
produce a due science project. The spot intimates that the boy used 
AT&T to call Pastore and a cohort to defend the boy and to strong arm 
the teacher.

The advertisement, IAOVC says, was produced and released after AT&T 
Media Relations director Mark Siegel issued a letter promising to 
refrain from presenting stereotypical  Italian American images. The 
statement was made in response to the group's initial protest of 
anAT&T Broadband radio commercial the IAOVC deemed to be disparaging. 
That radio spot – broadcast in Northeast U.S. markets – featured 
stereotypical Italian American male characters touting access to 
HBO's "The Sopranos" series via AT&TBroadband.

"That the new commercial is on the air is not surprising," said 
Thomas DeGennaro of the IAVOC. "When Mr.Siegel issued the AT&T 
statement, I didn't think it went far enough. I wanted him to 
extrapolate by including the phrase `to any racial, religious or 
ethnic group.'"

"His refusal – and the airing of this new commercial – justify my 
suspicion that AT&T had no intention of backing off on offensive 
advertising practices," DeGennaro said.

The furor over the AT&Tphone services commercial comes on the heels 
of several protests undertaken by the Italian American community to 
call attention to widespread stereotyping in media and advertising. 

Last month, the American Italian Defense Association sued HBO and its 
AOL/Time Warner parent company on the grounds that "The Sopranos" 
television series violates the rights of Italian Americans under the 
individual dignity clause contained in the Illinois State 
Constitution.

According to Emanuele Alfano, American mass media producers refuse to 
portray  Italian Americans in the same benign way they do other 
ethnic and racial groups. The IAOVC will, he said, continue to 
protest the use of Italian American stereotypes until media producers 
understand that such practices are unacceptable.

"The One Voice Committee asks that before you write an advertisement, 
a script or a joke about Italians, you take our Litmus Test," Alfano 
said. "Substitute another group or race. If you can't do it to them, 
then why do it to us?"

Italian-American One Voice Committee 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 Committee to disseminate information to the Italian-
American community and protest with one voice against each outrage 
against our heritage, culture and character. 

Contact Person: 
Dr. Manny Alfano 
97 Irving Terr.
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
(973) 429-2818
Eaa097@aol.com
 

"Thanks in the name of all Italians for taking our country into space," writes Paolo, 20 in a forum dedicated to astronaut Umberto Guidoni who arrived on the international space station Alpha  on Saturday. 

Many forum posts attest to an unusual surge in national pride following local media coverage of the lone Italian (the crew is comprised of four Americans, one Canadian and a Russian) responsible for cargo van Raffaello.

Guidoni, a physicist from Rome who has lived in Houston for the last decade, brought two symbolic contributions with him - a pound of Parmigiano cheese and a CD of overtures from Verdi¹s operas. 

The mission of the 46-year-old is considered a coup for Italy¹s national space agency (ASI), which only dates back to 1988. Then again, Italians have long joked about being a nation of "saints and explorers,"  and space is, after all, the final frontier.

http://www.kataweb.it/speciali/asi

Follow the mission from an Italian point of view Guidoni will be chatting live on April 25 with President Ciampi and holding a press conference April 27.

Francesca L'Orfano of The Blletin Board for Canadian Americans, ladolcevita_italianinelmondo @yahoogroups.com (la dolce vita_italiani nel mondo) has advised me that on April 23, 2001:

Tony Carella (President)  and the Executive of the Toronto District of the National Congress of Italian Canadians (NCIC) presided over the Annual General Meeting during which a Resolution was passed  that: 

Endorsed the suit launched by the American Italian Defense Association (AIDA) against Time Warner Entertainment Company (parent of HBO, producer of The Sopranos) for violation of the "dignity clause" of the Illinois State Constitution. The clause prohibits "communications ...that
incite...hatred, abuse, or hostility toward a person or group of persons...by reference to religious, racial, ethnic, national or regional affiliation"; 

The NCIC -Toronto also commended Genie-award winning Canadian actor Tony Nardi, who recently refused to play a racial stereotype. According to Nardi, "I am not a professional Italian. I am a professional actor...I'm not ashamed to be Italian...It's playing a cultural stereotype I have a problem with." 

A Formal Announcement is expected momentarily.

Other Districts Of NCIC, are expected to consider the same Resolution.

NCIC-Toronto now joins The Honorable Consul General of Chicago, and an impressive list of National Italian American Organizations previously announced as supporters of AIDA, such as the National Italian Foundation (NIAF), Sons of Italy/ Commission of Justice (OSIA/CSJ), UNICO, Italian American One Voice (IAOV),  FIERI, and NIAC (National Italian American 
Council) 

(CIAA) Coalition of Italo American Associations of New York, [139 Organizations] 
the largest Regional I-A Organization, joined in Solidarity, as has La Dolce Vita, in Canada.

An invitation is extended to any National or Regional Italian American Organizations, or Publications that would like to join in on this historical and momentous effort.

If you are connected with an I-A organization that belongs on this list, your assistance in recruiting their endorsement will be of great service to the Community.

When your  Italian American Organization needs and deserve assistance from other I-A organizations, will they be there for you, because you were there for them?? 
 
 

In a personal communique to the I-Italy Project Director, I questioned whether the Survey was appropriate for a pro-Italian American Site. The Project Director justified the Survey on the basis "first, we want to understand WHO I-As are, and to what extent they still are a united ethnic-concious group (Richard Alba's works come to my mind in this context...); second, we want to demonstrate how the Net, high tech skills and good multimedia graphics can help bringing together an I-A community" 

I questioned the validity of a Survey on the 'Sopranos' as a serious and or helpful method of understanding WHO I-AS are, and whether this was a helpful device to bring the community together. 

The PD stated "it did not sound right that almost all the messages were "pro-HBO". My response that all Major I-A Organizations, were opposed, elicited a response that stated that the PD was interested in the "grass roots" opinion, and that maybe the organizations were out of touch. 

Mr. Richard Grace, The President of Grace Industries, And Executive VP of CIAA, was prompted to graciously take his valuable time to reply. 

What is the question?  Are we asking if "The Sopranos" is entertaining?
Are we asking if Italians watch it?  Or on the other hand, are we asking
if "The Sopranos" damages the image of Italian men, women and children?
There is no doubt it is entertaining to many including some Italians.

Italians can keep watching and do nothing, this is their right.
However, just because many Italians may think it is entertaining is no
reason to attempt to justify it.  We should be tired of hearing;
"Everybody in the Sopranos is Italian" or "So many Italians like it".
Some of us seem to forget that it's not us we have to worry about.  It's
all those who don't know Italians we have to worry about.  Italians know
how most Italians really are, but do you know how non-Italians perceive
us?  People from the south, people from the mid west, people from
Canada, and all those other countries that only see how the media
portrays Italians.  How do they perceive us?  When our kids apply to a
college or a job in Government, the law, banks etc., etc.,
how will they be accepted?  Will they be suspect?  In many, many cases
they are.  Did you ever ask yourself why?  Is an Italian treated fairly
by a jury if they happen to be on trail?  Are jury's effected by the
media?  If not, why do they change venues when there is too much
publicity?   Where can an Italian go to get a totally unbiased trail?

Italians can watch "The Sopranos" behind closed doors in their living
rooms, but you hurt generations yet unborn by going around saying there
is nothing is wrong with that kind of programming just because you find
it entertaining.  Don't be so naive to think that no one is negatively
effective by it.

Current generations look at these media glamorized roles on TV and in
the movies and our children (yours and mine) want to emulate them.  They
see all the money and big cars and drop out of school trying to emulate
them, and not all these kids are Italian.  Future generations, when
looking at these movies, will assume that this is the way Italians were
back then.  Is this the way we want to be remembered by our grand
children, as vicious killers, drug pushers, extortionists, air heads,
and / or bimbos?

It seems that HBO and some in media are attempting to mitigate the
concerns of the Italian Community by trying to cloud and confuse the
issues by constantly saying Italians love it, produce it and act in it.
Our concern is not and should not only be about "The Sopranos", it
should also be about HBO and the media and how often they use Italians
as gangsters.  What is worse is how often these Italian gangsters are
glamorized.  They are certainly not typical of the Italian American and
we shouldn't want our children or yours emulating this glamorized
negative portrayal of Italians.  HBO's series "the Sopranos" is a
flawed attempt at a fictional portrayal of a very limited sector of the
Italian American community in this nation.

Please know that these are serious issues for the individuals and groups
that make up or membership.  They feel - not unfairly - that Italian
Americans constitute one of the few, if not the only, ethnic group about
whom such negative stereotypes are so openly tolerated without an honest
attempt towards balance.  They have a right to their opinions, and we,
as spokesmen ad women for the Organizations, that represent them, are
obligated to voice their concerns.  We choose our positions carefully.

There is no small coincidence that when Middle America was polled, the
results of that pole was that 73% felt Italians were Involved in some
sort of crime.  In addition, at that very same time when Hollywood and
TV was surveyed the survey turned up that 70% of all Italians portrayed
in the media were portrayed as criminals, gavoons, and our woman as
bimbos.

CRIME IS A FUNCTION OF PERSONAL GREED, NOT SOME INHERITED 
IMMORAL DEGENERACY.

More importantly is that we shouldn't allow us or our parents to be
remembered as the media portrays us today.  Our parents and we deserve
better.  Our grandchildren deserve better.  You could complain to HBO
and / or refuse to use products advertised.

The answer to this question is extremely complex.  First, let us assure
you that, in speaking out on any issue, our Organization has never
intended to tread on artistic or creative expression or to infringe on
the Constitutional rights of anyone in any way.  We have NEVER taken
that position.

We recognize everyone's first amendment right to speak their mind
including HBO and Actors.  However, HBO shouldn't hide behind the first
amendment just because it's financially rewarding.  HBO has an
obligation to work harder.  There is a disgusting imbalance and lack of
positive programming and positive roles for Italians and Italian
Americans on HBO.  Our position regarding "The Sopranos" is not about
censorship at all.  Our Organization does not want to stifle anyone's
right to free speech.  That would be abhorrent to us, since we so often
stand with other ethnic and racial groups in support of civil rights
issues.

"The Sopranos" should be taken off the air because it actually spreads
hate for Italian men, woman and children as well as Catholics and is
perpetuating a very negative image of Italians not only across the
country, but also now around the world.  In as much as that goal is
unrealistic, we are asking for much more balance in the way Italian
Americans are portrayed in the media.  We deserve to be treated with the
same respect as all other great religious and ethnic groups that make up
this country.  Whether you admit it or not, HBO is not treating Italian
Americans with the same level of respect or fairness as they show other
ethnic and religious groups.  When was the last time you saw a rerun of
Amos and Andy?  How long would they get away with a show called "The
Shiperos" with all the unfair negative stereotypes pertaining to our
Jewish brothers and sisters?  They wouldn't air one of these shows.
However, look how they justify what they do to Italians.  They say, "The
producer and all the actors are Italians".  Then it would be OK to air
The Shiperos as long as everyone associated with it was Jewish.  Yeah
sure.  The unmistakable difference is that HBO's programming is terribly
biased towards the negative when it comes to the vast, vast majority of
their programming towards Italians.  Why not, it sells.  What else is
there?  Something had to take the place of "Cowboys and the Indians" on
TV and the movies.  You can isolate this show and say it's great, it's
somewhat realistic, or it is very entertaining.  This is not the point.
The point is that HBO portrays all Italians on most all their shows like
they portray them on the Sopranos.

The writers and producers have an obligation to try harder so positive
choices are also available.  When the Sopranos was first aired, we tried
to understand that there aren't enough positive roles for Italian type
actors to choose from.  They are unfortunately stereotyped and we
understand they have to earn a living.  On occasion, we even encourage
some to play these negative roles so they would actually have some
editorial control and reduce the negative impact and portrayals of our
people.

To us, this is about fairness.  Decades old stereotypes that associate
Italian-Americans with organized crime, buffoonery and illegal activity
persists to this day. The numbers of Italian-Americans who actually
participate in organized crime is a tiny fraction of the
Italian-American population, but images in the popular media suggest
otherwise.  No other Ethnic or religious group would be treated with
such disrespect.  The FBI statistics quote "1/20th of 1% of Italians
are involved in organized crime in the United States".  Yet remember the
perception is that 70% of Italians are involved in organized crime.
Why?

