Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism Unit 8

Without Sanctuary 

Lynching, it seems, is a sport that is meant only for the pale-skinned man. But not only one, for there appeared to be a large crowd gathered. They all were cheering, and yelling as though they were in a sports arena. The main aspect of the game was to beat, hang, and kill the dark-skinned man. It was difficult to watch such a spectacle; however what’s intriguing is the attitude of the men and women at the scene. They were hardly affected by the violence. It was normal, fun for them. They seemed to have no reservation. It hardly needs mentioning that they saw this dark-skinned as nothing like themselves, but from an outsiders perspective they had many similar characteristics.

What was more shocking was the aftermath. They didn't leave the scene sober, or even on fire with hate, as one would expect for the vicious hunt, they stayed and surveyed their work. The crowd would take pride in it. Some took pictures, gathering the group together in a pose around the body. Others would bring out drinks to celebrate a job well done. Only after all was finally done, they departed a proud gathering.

All in all, it was a brutal event that made one’s blood run cold, but feel the infectious energy and blood-lust at the same time.

Italian Americans Ethnic Group

The Italian Immigration History

Between 1876 to 1976 natural disasters, poverty and overpopulation in Italy resulted in their emigration to America. The U.S. had the largest number of Italian immigrants, about 484,027 Italian immigrants population by 1900, and most concentrated in New York and Pennsylvania. However, they made-up only 1.5% of the entire U.S. population. Because many other nations were also migrating to the U.S. and the majority in the country was already American born, the Italians didn't the same good impact as they did in Brazil and Argentina. By that time there was not as much cheap land in the U.S., which drove the Italians to live in the cities, starting from the bottom and working hard on jobs that others wouldn't do for a relatively high wage. Because most of the Italians Immigrants didn’t see the migration to the U.S. as permanently, they didn't live in very good conditions in order to save money to return to a better life in the country of their birth. Those immigrants were referred to as “birds of passage”. About 20 to 30 percent of Italian immigrants returned to Italy permanently after reaching their goal plan in the U.S.

The "Little Italies"

Italians are known for clustering into group, leading to reliance to families, kin and networks to form "Little Italies". They would also cluster by region upon their own region in Italy, resulting in more than 90 percent settled in only 11 states—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, and Louisiana. These patterns continue the same today. The formation of Little Italies was a result of the American society hostility as the Italians suffered from discrimination in employment and housing. The immigrants then had their own world society through the Little Italies, with Italian language institutions helping their ethnic culture – such as churches, mutual aid societies, newspapers, theaters, coffee shops and recreational clubs. The goal of Little Italies “were constantly evolving, providing for a dynamic interplay between older forms brought from Italy and new inventions forged in the United States.”

Italy's alliance with the United States in the World War I and the service of many immigrants in the U.S. military helped to change the American acceptance towards to the Italian Americans. However, during war years, U.S. prohibitions lead to profitable illegal markets in which some Italian Americans successfully got involved into, scratching the conception of Italians as dangerous radicals. The second Italian Americans generation was in constant conflict with the first when emerging into their ethnic communities and problems of lack of self-esteem, rebellion, marginality and delinquency were the outcomes. Thus, the structures of Little Italies began to change. Italian-language institutions founded by immigrants, started to disappear as the second generation became more Americanized.

References:

Digital History. (n.d.). Italian Imigration. Retrieved from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/italian_immigration.cfm

Pozzetta, G. (2000) Italian Americans. Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. The Gale Group Inc.