Italian Immigrants 07 12 2012 20 27 00 When these people start coming Italy is not yet a country process of unification began in 1859 not ending til 1919 groups of city states but the US considers them by Northern Italians and Southern Italians North Comprises Milan banking Venice trading and Florence the Arts we have positive preconceived notions about these immigrants Highly skilled bankers traders artists educated rich dress well look nice light skinned Some blonde and blue eyed very cosmopolitan fluent in other languages A lot of the Northern Italians were protestant due to political issues with the papacy Diverse advanced and essentially White This is one of the first groups that WASPs invited into our little club Northern Italians in the Formative Wave 1600s 1850 one of the few groups that came in besides WASPs and Africans in the formative wave and this is a better time for Non WASP groups Came over due to primogeniture in Italy and their father or elder brothers give them money to get themselves here and buy land some of the ONLY voluntary migrants NOT pushed out of their Location Actually follow correctly They don t all live together country of their own volition and not near the WASPS o Moves to California most like Northern Italy in climate to produce fine grapes and olives for wine and oil owned by Spain so no WASPs there either o Also moved to Florida Brought all the citrus fruits to this state grapefruit oranges etc o Did NOT move here to avoid the WASPs only because these had the proper climates o New York Open pricey fancy restaurants and specialized expensive Grocery stores for the Dutch who love diversity in their area Numbers Only 26 000 came over only an estimate because people can easily be misplaced in Florida and California Most of them will have an accent but learn English perfectly and WASPs think their accents are adorable pretty much perfectly assimilated since the WASPs let them Because they conformed to the four factors Since most were even protestant they were welcomed into the secret whitey club They could have set positive stereotypes for Southern Italians but they bad mouth the southerners setting negative ones for these southerners and WASPs are certain these guys suck because other Italians said they suck Southern Italy Everything South from Rome including Sicilians even though they don t want to be considered Italians Rome after falling still hasn t picked itself up it s horrible no one wants to visit and Naples is a den of iniquity Stereotypes of the Southern Italians o Illiterate Don t believe in education think it s horrifying Trying to survive so the kids go to the fields as soon as they can therefore 80 illiteracy in southern Italy couldn t even sign their name when they got to Ellis Island true o Lowest Class northerners call them mongrels dogs And a peasant is an individual who is a tenant farmer caught in a cycle of poverty due to tenant farming true o Non skilled farmers a true stereotype can t do anything but o Darker Tend to be darker skinned darker eyes darker farm hair truth o NO MONEY Quelle Horreur truth o Considered backwards referred to as mentally and physically retarded false Life in Italy The Family is the most important thing for Italians the ONLY institution in Italy In comparison in the US our institution is the Law The Government or Religion people usually have religion in this country some moral code made by whoever your leader is Education the belief you go to school and excel further with school Southern Italians trust NO ONE but members of their family which is why they don t trust themselves to other institutions Eg even when you re married to someone 30 years you still keep an eye on her because she is not from the family Or if you trip on a stone and see someone looking at you funny they wished you to fall Barely surviving living in straw huts so burned by the government the school system run by the pope and the pope Sort of the same family system as Chinese patriarchal women are only important for sex and procreation off to the side a man runs the family but rather than the eldest male it s the strongest both physically and mentally usually your father but may be your uncle if that s how it ends up Two spheres of the family public and private Women are only part of the private sphere don t much leave the house don t talk to the neighbors your dad picks out your husband usually at birth EVERYTHING a woman does men are in the public sphere they work in the fields factories pick out husbands for their wives they have to give honor to their family do the right thing you never shame your family introduce themselves by their full names to show the importance of their family explaining to you this is can include ALL familial names If some mistake is made like stealing or falling on someone you have wronged another family while shaming your family called a Vendetta These happen pretty easily eg Two men both had too much to drink talking how they shouldn t be when someone makes a joke about the momma and now that man is dead to the first one but not just the man it s his entire family When he goes back to apologize however he shames himself and his family and now THEY have a vendetta with the family that they apologized to because they had to shame themselves ERMAGERD STAHP Vendettas carry from Italy to America and are not necessarily violent although they sometimes are but we promote the stereotype that they are There s also marriage where Daughters are married off for resources protection etc Usually married to MUCH older marriage because he has to prove himself to be worthy of this baby girl usually about 18 at the birth of the daughter because that is the age to prove themselves married at about 13 years old o Daughters are raised to be a good wife in the other family never truly part of the family because they are groomed for the other family The family saves up for a VERY long time to throw the biggest party possible to show off your wealth A girl wears her best dress goes with only her father to her church the groom goes with his father the church gives their endorsement of the union NOTE NOT the actual marriage then go to the massive wedding reception the women in the Brides family collect a box of things she s bringing with her to the new family included in this box a BEAUTIFUL set of sheets that have been slowly pieced together whenever the family can get any money together for lace This includes the sheet
View Full Document
Unlocking...