In summery; Yes, the Sopranos is entertaining to many, yes Italians
watch it, and yes it is damaging and spreading hate for Italian men,
woman, children and even Catholics.

Richard A. Grace
Executive Vice President
Coalition of Italo - American Associations, Inc.
New York, New York

RAA NOTE: CIAA is NOT a coalition of "Elitist" organizations, but range from 
those Italian Americans from rather modest means through blue collar, and 
white collar to professionals and industrialists. All  work hard and, most do 
not have the time to respond to a "chat room" level question that is 
offensive merely in the asking!

Alpha Phi Delta Fraternity of Manhattan College 
Alpha Phi Delta Fraternity of Pace University 
American Italian Club of Elmsford, NY 
American Legion Col. Francis Vigo Post No. 1093 
Americans of Italian Heritage, Inc. 
Amerital Association, Inc. 
AMITA, INC. 
AMICI 
AMICO 
AMICUS CURIAE 
Arthur Avenue & E. 187th Street Merchants Association 
ARBA Sicula, Inc. 
Association of Student & Professional Italian-Americans, Inc. 
Association of Women Columbians in the Bronx, Queens, and Westchester 
Associazione e Congrega Maria S.S de Trapani, Inc. 
Board of Education Columbia Association 
Board of Education Non-Pedagogical Columbia Association 
Borgetto Cultural Association 
Bridge & Tunnel Columbia Association 
Bronx, New York Post Office Columbia Association 
Calabria Mutual Aid Society 
Calandra Italian American Institute 
Central Orange County Italian American Association 
Circolo Cattolico Italiano 
Coalition Italian American Organizations 
Columbia Association of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission 
Columbian Lawyers Association, Inc., Queens 
Columbian Lawyers Association, First Department 
Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn 
Columbian Lawyers Association of Nassau County 
Columbian Lawyers Association of Westchester County 
Columbian Lawyers, New York County 
Columbia Association- Office of the Comptroller, NYC 
Columbia Police Association of Nassau County 
Columbia Police Association of Westchester County 
Columbus Esca Alliance, Inc. 
Columbus Day Society of Harrison 
Con Edison Columbia Association 
Con Edison Public Utilities Columbia Association 
Congregazione Santa Filomena 
Cooley’s Anemia Foundation 
Council on National Literatures, Inc. 
Council for Unity, Inc. 
Coratina Society 
Custodians & Administrative Employees Columbia Association 
Department of Correction Columbia Association 
Department of Housing Preservation & Development Columbia Association 
Department of Marine & Aviation Columbia Association 
Department of Parks Columbia Association 
Department of Sanitation Columbia Association 
Department of Water Resources Columbia Association 
Enrico Fermi Educational Fund, Inc. 
Etruscan Lodge O.S.I.A., New Paltz 
Ferrini Welfare League 
FIERI, Inc. 
Flushing, NY Post Office Columbia Association 
Fr. Licata Lodge, O.S.I.A. 
Fratelli D’ Italia Social Club 
Gateway Italian-American Associations, Inc. 
Health Department Columbia Association 
Inter-CUNY Italian-American Student Association 
Italian-American Civic Association of Mineola 
Italian-American Civil Rights League
Italian-American Club of the Catskill Mountains 
Italian-American Club of Westchester 
Italian-American Community Council of South Brooklyn 
Italian-American Faculty and Staff Advisory Council of CUNY 
Italian-American Federation of Queens 
Italian-American Legal Defense &Higher Education Fund, Inc. 
Italian-American Professional & Businessmen Association 
Italian-American Repertory Theatre 
Italian-American Scholarship Association 
Italian-Americans for Better Government 
Italian Academy Foundation 
Italian Big Sisters 
Italian Board of Guardians 
Italian Center of Poughkeepsie 
Italian Center Ladies Auxiliary 
Italian Charities of America 
Italian City Club 
Italian Civic Association 
Italian Club of Westchester Community College 
Italian Cultural Exchange in the United States, Inc. 
Italian Heritage & Culture Committee of Bronx & Westchester 
Italians of America for Dual Citizenship 
Italian Welfare League 
Italo-American Association of Independent Columbians 
Jamaica, NY Post Office Columbia Association 
Joe DiMaggio Lodge, O.S.I.A. of Hopewell Junction 
Lake Region Italian-American Association of Monroe 
Lake region Italian-American Charitable Association 
L’Azione Cattolica of St. Domenick’s R.C. Church 
Long Island City, NY Post Office Columbia Association 
Lucania Social Club 
Messina Lodge, O.S.I.A. of Kingston 
Mid Hudson Italian-American Cultural Foundation 
Municipal Employees Columbia Association 
Nassau-Suffolk Postal Employee Columbian 
Nassau Women Columbian 
National Council of Columbia Associations in Civil Service 
Noi Italiani di Oggi 
National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame 
NYC Fire Department Columbia Association 
NYC Housing Authority Columbia Association 
NYC Housing Police Department Columbia Association 
NYC Human Resources Administration Columbia Association 
NYC Police Department Columbia Association 
NYC Technical College Faculty and Staff Advisory Council, Inc. 
NYC Traffic Department Columbia Association 
NYC Transit Authority Columbia Association 
NYC Transit Police Columbia Association
NYS Association, Master Barbers & Beauticians 
NYS Parole Officers Columbia Association 
Orange and Sullivan Italian-American Club 
Order Sons of Italy in America 
O.T.B. Columbia Association 
Port Authority Police Columbia Association 
Rafaello Lodge S.O.I. 
Saint Francis of Assisi Lodge 
SIAMO 
Sicilian American Charitable Organization, Inc. 
Society of Castrofilippo Social Club 
Society of Pietrelcinesi 
Society of Quagliettana 
Society of Sacco 
Society of Saint Anthony of College Point 
Suffolk County Police Department Association 
The Gravesend Democratic Club 
the Institute for Italian-American Studies 
The St. Gerard Guild of America, New Jersey Chapter 
Tiro A. Segno 
UNICO National, Glendale Chapter 
UNICO National, Newburgh Chapter 
United Italian Americans for Progress, Inc. 
U.S. Army Engineers Columbia Association 
U.S. Customs Columbia Association 
Victory Lodge of Poughkeepsie 
Westchester County Postal Employees Columbia Association 
 

William Blinn Won Emmy Awards for "Brian's Song" and the Mini-series "Roots." he Created And/or Produced "Fame," "Eight Is Enough," "Starsky and Hutch," "The Rookies" and Other Series. he Recently Produced the Play "Walking Peoria." 

IF HOLLYWOOD TAKES THE CREDIT, 
IT MUST ALSO SHARE THE BLAME 

Los Angeles Times 
Friday, April 20, 2001 
By William Blinn

    Years ago I was fortunate enough to be executive producer and writer on the TV series "Fame." It was set in the semi-fictionalized School of the Arts in New York City and dealt with the hopes and aspirations of the students as well as their angst and interplay with the school's faculty. 
     While the series was on the air and for years after its demise, I would receive letters from educators telling me HOW MUCH THE SERIES HAD MEANT TO THEM; some said it even HAD SERVED AS A TEMPLATE FOR SOME SCHOOLS ACROSS THE NATION TO INITIATE SIMILAR ARTS PROGRAMS. I would then do my wholly hypocritical "aw-shucks" routine--hypocritical because inwardly I was quite pumped and proud that I apparently had been able to accomplish something in this worthwhile arena. 
     While in this insufferable mode, I would sometimes mention these letters to others who do what I do for a living and their reaction was uniformly touched. What a fine thing, was the thrust of their response. Isn't it fine, they would say, to see WHAT TELEVISION CAN ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISH? (We honestly talk like that; that's why we're always giving awards to one another.) 
     But that reaction creates a nagging question in the back of my mind: If the creative community is ALLOWED TO TAKE CREDIT FOR GOOD THINGS brought about by imaginative and courageous presentations, WHY ARE QUESTIONS REGARDING ANY NEGATIVE AFFECTS  our productions might generate MET WITH DENIALS that these efforts HAVE NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER? 
    How is it that the mass communications monolith can be founded on the simple premise that (The Media) will, MIMIC WHAT WE SEE ON THE SCREEN , and yet DENY ANY CULPABILITY for the brutishness and dumbing-down we see on all sides? 
     The response to charges of that nature involves more finger-pointing than an animal-rights activist in a slaughterhouse. It's drugs. It's Clinton. It's rap. It's Bush. It's Madonna. It's the thinning ozone layer. It's anybody but me, anything but my show, anywhere but the channel that broadcasts my work. 
     Sure it is. 
     We have a hydra-headed monster and no quick fix exists. But if there is any kind of corrective awareness out there, it will be found by taking the simple first step of acknowledging that we have had a tangible effect, one that hasn't always been the best for our kids, for ourselves, for the "sun'll-come-out-tomorrows" we're so fond of promising.... 
     Yet if I'm entitled to some pride in "Brian's Song," what is appropriate to the fact that I, never having fired a gun in my life, have nevertheless written countless cop shows and westerns where the good guys and bad guys spend the last reel striving mightily to blow each other away. What pride am I entitled to feel about the countless fistfights and brawls I've hammered out, stuntmen hurtling through candyglass windows, whiskey bottles thrown and 
smashed over heads, chairs splintered over skulls? 
     DO ONLY POSITIVE PORTRAYALS HAVE AN IMPACT? In my estimation that's not 
likely, especially if you factor in the changes seen in our world during the past few decades. It just needs to be said in a straightforward manner: The people creating MASS ENTERTAINMENT ARE INVOLVED, are a part of it and ARE CULPABLE. It's imperative we take a simple first step and ACKNOWLEDGE  that hard fact. Part of me fears it's already too late..... 
     (A great luminary friend and avid sports hunter once told me)... "Damn, Bill. You've got to kill something before you die!" 
    I'm afraid I already have. 
 
 

However, this article is SO favorable, and for a change a College Newspaper (But an Award Winning One) and not only is primarily based on an interview with Dr. Emanuel Alfano, but ends with three "dead eye" paragraphs from our own Prof. Ben Lawton of Purdue. 

The Review 
University of Delaware
Collegiate Press Pacemaker  Award Winner 
April 20, 2001 , Vol. 127 , Number 46 

By Lee Sherwood
Staff Reporter

    While fans tune into HBO's hit series "The Sopranos" every Sunday night for their weekly mafia fix, some Italian-Americans are fed up with the series' portrayal of Italians as gun-toting, Sambucca-guzzling wise guys.

    The prime-time soap opera centers on a dysfunctional Italian family with ties to the mob.

    "Tony Soprano and his cohorts are portrayed as semi-literate buffoons and bigots," says Emanuele Alfano, head of the Anti-Bias Committee of UNICO National, an Italian-American service organization in New Jersey. "The majority of female characters on the show are portrayed as promiscuous, bubble-headed bimbos."

    Other examples of this stereotype, Alfano says, include Carla Tortelli from "Cheers" and Annie Spadero from "Caroline in the City."

    On April 5, the American Italian Defense Association filed suit against Time Warner Entertainment for its show, "The Sopranos."

    The suit alleges that the show portrays Italians as born criminals and mobsters -- violating the state constitution of Illinois that guarantees individual dignity.

    AIDA called on other Italian-American activist organizations to support the suit, which does not seek monetary damages, but asks the court to establish that the show violates individual dignity.

    "We are very proud of `The Sopranos,' " Time Warner Entertainment said in a press release. "We're hardly alone in our assessment that the show is an extraordinary artistic achievement."

    Alfano says several organizations -- The Sons of Italy, the Coalition of Italian Americans and One Voice -- support the suit against Time Warner.

    "Just give us a balance," Alfano says. "We don't want censorship or disclaimers put in the shows, but we want Italians to be portrayed in more flattering roles."

    The show has received 34 Emmy nominations since 1999, winning awards for star James Gandolfini, actress Edie Falco, writing and casting. 

    This season's premiere episode attracted more than 11 million viewers. Because of the show's popularity, HBO has ordered 26 episodes this year, up from just 13 episodes for the first two seasons.

    Executive Producer David Chase, an Italian-American, has defended his casting of Italian actors in the series by saying it lends a sense of authenticity.

    Alfano says Hollywood's casting traditions perpetuate the archetype of criminal Italians.

    "It's lazy casting," Alfano says. "You want a mobster -- get an Italian. You want a pimp -- get a black." 

    He cites dim-witted characters -- like Vinny Barbarino (John Travolta) from "Welcome Back Kotter," and Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) from "Friends," as examples of other Italian stereotypes. 

    He says these labels have found a way into advertising campaigns, too. 

    The New York Post recently reported that Red Lobster scrapped a Super Bowl ad called "Breakin' Legs," which featured Italian men talking about doing just that. 

    Red Lobster replaced the ad with the decidedly less offensive "Crazy Legs," in fear of offending the Italian-American community.

    "Red Lobster tests our ads to ensure we can reach a broad market with a compelling message," says Joe Chabus, a public relations representative from Red Lobster, explaining why the ad was pulled.

    He has no specific comment on the "Breakin' Legs" ad campaign.

    Anheuser-Busch is currently airing a beer commercial on prime time featuring Italian-looking males who greet each other repeatedly, saying only, "How you doin'?" 

    "The beer ad is demeaning," Alfano says, "even though they never say [these characters] are Italian."

    Alfano says white-collar, Italian roles do appear on television on occasion, but the characters are often seen as weak or angry. He offers examples like Drs. Robert Romano (Paul McCrane) and Dave Mallucci (Erik Palladino) from "E.R." and the character Joe Celano (Tony Danza) on "Family Law."

    "Malucci is aggressive and has no personality, Romano is gruff and rude and Celano is anti-family, inconsiderate and arrogant," Alfano says.

    This season, "The Sopranos" increased the violence-against-women stereotype by featuring the rape and assault of a female psychiatrist and the fatal beating of a young prostitute, he says.

    "This isn't the message we want to put out there -- that Italian men beat and kill women," he says.

    Alfano says One Voice, a grassroots network of Italian-American individuals created the "Pasta-tute" Award in 1999. 

    "We're hoping this award will shame them into change," Alfano says.

    One Voice members vote each year on one individual who has done the most to further the negative stereotyping of Italian-Americans. 

    The award was given to Chase in 1999 for his creation of "The Sopranos," Alfano says.

    Last year's recipient was New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, who is Italian. He angered One Voice with a commencement address he gave to graduates in Albany that included an imitation of "The Godfather." 

    The mayor then repeated his performance at a New York charity benefit, this time smoking a cigar before making actor Danny Aiello kneel down and kiss Guiliani's ring.

    "There are two reasons stereotyping of Italians continues -- the media and Italian- Americans," Alfano says. "We're our own worst enemies because we watch the shows, play the roles, write the scripts, tell the jokes, buy CDs like `Mob Hits' and we just don't speak out!"

    Successful producers and actors like Martin Scorcese, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro and Danny DeVito make no effort to help end the stereotyping, he says.

    When "The Sopranos" held an open casting call in New Jersey last summer, the show indicated it was looking for Italian-looking individuals. 

    More than 30,000 hopefuls answered the call -- the majority of whom were dressed as mobsters complete with suits, hats and cigars, Alfano says. He adds that some were even swinging toy guns and handcuffs.

    A recent survey by the Commission of Social Justice, a philanthropic arm of the Order Sons of Italy, reports that 74 percent of Americans believe all Italian-Americans are connected in some way to the mob, Alfano says.

    "These results are shocking. We believe this discrimination happens to African Americans, but we don't think it's that bad with Italian-Americans," Alfano says. "If it's wrong for one, it's wrong for us."

    Alfano says Italians and Italian-Americans tolerate the mobster images because they portray people with power and authority. 

    He says the problem is that after a while the image begins to stick. "If you tell a lie over and over, people will believe it's true," Alfano says.

    Ben Lawton, chairman of Italian studies and film studies at Purdue University, says the popularity of "The Sopranos" doesn't make it exempt from criticism.

    "There is no doubt that the show is successful, if by successful one means that it is in demand," Lawton says. "But so are cigarettes, crack cocaine, alcohol and pornography.

    "I believe strongly in freedom of expression. But at a minimum it should be recognized that these [stereotypes] are immoral, dishonest and hurtful."
 

AIDA (American Italian Defense Association) announced its explanation of the basis of its Law Suit Vs 'The Sopranos' on April 6, and NIAF issued a Statement of Support on April 9.

Unfortunately "Murphy's Law" was hard at work, and I only now have confirmed!!

NIAF now joins The Honorable Consul General of Chicago, and an impressive list of National Italian American Organizations previously announced as supporters of AIDA, such as Italian American One Voice (IAOV), Sons of Italy/ Commission of Justice (OSIA/CSJ), UNICO, FIERI, and NIAC (National Italian American Council) that makes for an impressive expression of Unity.

(CIAA) Coalition of Italo American Associations of New York, [139 Organizations] the largest Regional I-A Organization, joined in Solidarity, as has La Dolce Vita, in Canada.

RE: THE RECENT COURT CASE FILED BY 
THE AMERICAN ITALIAN DEFENSE ASSOCIATION

DATE: April 9, 2001

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) strongly supports the American Italian Defense Association and its suit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County against Time Warner Entertainment Company, which produces "The Sopranos."

AIDA charges that showing this cable series violates the Illinois Individual Dignity Clause of the Illinois Constitution which condemns communications that portray depravity and criminality and incite hatred or abuse toward a person or group based of religious, racial or ethnic affiliation.

Programs like "The Sopranos" are an offense to an estimated 20 million Americans of Italian descent, the nation's fifth largest ethnic group.

Frank J. Guarini, Chairman
The National Italian American Foundation

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. and dedicated to preserving the heritage of Italian Americans.

The NIAF funds scholarships, internships, conferences and other programs, and promotes closer cultural and economic ties with Italy.

NIAF 
1860-19th Street N.W.
Washington D.C. 20009-5501
TELE: 202-387-0600
FAX: 202-387-0833
URL: www.NIAF.org

Contact: Dona De Santis 

    How does one explain the ways in which writers and watchers of our most popular media so easily cross over from fantasy to daily life situations?

    This morning's Albany Times-Union continues it gratis hyping of THE SOPRANOS.  A 28 column inch article, replete with exuberant praise for the television show, backed by noting that two prestigious publications (I won't name them) have "heralded" the show, analyzes the show for us. The author of the piece, Renee Graham, apparently writes for the Boston Globe.

I quote from the piece:
    "And in the most glaring example of misplaced hero worship, Al Pacino's Tony Montana in "Scarface" has become an icon to a generation of young black men, who somehow overlook the fact that for all his money and power, Montana destroys everyone he loves, and winds up dead. Our love of the gangster life often masks that it is really no life at all. These people inhabit not just New Jersey, but a world governed by their own personal code, and woe to anyone who disrespects or disregards it. They are bitter and small-minded.  They are misogynistic and racist.  Was anyone really surprised when Tony (Il Castrato, alias Il Soprano) had major problems with Meadow's by-racial now-former boyfriend, Noah?"

Would those of you who have devoted your scholarly talents to analysis of film and media, please help us to analyze the ways in which this author swings back and forth between "real life" and fantasy!!

    Can anyone tell us if there someone has supplied concrete evidence that "'Scarface' has become an icon to a generation of young black men?"  From where did Ms. Graham get the evidence on which she bases this claim?

    Did "Montana," whoever he is destroy "everyone he loves?"  Where did this happen?  In New Jersey? Or, in the fantasy life of someone who wanted to make a money making film?

    Who is the "our" in the sentence, "Our love of the gangster life often masks that it is really no life at all."  Is she referring to you and me?

    What is the "gangster life" that masks the "reality" -- for whom is that reality masked?  Tracking out the cross over between the mask and the reality becomes quite difficult!!!  Especially when Ms Graham uses the pronoun "our!"

    Who are "these people" who live in New Jersey?  Is Ms Graham speaking of people who were recorded in the census recently taken in New Jersey, or is she referring to the imaginary characters that haunt the nightmares of producers and directors of mob films, etc?

    From which publications did Ms Graham derive the description of whichever "these people"  to whom she refers?  Did she learn of "these people" from a sociology course?  From a textbook on criminal behavior"

From the two publications that heralded the TV show she is analyzing?
    When a reader in Wisconsin reads Ms Graham's piece, what image of "these people" will that reader conjure up?

    I hope that we can have clarification of the ways in which the fantasy life generated by the constant presentation of Italian-Americans as goons and buffoons substitutes, carries over into, becomes the basis for claims, etc., of people like Ms. Graham and all the people who read her column.

    Also, is there a way to track out the travel activity of writers like Ms. Graham? Can anyone suggest a way that we can get information on how studios, hucksters, promoters, etc., sponsor studio visits, high class opening receptions, etc. for writers who produce these pieces??

                                        Best, Jim Mancuso
 

Emeritus Prof. of Psychology         15 Oakwood Place
Department of Psychology             Delmar, New York    12054
Univ. at Albany  SUNY                   (518) 439-4416
Albany, NY 12222
http://www.capital.net/~soialban      http://www.capital.net/~mancusoj
Italian-Amer.interests site               Personal Construct Psychol. site
 

MEMORABLE PIZZA IN A HISTORIC PIZZERIA                                      By Robert A. Masullo

NEW YORK  -- Four Sacramentans -- my wife, Eileen, and I and our daughter, 
Madeline, and son-in-law, Michael Korn -- recently flew to the Big Apple to 
attend a wedding. The celebration was delightful. But the night before the 
wedding proved almost as memorable for us.

That evening we tasted history -- in the form of pizza. Great pizza and New 
York, of course, are almost synonymous.

Not that the eastern American metropolis invented pizza; that honor belongs 
the southern Italian metropolis of Naples. But New York did introduce the now 
ubiquitous dish to the United States.

And the person making the introductions was, in fact, a Neapolitan -- Gennaro 
Lombardi, a baker who left Naples and came to New York in 1895.

Lombardi started making pizza in a bakery (using the same dough recipe that 
his father and grandfather used in Naples) and selling it by the slice in the 
most famous of all Little Italies, the one on Manhattan's Lower East Side 
along historic Mulberry Street, at the time the locus of Italian America.

Because the pizza sold better than his breads and pastries, Lombardi 
abandoned the bakery and, in 1905, opened his -- and the United States' -- 
first pizzeria.

Vestiges of the great migration that brought more than 5 million Italians to 
America between 1880 and 1920 remain visible on Little Italy's narrow 
streets today in the form of grocery stores, gift shops, espresso bars, 
restaurants and pizzerias.

Including, Lombardi's.

Now owned by a new Gennaro Lombardi (grandson of the founder) and his 
partner, John Brescio, America's first pizzeria still does a brisk business.

The present location 32 Spring St. -- between Mott and Mulberry streets -- is 
Lombardi's third incarnation, all three, just a few feet from one another. 
You'd never know it wasn't the original one, however, from looking at it.

From the standpoint of building age, Little Italy is one of the older parts 
of New York. The structure that houses Lombardi's dates back to around 1900.

Consisting of two long, narrow storefronts connected by a breezeway with an 
upstairs annex (al fresco in good weather; canvas-covered in bad), the eatery 
seats only 90 people.

Tables have checkered cloths. Some walls are bare brick; others are covered 
with glowing newspaper and magazine reviews. The ceiling is stamped tin. 
Floors are chicken wire tiles. Waiters, including the extremely friendly and 
helpful Yanni Provias -- he's half Greek, half Italian -- who served us, wear 
white shirts and aprons in the turn-of-the-20th-century style.

In short, you feel like you've taken a time machine trip once you go through 
the doors.

Lombardi's most distinctive feature, however, is its oven -- brick, of 
course. (Movie star Jack Nicholson, a regular patron when in New York, likes to sit 
in a relatively private nook near to it.)

As any real pizza fan knows, brick ovens make the best pizza. But Lombardis 
oven is more than just brick. It's also a coal oven (as the sign on the entry 
awning boasts).

Coal ovens have been outlawed in New York and most other places 
for environmental reasons but Lombardi's, being so old, was grandfathered in 
and is one of a handful still allowed to operate.

The advantage of a coal oven is that it heats to 900-plus degrees, some 200 
to 300 degrees more than wood or gas ovens.

"That allows the pizza to bake much quicker," explained manager Rosemarie 
Gentile. "The bottom gets a little blistered and the cheese melts just right. 
It makes pizza taste so much better."

Co-owner Brescio agreed but noted that other factors contribute to Lombardi's 
reputation, namely extremely fresh, top-quality ingredients. "I throw them 
out if they're not just right," he says proudly. That, and the family's secret 
recipe for the dough.

We tried the standard pizza (mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil,
pecorino romano and olive oil), white pizza (mozzarella, ricotta, pecorino 
romano, garlic, black pepper and no sauce), calzone (a folded-over large 
pizza stuffed with mozzarella and ricotta, herbs and any other topping you 
wish), and the house specialty, fresh clam pie (tons of shucked top-neck clams, 
oregano, garlic, parsley, pecorino romano, olive oil and black pepper).

The clam pizza dates back to a Lombardi family Christmas Eve tradition from 
a time when all-seafood meals were the rule for the day in Catholic Italy.
To say all of Lombardi's pizzas are fantastic is true the four of us 
wholeheartedly agree but that is almost too much of an understatement.

What makes them so good? Start with the thin crusts, the only kind Lombardi's 
make. Slightly charred and crispy on the underside, they have a wonderful 
springiness when you bite into them. Even as a bread -- that is, without any 
topping -- they would be wonderful, having an ideal texture and taste one 
rarely encounters.

The toppings -- the mozzarella and ricotta, especially -- were extraordinary. 
Incredibly fresh, they had a sweetness one only encounters in the finest 
dairy products.

And if the dough is the keystone of a Lombardi pizza, the mozzarella and 
ricotta are its zenith.

Lombardi's, in the Italian style, is a true pizzeria. Meaning  with the 
exceptions of a few appetizers and beverages  it sells only pizza. But it does 
pizza so well, you won't miss other dishes.

And the history-cum-quality comes reasonably priced: $13.50 for an 8-slice 
pizza; $11.50 for a 6-slice one. The calzone, which is enough for a small 
army, goes for $27.

But bring along cash. Lombardi's takes no plastic.

It did not surprise us to learn that in Manhattan, where there are so many 
excellent pizzerias, Lombardi's was rated No. 1 by the consummer-written 
Zagat guide in 1996. Then, in 1999, Zagat upped its assessment and rated 
Lombardi's "Best on the Planet."

That gets no argument from us. In fact, our experience left us with only one 
regret  that Lombardi's doesn't deliver -- to California.

Steve Antonuccio forwards and comments: 
I am very encouraged by the words of 14 year old Jennifer Greilich. 
What wisdom and common sense this  kid has.  Although the Sopranos
 is an insult to Italian Americans, we forget it is also an insult to 
humanity. 

God Bless Jennifer Greilich for pointing that out.  Also, Kenneth Castellano 
makes some great points as well.  Unfortunately Newsweek didn't publish 
one word in their original article about how every major Italian American 
organization has come out against the series. They couldn't ignore 
the letters to the editor though.

A Show With Hits and Misses
        Many readers responding to our April 2 cover story on "The 
Sopranos" told us they find the show offensive, primarily because of 
its violent themes. Others objected to its profanity and depiction of 
Italian-Americans as criminals. "Most of the cruel, shallow 
characters are difficult to like," one reader wrote. "If this show is 
revolutionizing television, it is not doing it in a good way." Said 
another: "Give me `The West Wing' any day, where you can cheer for 
the heroes. In our already violent society, `empathizing with a 
murderer' is the last thing we should want to do."

WHY ARE ITALIAN AMERICANS 'FAIR' GAME?

Robert P. Firriolo; Diana Anzalone Bier

How hypocritical of Sheryl McCarthy to dismiss the concerns of Italian
Americans when she regularly bleats about alleged unfair treatment of other
groups ["The 'Sopranos' Will Sing On Despite Futile Lawsuit," Viewpoints,
April 9]. While Hollywood long ago abandoned routine stereotyping of other
groups, Americans of Italian descent (along, it seems, with white 
Southerners) are still fair game.

Italian Americans are typically depicted as mobsters, hoods or lovable
morons like Tony Banta of "Taxi" or Joey Tribbiani of "Friends." While
McCarthy acknowledges real-life Italian - American governors, chief
executives and Supreme Court justices, where are the corresponding
depictions in television programs and cinema? Where are the Italian -
American scientists, engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, elected
officials, journalists, businessmen, artists, musicians, authors and
educators?

I am not sure that a lawsuit, such as the one against Time Warner as
producers of "The Sopranos," is the best way to deal with the obvious and
pervasive media bias against Italian Americans. But it is somewhat refreshing 
to see the issue discussed publicly, and the offending parties revealed.

Robert P. Firriolo 
North Massapequa 

How does she think that Italians have managed to succeed so well in 
American society in such a short period of time? Our success is incredible
considering the prejudice and hatred we endured in the early part of the
20th century when masses of Italians immigrated here. 

Many Italian immigrants worked hard and didn't complain. They were savvy 
enough, however, to understand how to succeed in America: to work hard 
and try to fit in without making waves. It is the grandchildren of these 
downtrodden immigrants who are now governors, car company presidents 
and Supreme Court Justices. They succeeded without bilingual education, 
affirmative action or the American Civil Liberties Union despite overwhelming 
prejudice and ridicule. Now we are told that the ridicule should continue and 
we should "get over it." 

Diana Anzalone Bier 
Rockville Centre

Letter to the Editor: 

I offer some comments regarding Lou Sessinger’s Commentary of April 12th
 entitled, “Sopranos miffs some Italian lawyers.” 

Mr. Sessinger writes about a group of Chicago Italian   American lawyers who 
have filed a complaint against HBO, producers of  “Sopranos,” because the 
show defames Italian Americans. This complaint is filed    under Illinois law 
which condemns “communications that portray criminality, depravity or lack 
of virtue” in racial, religious or ethnic groups.

Mr. Sessinger questions the intent of these lawyers and goes on to answer 
his own question.  “What else? They're lawyers for crying out loud!” The 
answer might satisfy some people used to stereotypic thinking but I am not 
one of them. 

These lawyers are not acting on some self-serving whim, as Mr. Sessinger 
implies, but rather they reflect the thinking of a significant portion of the 
Italian American community. This is evidenced by the support received from 
major 

Italian American and Italian Canadian organizations. Though the complaint is 
against HBO and the Sopranos it is really the Italian American community 
saying, “enough is enough” to the endless stream of Hollywood films, which 
denigrate Italian Americans like no other group.  (Based on an ongoing study 
by the ItalicStudies Institute seventy percent of films with Italian American 
characters denigrate the very same characters.) This denigration is not 
confined to Hollywood. 

A study by Drs. Linda and Charles Lichter of George Washington University 
presents an even greater proportion of negative image by the television industry. 

Mr. Sessinger suggests that shows like Sopranos do not affect the public’s 
perception Italian Americans.  Studies of Italian Americans by the Princeton 
Analysis Review Corporation, Calandra Institute, etc. show exactly the 
opposite.  Studies, involving the general population, show that films and 
television do affect public perception; the obvious example being TV violence 
on our children. 

I suggest that TV shows with their pervasive, pernicious message affects 
public perception more so than the billions of dollars spent on ads. 

These lawyers do not seek censorship, do not want the show cancelled, and 
seek no damages.  They want a jury to declare, consistent with Illinois law, 
that the show demeans Italian Americans.  What is Mr.Sessinger reaction? 
“Lot’s of luck with that reputation thing.  They're lawyers, for crying out 
loud.” 

I suggest that  ‘pro bono’ lawyers represent the best of that profession. 
What would have Mr. Sessinger reaction have  been if they wanted censorship 
or were suing? This sounds like a case of, ‘damn if you do, damn if you 
don’t.” 

Trust me, Mr. Sessinger it is all aboutreputation.  It is about no one 
hearing the voices of Italian Americans.   Thatvoice has been ignored for 
decades by the media.  These lawyers managed to get media attention. 
It is really that simple. 

John DeMatteo

PASSING THROUGH , THEY LEFT A MARK

Ellis Island immigrant manifests will be available online 
and at the national monument.

By Robert Strauss, Special to the Times

    ELLIS ISLAND, N.Y.--The massive Great Hall teems with people now, all brought here by boat for a short stay. That is just as it was for dozens of years from 1892 to 1954.

    The difference, to be sure, is that in the former years, the people who came to Ellis Island were both expectant and scared, here to be processed as newly minted immigrants. Most had been brought to the island by barge from carrier ships, docked in New York Harbor, on which
they had sailed primarily from Europe.

    Today's visitors come by Circle Line boat tours from Battery Park in Manhattan or Liberty Park in Jersey City. They are not as expectant or nervous as their predecessors, coming instead to see some history.

    Now they can come a bit closer to the past. As of Tuesday, they'll be able to see not only artifacts of the great migration, but also records of the passage. Profiles of all of the nearly 22 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island and other New York ports between 1892 and 1924, the peak years of immigration, will be available from computer terminals at the Ellis Island National Monument and, in a more truncated version, on the Internet
(http://www.ellisislandrecords.org).

    "We always wanted to do this project, but we had to get done other things first," said Stephen A. Briganti, president and chief executive of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation.

     The first task of the nonprofit foundation, which was established in 1982, was to refurbish the Statue of Liberty and the main immigration buildings on Ellis Island. When that project was substantially finished four years later, the foundation turned to the idea of cataloging the
immigration data.

     "By that time, technology had changed to make it more accessible," said Briganti. "And then two years later, as the Internet had become more popular, we decided to add that component as well."

     The manifests of all the ships that legally brought people into New York during those years have been available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., but the five-year effort to catalog the immigrant data makes extracting information from the records significantly easier.
Viewers no longer need to travel to Washington to read microfilm, nor do they need to know the name of the boat that carried the people they're looking up. (Without the name of a boat, it would've been necessary to search manifest after manifest to find a passenger.)

     Instead, they can search a database that's as easy to use as Yahoo. Plugging in the name of a person brings up both exact name matches and names that are relatively close. There's also a readout of what would have been on the manifest for that person--age, hometown, marital status and the like. You can click to see the manifest itself, usually a
photograph of a handwritten document, or read more about the boat that brought the person in, and perhaps see a drawing or photograph of the boat itself. Although this information is available online, there are 31 terminals with broad-band Internet access and large Trinitron screens at Ellis Island.

     Five dollars buys half an hour's access that, in addition to the person-search, offers videos about immigration and genealogy to help with a search. But the real fun is going to one of 10 special booths where, for the same $5, you can create a genealogical Web-based
scrapbook.

     Say you have found the manifest where Great-Grandpa's name is listed. You may want to download to your scrapbook the photocopy of his manifest page, where there may be a few dozen names of others who came over on the same boat. Then you might add a picture of the ship if it is there. But the rooms also will have a scanner, a digital camera and a microphone, so you can add your current photo to the Web site, have Grandma come to tell a story about Great-Grandpa or scan in his photo, a family tree or even a three-dimensional object like his old pocket watch.

     "This is the way to have everyone connect with the immigrant experience," said Briganti. "More than 40% of the people living in the U.S. today have one or more ancestors who came through Ellis Island.

Though people certainly came through other ports, it is New York that had the most immigrants, and Ellis Island is viewed as the epicenter of that immigrant experience."

     Even if you don't have any relatives who immigrated through New York between 1892 and 1924, you can still have fun with the foundation's database.

     Look for the name Israel Beilin, for instance. You will find five exact matches and one close match (Israel Beilinsky of Dwinsk). Of the five exact matches, you probably want the first one--a 5-year-old boy who came over in 1893. He was Russian, but he came in on the ship
Rhynland out of Antwerp, Belgium, with his family. By early the next century, little Israel had become famous by his Americanized name, Irving Berlin, with the first of his hit songs, "Alexander's Ragtime Band."

     Eventually, the foundation hopes to have many more immigration manifests recorded on its Web site--be they more from later or earlier years in New York or from other big immigration ports such as Philadelphia, Baltimore or Boston.

     The foundation chose the current 1892 start date because that was when Ellis Island opened. Immigration from Europe had grown significantly in the 1880s. Before that, it was controlled by individual states, but it soon became too chaotic and unwieldy to do so, and the
federal government took over and standardized the process. Because that was the case, the manifest forms at Ellis Island were relatively standardized, making it easier for the foundation's
researchers--primarily volunteers from the Mormon Church, a leader in genealogy--to record the information.

     "It has been an amazing undertaking, and now we hope that anyone who is interested in family history will benefit by it," said Briganti, whose own grandmother, Annuziata Rotunno, immigrated to America through Ellis Island in 1903. "The immigrant experience is, we feel, the most prominent piece of American culture."

With mille grazie to Professor Joe Pivato, who brought this to Francesca L'Orfano attention, who passed it on via <<ladolcevita_italianinelmondo@yahoogroups.com (la dolce vita_italiani nel mondo)>>

I am thrilled that Tony Nardi, a two-time Genie winner, would have the courage, disdain the dollars and excercise such principle,  which is in grievous short supply, with such great style and grace.

This I-A, who I was not previously familiar with, is my hero!

NARDI NIXES THE ITALIAN JOB

Nardi refuses to audition for role as a greaseball Mafioso

By Michael Posner
mposner@globeandmail.ca

Two-time Genie winner Tony Nardi, one of the country's finest actors, has left his agent of seven years, Dana Crackower, and her agency ETM. The story, which is a little ugly, goes like this.

Toronto casting agent Jon Comerford asked Nardi to audition for a part as a greaseball Mafioso in Beauty and Power, a movie-of-the-week project now shooting in Toronto. Nardi declined, refusing to play a racial stereotype. Two days after Nardi turned down the role, Crackower called Nardi in a panic. Comerford, she said, had threatened to boycott her agency's entire roster of clients unless Nardi read for the part. Would he do the agency a
favour? Not a chance.

Nardi has aired his anger at the incident in a five-page letter to the ACTRA union. "I am not a professional Italian," he writes. "I'm a professional actor . . . I'm not ashamed to be Italian. On the contrary. It's playing a cultural stereotype I have a problem with."

"I was shocked," Nardi writes of Comerford's alleged threats. "Personally, I have nothing against Comerford. Professionally, I have very little contact with him . . . [But] no one should stand for [this]." He adds: "Being asked to give in to [it] is worse. [Dana] is a wonderful agent . . . for her to ask for a favour she knew I would never grant was disturbing."

Bottom line: Nardi's taken a hike. Comerford told me his job is "to pursue the best actors I can get," but denied ever issuing the threat. Crackower said the agency won't comment on confidential matters.

Meantime, ACTRA has hired independent producer Michael Hadley to find ways to mend the strained relationship between actors and casting directors. At a recent meeting, 200 actors turned up to voice complaints about Comerford and others. No casting agents were invited. Nardi didn't attend, but when he asked local ACTRA president Richard Hardacre why the meeting was closed to casting directors, he was told: "I wouldn't say what I have to say knowing a casting director is sitting in the crowd . . . No actor would. We would be
blacklisted just for attending the meeting."
 

The CIAA  announcement was made by it's Executive VP, Richard A. Grace, and is a stirring and outstanding indictment of 'The Sopranos', and other Italian American Negative Stereotyping. It is all the more significant in that CIAA rarely if ever take a stand on these types of issues!! 

THE COALITION OF ITALO-AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS, INC. 
of New York (CIAA) SUPPORTS AIDA VRS. THE SOPRANOS

CRIME IS A FUNCTION OF PERSONAL GREED, NOT SOME INHERITED IMMORAL DEGENERACY.

Our Coalition represents 139 great Italian American organizations.  We have been inundated with complaints about the Sopranos.  The most frequent question asked is how we stand on the issue.

The answer to this question is extremely complex.  First, let us assure you that, in speaking out on any issue, our Organization has never ntended to tread on artistic or creative expression or to infringe on the Constitutional rights of anyone in any way.  We have NEVER taken that position.

Our position regarding "The Sopranos" is not about censorship at all. Our Organization does not want to stifle anyone's right to free speech. That would be abhorrent to us, since we so often stand with other ethnic and racial groups in support of civil rights issues.

To us, this is about fairness.  Decades old stereotypes that associate Italian-Americans with organized crime, buffoonery and illegal activity persists to this day.  The numbers of Italian-Americans who actually participate in organized crime is a tiny fraction of the
Italian-American population, but images in the popular media suggest otherwise.  The FBI statistics quote" 1/20th of 1% of Italians are involved in organized crime in the United States."  CRIME IS A FUNCTION OF PERSONAL GREED, NOT SOME INHERITED IMMORAL DEGENERACY.

Our Organization hopes that, by raising objections when the old, negative stereotypes are appear too often, we can bring attention to the fact that the vast majority of Italian-Americans are decent, law-abiding people who achieve success through education and hard work.  We feel that this aspect of the Italian-American culture is neglected in the media, especially by HBO.  This is not about "The Sopranos"; this is about HBO portraying a more balanced portrayal of Italians in this country and some of their many great contributions.  Many of those who subscribe to HBO are Italian and HBO should know of our / their concerns.  This also is free speech.

In speaking out about "The Sopranos", we hope to influence HBO in taking The Sopranos off the air.  In the absents of that goal, to persuade HBO to give equal time to the real side of Italian-American life and to show what the vast, vast majority of Italian Americans are really like.

We do have a sense of humor and we rarely if ever take a stand on these types of issues.  In the past our great organization has honored many great Italians such as Frank Sinatra, Chas Palminteri, Danny Aiello, Jack Scalia, Tony Lobianco, Steven Segal, John Tuturro etc, many of which have portrayed Organized Crime figures.  We certainly respect their right to choose their roll.  We only hope our efforts will produce additional positive rolls for these very same people to chose from.

Maybe the writers and producers should try harder so those choices are also available.  When the Sopranos was first aired, we tried to understand that there aren't enough positive roles for Italian type actors to choose from.  They are unfortunately stereotyped and we understand they have to earn a living.  On occasion, we even encourage some to play these negative roles so they would actually have some editorial control and reduce the negative portrayals of our people. 

However, our position is that while they are actually playing these roles, Italian organizations should refrain from honoring them as actors or Italians.  It only lends to publicize the Movies they are staring in at that time as it sends the wrong message to Hollywood that we Italians
condone how we are being portrayed by the media.
.

Too often, the media glamorizes Italian gangsters.  This is not typical of the Italian American and we don't want our children or yours emulating this glamorized negative portrayal of Italians.  Please know that these are serious issues for the individuals and groups that make
up or membership.  They feel - not unfairly - that Italian-Americans constitute one of the few, if not the only, ethnic group about whom such negative stereotypes are so openly tolerated without an honest attempt towards balance.  They have a right to their opinions, and we, as
spokesmen ad women for the Organizations, that represent them, are obligated to voice their concerns.  We choose our positions carefully.

Let us reiterate that our Organization is not trying to impose censorship and does not want to suppress freedom in the arts.  We have great respect for the First Amendment.  We just want to achieve a degree of fairness in the way Italian-Americans are depicted.

HBO's series "the Sopranos" is a flawed attempt at a fictional portrayal of a very limited sector of the Italian-American community in this nation.

"The Sopranos" should be taken off the air because it actually spreads hate for Italian Americans and is perpetuating a very negative image of Italian-Americans not only across the country but also now around the world.  In as much as that goal is unrealistic, we are asking for much more balance in the way Italian Americans are portrayed in the media. We deserve to be treated with the same respect as all other great religious and ethnic groups that make up this country. 

Whether you admit it or not, HBO is not treating Italian Americans with the same level of respect or fairness as they show other ethnic and religious groups.  When was the last time you saw a rerun of Amos and Andy?  How long would they get away with a show called "The Shiperos" with all the unfair negative stereotypes pertaining to our Jewish brothers and sisters?  They wouldn't air one of these shows.  However, look how they justify what they do to Italians.  They say, "The producer and all the actors are Italians".  Then it would be ok to air The Shiperos as long as everyone associated with it was Jewish.  Yeah sure. 

The unmistakable difference is that HBO's programming is terribly biased towards the negative when it comes to the vast, vast majority of their programming towards Italian Americans.  Why not, it sells.  What else is there? Something had to take the place of "Cowboys and the Indians" on TV and the movies.  You can isolate this show and say it's great, it's somewhat
realistic, or it is very entertaining.  This is not the point.  The point is that HBO portrays all Italians on most all their shows like they portray them on the Sopranos.

This is not solely about "The Sopranos"; this is about HBO portraying a balanced portrayal of Italians and Italian Americans and air some of their many great contributions.  This is about just balance.

We recognize everyone's first amendment right to speak their mind including HBO and Actors.  However, HBO shouldn't hide behind this because it's financially rewarding.  HBO has an obligation to work harder.  There is a disgusting imbalance and lack of positive
programming and positive roles for Italians and Italian Americans on HBO.  We are in the process of doing a study.

HBO owes it to all ethnic and religious groups to promote positive images and we feel they have a moral and legal obligation not to defame.  Certainly a true balance is just.  The federal courts in Scelsa vrs The City University" in which our Coalition testified and was deeply
involved, the Court concluded that imbalance is discrimination and defamation.
 

There is no small coincidence that when Middle America was polled, the results of that pole was that 73% felt Italians were involved in some sort of crime.  In addition, at that very same time when Hollywood and TV was surveyed the survey turned up that 70% of all Italians portrayed in the media were portrayed as criminals, gavoons, and our woman as bimbos.

Current generations look at these media glamorized roles on TV and in  the movies and our children (yours and mine) want to emulate them.  They drop out of school.  Italians have one of the highest drop out rates in the country.  Future generations when looking at these movies will assume that this is the way we were back then.  Is this the way we want to be remembered by our grand children?  As vicious killers, drug pushers, extortionists, airheads, and  / or bimbos?

You can keep watching and do nothing, which is your right.  However, just because you may think it is entertaining we shouldn't attempt to justify it.  We shouldn't allow us or our parents to be remembered as the media portrays us today.  Our parents and we deserve better.  Our
grand kids deserve better.  You know how you and most Italians really are, but do you know how non-Italians perceive us?  People from the south, people from the mid west, people from Canada, and all those other countries that only see what the movies show them, how do they perceive us?  You could complain to HBO and / or refuse to use products advertised.

Many Italians watch it but that doesn't mean we think it is right, or it's ok.  It's not us we have to worry about, It's all those who don't know us we have to worry about.  When our kids apply for a job in Government, the law, Banks etc, etc, how will they be accepted.  Will they be suspect?  I think so.  You can watch "The Sopranos" behind closed doors in your living room but you hurt generations yet un born by going around saying there is nothing is wrong with that kind of programming just because you find it entertaining.  Don't be so naive to think that no one is negatively effective by it.

Think about this.... Why does 73% of Middle Americans think that 70% of Italians are involved in crime?

Richard A. Grace
Executive Vice President
Coalition of Italo - American Organizations, Inc.
New York, New York
 

IMHO, it also gave a moral boost to the entire I-A community, that has resulted in a resurgence of hope, guarded optimism, and activism, resulting from the realization that you can beat "City Hall", with Perserverance, Persistence and Tenacity. 

Therefore adding Tony La Piana & NIAC to the list of supporters of AIDA is of particular importance. That List now includes The Consul General of Chicago, Italian American One Voice (IAOV), Sons of Italy/ Commission of Justice, UNICO, and FIERI. 

What Important National Organizations are we missing besides NIAF, and NIABA 
(National Italian American Bar Association).? Are Regional Organizations that consider themselves important preparing to present a proposal of support to their Board? 

NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL, 
(NIAC) SUPPORTS AIDA

IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE- 04/11/01

The NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL, ( NIAC) announces its full and complete support of the AIDA ( American Italian Defense Association) Lawsuit, brought against the HBO television series, the SOPRANOS.

The NIAC is proud to endorse its neighbor AIDA in this cause, and truly believes that this Lawsuit is appropriate, justified, and necessary, in order for the American People to become aware of the negative stereotyping of Italian Americans in the mass media.

NIAC activists, and others protested the SOPRANO's promotional visit during the month of February 2000 in Chicago, Il. Furthermore, the NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL stands ready to defend the Italian American community against those within the Hollywood Media who have a field day depicting Italian Americans negatively in movie films.

The AIDA Lawsuit brings to the American people of all cultures that hope, decency, and traditional cultural values are still important and very necessary in American society.   Let there be no doubt.  The Italian American people shall remain strong in their Quest for justice from this program that depicts Italian Americans in such a negative, and offensive manner.

NIAC President & Founder Anthony E. La Piana, proudest moments in the NIAC commitment to the civil rights movement was the instrumental, crucial, andsuccessful role it played in the lobbying that dealt with the unjust treatment of Italian Americans during World War II ( The Italian American WarTime Violations Act ) HR 2442, & S1909, that signed into law on November 07,2000.

The NIAC is intensely involved in a full spectrum of projects that combat negative stereotyping directed at Italian Americans.  The NIAC is intent in proving thru persistence, determination, and strength, that the Italian American people shall overcome these senseless acts of bigotry.

The NIAC is Dedicated to the Advancement of Italian Americans, and is "An Anti Defamation Society".

Phone calls are being taken at ( 630 )415-1817
 
 

These "slights" are particularly dangerous, because each "sting" singularly seems innocuous, and hardly worth bothering about, so you are tempted to shrug it off. 

BUT in the "aggregate" they inundate the public, and have an "insidious" and "pervasive" effect. 

In total they casts a comprehensive pall on our community, inflicting great damage, that is neither inflicted on any other community, or tolerated by any other community.

Bob Mariani makes a very good case, in the following article for being "ever vigilant".

Subj:   As the World Stands Still, CBS is there!

To: CBS "mailto:atwt@cbs.com"

    It has been brought to my attention that on the CBS Show "As the World Turns" the character of Rose, speaking to another show character, Malden, stated, "I could have married (Italian name) and had a dozen kids with no necks."  GREAT LINE! 

    That is, GREAT LINE if the writer who wrote the line is an escapee from that socially retarded show "The Sopranos" or perhaps a Neanderthal writer from "Birth of a Nation," but such a line does not give credit to a great broadcasting network like CBS. 

    Hearing of the reference to the line from the show I immediately went to the mirror and sure enough I evidently escaped having "no neck" because of my Italian ancestry.  Looked at all of my family pictures on both sides of my Italian ancestry and evidently we were a lucky family as none of my ancestors nor contemporary relatives have "no necks," but all necks appear to be of normal length and size.  Did a survey of my friends of Italian ancestry I knew over the years and again could not find any of them with "no necks." 

Given that I could not find any one of Italian ancestry of my acquaintance with the prescribed "no necks," I had to ask myself to what the writer was referring when s/he penned the line, "I could have married (Italian name) and had a dozen kids with no necks."

    Could it just be the writer was trying to transmit a subliminal message in the line?  For help with such a possible subliminal message I turned to Jungian Dream Analysis to see what such a "no neck" concept might mean in dreams.  It would appear the message might be that a person with "no neck" is a person without the ability to express themselves in a coherent and clear way:  a dunce or an inarticulate person.  Isn't it strange that on the show "The Sopranos" the same "inarticulateness" or "duncelike speaking" is used to give the show its flavor of pseudo Italian-Americanism? 

    Could it just be that what we are dealing with here is a social cue regarding Italians; i.e., Italians are gorillalike in nature who can't speak right (given that the neck contains the voice box and without a "neck" the voice box and the ability to speak right/correctly are a bit collapsed and invalidated) and who lack the elegant neck (articulateness?) of the cultured 
and educated personages of history we see in paintings in museums, etc.? 

    Perhaps the subliminal message was indeed that people with Italian names are 
"gorillalike" and not fully evolved or maybe such a social cue was hoping to conjure up the image of the enforcer type character of reel life in organized crime movies.  Whatever the buried message in this throw away line, it was, at the least, a social faux pas which requires an apology from CBS to the Italian-American community as it does not reflect reality and is OBVIOUSLY some type of ethnic slur.

    For CBS to be a party to such an ethnic slur is really something to be ashamed of, for as the great Judge Learned Hand, considered by many to be a peer of such great Justices as Holmes, Brandeis, and Cardozo, once said, "Words are chameleons, which reflect the colour of their environment."  Surely CBS is not a dung heap with archaic ethnic slurs scattered about, but rather an institution which has always led the way for Americans to come 
together as a nation of immigrants, all of whom have contributed to the greatness of America -- regardless of their neck size!

    As custodians of the public good, CBS might want to copy off the following Chinese proverb and paste it above the desk of the offending writer:  THE SWIFTEST HORSE CANNOT OVERTAKE THE WORD ONCE SPOKEN. 

    Hopefully you will do the right thing and apologize to the Italian-American community and quit acting like a bunch of "red necks." 

                                            Sincerely,
                                            Bob Miriani
                                            St. Joseph, Missouri 

Francesca L'Orfano is an indefatigable young lady attending York College in Toronto, Canada, who has almost single handedly welded together an inspired group to defend our heritage. She gives an informative insight into the special "situation" faced by Italian Canadians regarding 'The Sopranos'.

Below is her Letter to the Chicago Sun Times: 

  I want to applaud the AIDA lawsuit against Time Warner...the corporation that gave birth to "The Sopranos".

  Here too in Canada we have been protesting this disgusting and bigoted show.  Our Canadian Broadcast Standard's Council (CBSC) as well as the BCE-CTV, a public network that aired the first season in the fall received thousands of letters of complaints.  The CBSC is still investigating and has yet to make its ruling!

   In Canada our Rights on our Canadian airwaves are protected and regulated under the aegis of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) where the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) and the Cable Television Standards Council (CTSC) , the broadcast industry's "watchdog organization", regulates that a licensee and in our case, the BCE-CTV Television network, shall not broadcast....." any abusive comment that, when taken in context, tends to or is likely to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion,
sex, sexual orientation, age or mental or physical disability. "

  You will note the strong similarity in the language of our regulation above and the "Individual Dignity clause of the Illinois Constitution" that AIDA is using to bring their suit forward.

   "Individual Dignity.  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."

     Therefore in solidarity with AIDA, many Canadians also agree that this abusive programme "The Sopranos" exposes me and my ethnic heritage, my culture, to hatred and contempt.  As we continue our protest and await the CBSC ruling, we also look forward to the results of AIDA's courageous and worthy challenge. 

One Voice (IAOV) may now be but a whisper, but the fast growing membership assurres that soon those many Voices will become a roar!

Francesca L'Orfano
Email: ladolcevita_italianinelmondo@yahoogroups.comm

A group dealing with defamation, and negative stereotyping of Italian-Canadians, and standing shoulder to shoulder with those of Italian heritage in the US. 
 

Fine Arts Cultural Studies
279 Winters College
York University
4700 Keele Street 
Toronto ON M3J 1P3
Canada

1-307 Grace Street
Toronto Ontario 
M6G 3A7
416 531-0420
 

It is now expected to be hearing like announcements from Regional/Specialty Italian American organizations to soon be adding themselves to the list.

It will the be interesting what other Ethnic groups will give support to AIDA, because having suffered defamation themselves, should be sensitive and sympathetic to the plight of Italian Americans, or whether they will be bystanders, showing that they are merely self interested. 
 

For Immediate Release- April 10, 2001 

Fieri Supports Lawsuit filed by AIDA 
Against HBO's "Sopranos"

New York, April 10, 2001 - Fieri, an international organization of young Italian-American professionals today endorsed the lawsuit filed by the American Italian Defense Association against AOL Time-Warner's HBO unit for its offensive series "The Sopranos." In the past, the media industry has taken such protests as disdainfully annoying to be dismissed or ignored. That is until now when the media giant will have to answer for itself in court.

"AIDA has a great case and we strongly support their approach…this is long overdue." said Roberto Ragone President of Fieri National. Of particular concern is that such imagery is so pervasive that now advertisers are now emulating the show - further perpetuating these negative stereotypes. AIDA's approach is unique. By seeking neither damages for Time Warner's actions nor a restraint on the airing of the show, AIDA makes no attempt to infringe upon Time Warner's right of free speech. Instead, AIDA seeks a Declaratory Judgment from the Circuit Court that various episodes or the series as a whole, breaches the Individual Dignity clause of the Illinois' constitution with respect to Italian Americans as a group. 

In response to HBO's defense of the show on its 'artistic merit', Ragone held, "That is nothing more than a thinly veiled ruse; a self-serving argument as clever as the TV plot, equally distorting people's perception. HBO is out to make a buck, and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous. Just another attempt to reject any accountability for polluting the cultural 
landscape with more negative depictions of Italian-Americans."

"You're unlikely to see an ongoing TV series similarly exploit other ethnic groups. Its 'ethnic profiling' that exacerbates a more insidious form of bigotry and prejudice, which should concern every American." Ragone cautioned. "While we credit certain media companies for attempting more balanced portrayals of other ethnic groups, 'The Sopranos' repurpose the same old hackneyed characterizations with new window dressing. In fact, we [Fieri] contacted HBO after the first episode expressing our hope that the Mafia backdrop was a 'Trojan Horse' to introduce more balanced depictions of Italian-Americans. Obviously we're very disappointed at what has instead evolved. The conspicuous absence of the positive and the proliferation of the negative - this gap bolsters the Illinois lawsuit."

Ragone continued, "We hear the counter argument. 'Lighten up.' 'It's only entertainment.' More appropriately, 'the Mafia sells.'" Indeed, a 1999 film study conducted by the Italic Studies Institute indicated that Italian-Americans have been portrayed negatively as undignified, low-class people predisposed to crime in 73% of Hollywood movies produced since 1928. "People mention the sprinkle of positive moments on the TV show. But what is the lingering impression of Italian-Americans?" questioned Ragone. One answer may come from a study by Princeton Research, which reveals that more than half of the Americans surveyed associate Italians with organized crime. Meanwhile, the fact is the FBI and the US Justice Department consistently cite statistics showing less than .01% of all Italian Americans are involved in illegal activities.

"There are more than 30 million North Americans of Italian heritage and yet the stories chosen to be dramatized feature cliché gangsters, bimbos and buffoons. What about Giannini the founder of Bank of America, scientists Enrico Fermi and Guglielmo Marconi, World War II hero John Basilone, coalition-builders Mayor Laguardia and Congressman Mercantonio? Where are the positive portrayals?" asked Ragone rhetorically. Founded in 1984, Fieri - the Italian word for pride - is a not-for-profit Italian organization of students and young professionals who promote the study of Italian history and culture, higher education, professional networking and the positive portrayal of Italians. Fieri has chapters in Boston, Brooklyn, Bronx-Westchester, Chicago, Long Island, Manhattan, Metro Detroit, North New Jersey, Queens, Rhode Island, Staten Island, Toronto and Washington D.C. Many other chapters are being formed.

For more information, contact Dominic Tassone, National Public Relations Director at (212) 414-5440; (502) 608-5814 or pr@fieri.org, or visit www.fieri.org.

Every letter is a jewel. I can only imagine the number that didn't make it. 

Is the Sleeping Giant finally arising out of it's slumber? Was the "Sopranos'  finally the I-A "wake up call"????? 

Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editors
Saturday, April 7, 2001 

Sour Note of Stereotyping on 'The Sopranos' 

     Howard Rosenberg went to great pains to remind us how Italian 
Americanshave been maligned, stereotyped, portrayed negatively in too many 
movies and TV shows (including "The Sopranos"), then asked us to forgive 
David Chase because his drama is the best in a half-century of television 
("Of Stigmas, Stereotypes, 'Sopranos,' " March 30). 
     No, this Italian American will not accept "The Sopranos" for that 
reason. The show disgusts me. If another other ethnic (or religious) group 
were slurred and subjected to such a barrage of negativity, surely there 
would be outrage. That "The Sopranos" is fine scripting, yes, but so is 
Shakespeare, O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and those writers 
have not succumbed to such obvious prejudice and loathing for their own 
people as Chase has. 
     As for New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he is an embarrassment to Italian 
Americans for many policy reasons. His placing of the cast into the parade 
for the Yankees was not only stupid, it was insulting to the team. What would 
he have done if the Mets had won? Put the cast of "Seinfeld" on parade? After 
all, George is a Costanza, and his parents live in Queens. 
     JOHN A. MEDICI 
     Los Angeles 

* * *     It has not been that long since Italian immigrants were being 
lynched in America for their social beliefs, or were being depicted in 
newspaper cartoons as rats swimming ashore with knives in their mouths. 
     Sure, we've assimilated, sort of. You notice David Chase doesn't use his 
Italian name. Why do you think that is? How about Anne Bancroft or Alan Alda? 
When did Mediterranean people become white? It wasn't that long ago that 
these swarthy folks from Italy were black and living in the tenements with 
black African Americans. 
     It's true, "The Sopranos" is a powerful artistic achievement, but then 
so was "Birth of a Nation." It did more damage to the reputations of black 
African Americans than anything that had come before it, and possibly since, 
yet it made D.W. Griffith wealthy and respected as a great filmmaker. 
     DOUGLAS (BONACCI) NEMANIC 
     Gunnison, Colo. 

* * *     Rosenberg has got to be kidding! What other ethnic minority would 
take the abuse Italians have taken from Hollywood? I can only imagine the 
furor if Asians, blacks or Jews were offended by even a single transgression, 
let alone the relentless onslaught of garbage Italians have gotten from 
Hollywood. So Rosenberg thinks Italians should just get over it and move on? 
On the contrary, I think we should be picketing and boycotting, because 
without hitting Hollywood in the bottom line, nothing will change. 
     I would argue that the characteristic of Italians that is at issue here 
is not criminality, but instead the desire to assimilate and accommodate. It 
served us well over centuries of foreign domination, but does not serve us 
well in modern America. 
     JAMES J. VIECELI JR. 
     West Hills 

* * *     I've changed my mind about "The Sopranos" and will no longer watch 
the series. The gratuitous violence of the last few episodes has made what 
was once a guilty pleasure a trial to watch. Not only has the wince-ability, 
look-away quotient multiplied exponentially, but the characters are becoming 
so evil that they are irredeemable. 
     CAROL FINAMORE STANLEY 
     Thousand Oaks 

* * *     With the rise of the civil rights movement and political 
correctness, writers ran out of stereotypical villains. African Americans 
could no longer be portrayed as stupid, filthy, oversexed and aggressive. 
Jews no longer could be depicted as neurotic, sly, grasping, greedy and 
obsessed with hatred for the Gentile. Gradually, from Coppola's "Godfather" 
on, it was found that despicable traits could be added to swarthy Italian 
types with impunity. 
     This trend has reached its apotheosis in Tony Soprano, his family and 
associates. The "complexity" of this soap opera is nothing more than "Goodbye 
Columbus," "Portnoy's Complaint," "What Makes Sammy Run" and "The Merchant of 
 Venice" interlaced with puttanesca sauce. 
     Justifying racism in the name of "art" doesn't wash. 
     ROBERT T. BERTHOLDO 
     Westlake Village 

* * *     Rosenberg can believe that the stereotyping and discrimination that 
go on against Italian Americans in the media at large do not hurt, but we 
Italian Americans know better. He should walk a mile in my shoes before he 
decides to speak for our community again. 
     SALVATORE J. MANGANO 
     Saddle Brook, N.J. 

This morning's "Albany Times Union", in the section titled "People in the News" carried a large headline: "Chorus against 'Sopranos' grows."

Senator Serphin Maltese speaks out against the Sopranos, and since he is a highly respected legislator, other New York State legislators should also begin to join in. 

That the "Albany Times Union", not noted for being very favorable to Italian Americans, would carry this story in a prominent part of the paper is a tribute to the work of the I-A activists, who have persisted, despite having had to tolerate the slings and arrows of those who somehow find their work objectionable. 

If the activists, like Manny Alfano/ IAOV had not kept up their drum beat, and AIDA had not had the courage and initiative to file this law suit, this chorus would still be a whisper. 

When more people show they care, and we are making progress, those who had previously dispared of progress are more willing to join the Choir, we then have the prospects of a crescendo,  building to fortissimo, and an achieving of our objective. 

The "Albany Times Union" article (inaccessible on line) was apparently based on an a 4/6 AP (Associated Press) Release, which was carried on "NJ Online", under a different headline. 

STATE SENATOR PROTESTS PORTRAYAL OF ITALIAN AMERICANS IN HBO'S "THE SOPRANOS' 

The Associated Press - 4/6/01

NEW YORK (AP) -- A state senator urged cable television viewers Friday to cancel their Home Box Office subscriptions to protest the portrayal of Italian-Americans on the hit series "The Sopranos." 

"`The Sopranos' uses graphic violence to perpetuate the stereotype of Italian-Americans as being involved in organized crime," said Sen. Serphin Maltese, a Queens Republican. 

He said he was particularly bothered by an episode that aired last week in which one of the characters in the series about the New Jersey Mob viciously murders a young woman. 

"I am offended by the way this program romanticizes brutal violence and sexual content and I'm urging everyone, particularly Italian-Americans, to protest by canceling their subscriptions," Maltese said. 

"Week after week, millions of Americans are watching this offensive program that is comprised of nothing more than anti-Italian ethnic slurs," added Peter Cardella, chairman of the board of the Italian-American Federation of Brooklyn and Queens. "Something must be done to tone it down or strike a balance with more pro-Italian-American programming." 

This is the second time this week that the popular television series, which is in its third season, has come under attack. 

An Italian-American organization filed suit in Chicago on Thursday, charging the program wrongly portrays most of the ethnic group as mobsters. 

The American Italian Defense Association is not seeking monetary damages or cancellation of the cable series, but wants a jury to declare that the show offends the dignity of Italian- Americans, attorney Enrico Mirabelli said. 

An HBO spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment on Friday, but responded to the lawsuit a day earlier by saying the company was "very proud of 'The Sopranos.' We're hardly alone in our assessment that the show is an extraordinary artistic achievement." 

Boy am I going to get static on that comment!!! Not only from NIAF for putting them "on the spot", as if no one would notice, but from all the other organizations that believe they are important national I-A organizations. 

Let's see, how could I have phrased that differently? Oh well.

If you think you are an Important National Italian American Organization and You Support AIDA, then please advise, and I will be glad to report, with a mea culpa.

April 5, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Manny Alfano 973-429 2818

BLOOMFIELD, NJ   The Anti-Bias Committee (ABC) of UNICO National applauds the American Italian Defense Association (AIDA) for filing a lawsuit against the Time Warner Entertainment Company, HBO's parent, for allegedly violating the Dignity Clause of the Illinois Constitution. 

The Illinois Constitution condemns , among other things "communications …that incite violence, hatred, abuse or hostility toward a person or group of persons… by reference to religious, racial, ethnic, national or regional affiliation". 

AIDA is a not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Chicago.  "Both of our organizations exist to oppose the negative stereotyping of Italian Americans, " said ABC Chairman Emanuele Alfano.  "The Sopranos programs have gone too far over the line in  corrupting our image.  They have created a tidal wave of copy cat shows and TV commercials that do real harm," he said.

Our Mobsters, Ourselves

I have just read a posting by Ellen Willis, "Our Mobsters, Ourselves", that endorses THE SOPRANOS to a greater or lesser extent. 

The argument in defense of freedom of expression is predicated on the idea that when all positions are allowed to be aired, the "best" will prevail.  Granted, it's a frequently messy process. In fact, at times it is even disgusting.  But, covering up the maggots doesn't make them go away. They thrive in darkness and putrefaction. The best response to an article
one disagrees with is not suppression, but a better article, one that demolishes the thesis of the former.  See in this context, Professor Emeritus James Mancuso's excellent critique of "Mob Movies."  So long as there are Italian Americans don't see what is wrong with THE SOPRANOS, those of us who find the show disturbing are obviously failing.

Having said all this, let me hasten to say that I endorse all the letters and protests directed against THE SOPRANOS in particular and in relation to the defamation of Italian Americans in general.  The media tend to be a bit like the proverbial mule:  You need a two by four to get their attention before you start reasoning with them. And for that we owe a debt of
gratitude to the relentless campaign of Manny Alfano, the founder of Italian American One Voice (IAOV) and it's members, and AIDA (American Italian Defense Association) who has dramatically brought the issue to the fore. 

A confession: I have to say that I am a fan of Coppola and Scorsese for reasons which I have discussed elsewhere in print. I am not a fan of Chase. It seems to me that perhaps the most fundamental difference between Coppola and Scorsese on the one hand, and Chase on the other, is that the former have a deep love for all that is positive in their heritage and, by 
extension, an intense resentment and perhaps even hatred for those Italian Americans 
who have harmed Italian Americans directly and indirectly over the years. Coppola and Scorsese are openly and avowedly proud of their Italian/American heritage.  Coppola and Scorsese are always very careful to make it very clear that the "Mafia" can exist only with the collusion of and at the behest the "establishment."  And, they also make it crystal clear that organized crime is comprised of individuals of every ethnic group. 

In this context I really should add that De Palma (SCARFACE), Cimino (HEAVEN'S GATE; YEAR OF THE DRAGON), Tarentino (PULP FICTION), etc. make the same point quite explicitly. Furthermore, after recognizing others' misreading of THE GODFATHER, they have all striven to demythologize the Mafia.

Chase, on the other hand, seems embarrassed to be of Italian/American extraction.  He seems to despise the Italian Americans who tell him that they are hurt by his program. He certainly does not wish to engage in any kind of dialog with them.

Another confession: When THE SOPRANOS first appeared, I had to admit, grudgingly, that I was--I won't say pleasantly surprised, but, perhaps surprised that it wasn't nearly so bad as I expected to be.  In fact, at first it almost seemed to offer some promise--at least in terms of how it was done.  Over the past couple of years, however, it has gone steadily downhill.  The last episode I saw was pathetic, in the worst and most colloquial sense of the word. It has degenerated into pornography of sex and violence--that is, the sex and violence are ends in themselves, rather than being somehow made necessary by the narrative development.

Also, the show seems to be going out of its way to demean Italian Americans.  It has been said that Italian Americans have been depicted as "beasts, boors, and buffoons" in most mob movies.  This is certainly true of most such films made in Hollywood.  By and large it is not true of the films of Coppola, Scorsese, Cimino, De Palma, etc.  The "mafiosi" in their films may well be "beasts and boors," but they are almost never buffoons. You may (and should) despise and fear them, but you can't "dis" them.  With the possible exception of Carmela Soprano, who somehow retains the gravitas of the Italian (American) mater familiae, everyone else appears to be depicted in a manner that is deliberately demeaning. In fact, one might argue that Chase seems threatened by what Mussolini (buonanima), might have called Italic
virility.

You can start with the "godfather" himself.  Coppola's godfather was called "Corleone," or Lion Heart.  This godfather is called "Soprano."  We all know how a man becomes a soprano. Until not so terribly long ago, castrati were appreciated by the Vatican for their vocal evolutions.  What kind of "capo" faints at the sight of sausage?  What kind of "capo" sees a shrink?. 

The fact is that Chase follows in the tradition of films such as LITTLE CAESAR, SOME LIKE IT HOT, PRIZZI'S HONOR, MARRIED TO THE MOB, THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT, ANALYZE THIS, AND MIKEY BLUE EYES, all of which have helped perpetuate the image of Italian Americans as buffoons.

How can a serious mobster possibly be called "Big Pussy." I don't claim to know anything about the Mafia except what I have read.  But, from what I have read, it is my sense that these are (or were) serious people. I say "were" because from what I read, the Italian American Mafia is, for the most part, history. But, while they were around, they were anything but buffoons.
They were also not "nice" people. These traits are conveyed very effectively by Coppola's GODFATHER 1 and 2. They are not by Chases' SOPRANOS.

How can a serious mobster be called "Paulie Walnuts?"  How can anyone take seriously wannabe mobsters such as "Ralphie" (who somehow got lost on his way to the Cage aux Folles, or Christopher. Or any of the grotesquely obese, constantly sweating, huffing and puffing bada bing aficionados. Please, don't misconstrue what I am saying. I am not knocking castrati, gays, or heavy people. I am simply saying that, if the Mafia had soldiers such as these, it is no wonder that it went the way of the dodo bird and the traveler pigeon. I am also saying that this allegedly the best show on television, tells us absolutely nothing about the Italian American community, about the Mafia, or, contrary to what Chase purports, about
America. OR, if you prefer, it is as accurate and educational about the former as GLADIATOR is about the Roman Empire.  This is a situation comedy that relies on vulgarity and ethnic slurs for its humor.  Like many if not most of the more successful HBO original shows, it's appeal is predicated on sex or violence, or sex and violence.

Much has been made of the fact that Chase is of Italian extraction.  He has used this fact to defend the series. Basically, he seems to be saying that if Blacks can use the "n" word, he can make THE SOPRANOS. In both cases the behavior is tacky, not amusing, self- destructive, and devoutly to be eschewed.

Ben Lawton
Professor,
Chair, Italian Studies
Chair, Film Studies
Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN  47907 
 

`SOPRANO' FAMILY IS A FAR CRY 
FROM ITALIAN AMERICANS

April 6, 2001- Chicago Sun Times - By Bryan Smith, Staff Reporter 

The Italians whom Tony Scariano knows don't pack heat. They don't hang out at the Bada Bing, and they don't muscle their associates. The only hits they're involved with are the ones they play on their stereos.

So it isn't rage he feels watching "The Sopranos," the popular HBO show about mobsters -- though he doesn't like what he perceives as "dime-store art" built around stereotypes and cliches.  It's bewilderment.

"I don't know any Italians who behave that way, talk that way or act that way," says Scariano, 54, a Chicago attorney who represents school districts. "That's not representational to me of what I grew up with."

Scariano is not active in any anti-defamation leagues. He knows little about a lawsuit filed Thursday against the HBO series. He doesn't want the show yanked and doesn't think it needs to make apologies.

But he was glad for the chance to share his own perceptions about Italian life from growing up in a family whose roots reach back to Sicily. The Italians he knows "don't bear grudges. They love life, and they respect other human beings."  They are his two uncles, Joe and John Scariano. "They drove trucks for a living," one for a dairy company and the other for a bakery goods distributor.

They are his grandmother, who lugged 180-pound vats of chocolate at work and made her own bread and pasta and "walked 2 1/2 miles to work each day to be able to buy milk for her four children."

Or his father, Anthony Scariano, a distinguished attorney and judge who began as an assistant state's attorney and retired a few years ago from the appellate court.

The Italians he knows do like big meals and do cherish family.  His Aunt Betty, he says, "makes the best lasagna."  His mother "is the best Italian cook in Chicago."  On Saturdays, he says, "30-some people would sit around the dining room table and have a full-course Italian meal. And after the meal was over, they would sit around and tell stories."

Scariano says the Italians he knows "have never stolen a dime or taken a dime of anyone else's money. "They've never used language like that; they've never treated their women that way. They're true Italian Americans."

Scariano admits that his son likes "The Sopranos," mostly, he thinks, "for the machismo." It doesn't surprise him. "There are no heroes left to watch anymore," he says. And his father, now 83, does feel rage when he watches such shows.  In fact, when Tony Scariano brought home a CD called "Mob Hits," with artists such as Connie Francis and Frank Sinatra, his father "was furious. The whole notion just enraged him."

Still, Scariano says he won't be joining any lawsuits.  He just won't watch the show. Or buy products associated with it. Instead, he says, he'll cling to what's real, the Italian life he knows.
 

He now joins IAOV and The Sons of Italy/Commission for Social Justice.(Separate article). We are awaiting word from NIAF and UNICO.

CONSUL GENERAL BACKS SUIT AGAINST 'SOPRANOS'
By  Abdon M. Pallasch, Staff Reporter

Italy's consul general in Chicago publicly supported the lawsuit by Italian-American attorneys and civic leaders against HBO's "The Sopranos" series.

"We are facing negative stereotyping of Italians and Italian Americans," Enrico Granara said.

The civic leaders, under the umbrella of the American Italian Defense Association, are using the Illinois Constitution's overlooked clause of "individual dignity" to ask a jury to condemn the show for stereotyping Italian Americans as mobsters.

"The Sopranos" "suggests that criminality is in the blood or genes of Italian Americans," said an AIDA vice president, Robert U. Dini.

In the weekly series, a New Jersey mob family feasts on Italian cuisine and listens to Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and Andrea Bocelli as it kills rivals. The show attempts to connect Italian-American culture with organized crime in the American psyche, the suit states.

Section 20 of the Illinois Constitution states in part: "Communications that portray criminality, depravity or lack of virtue in . . . a group of persons by reason or reference to religious, racial, ethnic, national or regional affiliation are condemned."

The suit against Time Warner Entertainment Co. seeks neither money nor cancellation of the show.

"AIDA is not after Time Warner's money," Dini said.

"I think they might have a chance," said William Schroeder, an expert in state constitutional law at Southern Illinois University.

"The Sopranos" is hardly the first production to stereotype Italians as mobsters, but movies don't have the impact of a weekly series so relentlessly promoted, said attorney Enrico J. Mirabelli. In just the last two weeks, "The Sopranos" has been on the cover of Newsweek, TV Guide, Rolling Stone and even Cigar Aficionado magazine.

An Italian network has just bought the rights to show it in Italy, and "I don't think they will be happy to see the Italian Americans portrayed like that," Granara said. Italian visitors to this country are often surprised to encounter the mob stereotype here, he said.

Time Warner issued a statement Thursday saying, "We are very proud of `The Sopranos.' We're hardly alone in our assessment that the show is an extraordinary artistic achievement."
 

Washington, D.C., April 6, 2001 - The Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA),
the largest and longest-established organization of American men and women
of Italian heritage in the world, and its anti-defamation arm the Commission
for Social Justice (CSJ) have endorsed a lawsuit filed by the American
Italian Defense Association against HBO for its discriminatory series “The
Sopranos.”

“We strongly support the spirit of the lawsuit,” said OSIA National
President Philip R. Boncore, Esq. “The nefarious images that glorify crime,
adultery, and other heinous acts and encourage the public to associate those
behaviors with Italian Americans should be declared a desecration to the
collective Italian-American dignity.”

AIDA is one of a growing list of individuals, organizations, and
municipalities that are rejecting “The Sopranos” because of its false,
defamatory content. Essex County, N.J., officials prohibited “The Sopranos”
from filming in the county. The Columbus Citizens Foundation refused to
allow “The Sopranos” cast members to march in this year’s Columbus Day
Parade in New York City. William Paterson University in New Jersey also
recently denied permission for “The Sopranos” to film on its campus.

“The tide is changing,” said CSJ President John Dabbene. “More people in the
position to shun ‘The Sopranos’ are doing so because they realize the
detrimental effects it has on the country’s fifth largest ethnic
population - the Italian Americans who have contributed so positively to
this nation and the world.”

Established in 1905, OSIA has long been a leader in the promotion of Italian
culture in the United States, and abroad. The Commission for Social Justice
was founded to ensure equal treatment, concern, respect, and freedom for all
people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, age, or sex. The CSJ is
particularly dedicated to eliminating false, negative portrayals of Italian
Americans in the media and entertainment industries and replacing them with
true, positive, and affirming portrayals. 

For more information on OSIA or the CSJ contact them at  (202) 547-2900 or 
nationaloffice@osia.org, or visit www.osia.org.

Contact: Diane E. Crespy, Communications Manager
              (202) 547-2900, daytime
              (703) 628-0681, evenings and weekends
              dcrespy@osia.org
 

AIDA'S STATEMENT REGARDING ITS LAWSUIT 
AGAINST THE SOPRANOS

Today, AIDA (the "American Italian Defense Association") filed suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County for a Declaratory Judgment to vindicate the individual dignity of Italian Americans.  The suit is brought against Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P. because of its distribution in Illinois of the cable TV series known as the "Sopranos" through its HBO division. 

AIDA alleges that the Sopranos violates the Individual Dignity clause of the Illinois Constitution which provides:

Individual Dignity.  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.

AIDA seeks neither damages for Time Warner's actions nor a restraint on the showing of the Sopranos.  Accordingly, AIDA makes no attempt to infringe upon Time Warner's right of free speech.  However, AIDA seeks a Declaratory Judgment from the Circuit Court that various episodes of the Sopranos alone, or the series when taken as a whole, breaches the Individual Dignity clause with respect to Italian Americans as a group. 

AIDA is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Code.  AIDA was organized for the purposes of educating the public regarding the contributions of Italian Americans to our society and to oppose by lawful means all forms of negative stereotyping and defamation of Italian Americans. 

HBO, the distributor of the Sopranos, is a unit of Time Warner Entertainment and is the nation's most widely distributed pay television service, which together with its sister service, Cinemax, has approximately 35.7 million subscribers throughout the country and is believed to have approximately 3 million subscribers in Illinois.  HBO, among other things, defines itself by the exhibition of pay television original movies and mini?series including the Sopranos.

During the years 1999 and 2000, Time Warner Entertainment, through its HBO division has caused the communication and initial and repeated showings on cable television in Illinois of numerous episodes of the Sopranos and has recently announced that it will cause the communication and initial and repeated showings on cable television in Illinois of a new series of episodes of the Sopranos for the 2001 season which began on March 4, 2001.

Agents of AIDA have reviewed numerous episodes of the Sopranos and are of the opinion that one or more of such episodes alone, or the series when taken as a whole, constitute communications that portray criminality, depravity or lack of virtue in or that incite violence, hatred, abuse or hostility toward Italian Americans, by reason of or by reference to the ethnic affiliation of various persons portrayed in those episodes.

Contrary to any claim that the Sopranos is merely a fictionalized "Soap Opera" about a mythical upper class suburban family whose paternal head, Tony Soprano, happens to be a mafia boss, the Sopranos is in fact a continuing and ongoing series about the lifestyle of Italian Americans who are portrayed as criminals, depraved or lacking in virtue or are in a manner that incites violence, hatred, abuse or hostility towards Italian Americans by reason of 
or by reference to their ethnic affiliation.  For example, various episodes, or the series taken as a whole, suggests that criminality is in the blood or in the genes of Italian Americans and that Italians as early immigrants to this country, had little opportunity other than to turn to crime.  Moreover, non-mafia Italian American characters in the series are often shown to 
condone or accept (and in many cases to participate in) the violent and profane conduct of the mafia characters leading to the conclusion, inference or suggestion that such conduct is a universal trait of the Italian personality.

Under date of February 26, 2001, AIDA wrote a letter to Mr. Gerald Levin, President of Time Warner Entertainment setting forth its opinions regarding the Sopranos and asked Time Warner Entertainment to recognize that past episodes of the Sopranos constitute communications that breached the Individual Dignity Clause with respect to Italian Americans as a group and to voluntarily take steps to assure that future episodes of the Sopranos would 
not breach that Clause with respect to Italian Americans or any other group of Americans.  While the HBO division of Time Warner Entertainment answered AIDA's letter, it was totally unresponsive to AIDA's requests. 

Studies have shown that damaging the reputation of an ethnic group does series harm to members of that group in various ways, including loss of opportunities for education, employment and rejection by society.  This harm was recognized many years ago by Justice Frankfurter when he spoke for a majority of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Beauharnais vs. State of Illinois, 343 U.S. 250, 263 (1952).

[A person's] job and his educational opportunities and the dignity accorded him depend as much on the reputation of the racial and religious group to which he . . . belongs, as on his own merits.  This being so, we are precluded from saying that speech concededly punishable when immediately directed at individuals cannot be outlawed if directed at groups with whose 
position and esteem in society the affiliated individual may be inextricably involved.

The Sopranos is a desecration of Italian American traditions:  love of family and friends, religion, art and music.  By trivializing and associating criminality, violence, incivility, crudeness, vulgarity and dysfunctional family relationships with Italian Americans, the Sopranos harms all Americans and more so Italian Americans whose reputations are being severely damaged by the repeated showings of this program.

This is not the legacy we can allow to be left to our children and grandchildren.  Nor can we, in the memory of our mothers, fathers and grandparents, who made that dangerous and fearful crossing to America to give us a better life, permit this defamation to go unchallenged.

For these reasons, AIDA has brought this suit to vindicate the individual dignity of Italian Americans.

AIDA
American Italian Defense Association
Three First National Plaza
70 West Madison, Suite 1400
Chicago, Illinois 60602-4270
Phone:  312/214-3346
Fax:   312/214-3110