Southern Italians Life in Italy 1 Family is most important a They don t pay attention to anything else b Only institution c Religion and government are not important 2 Trust NO ONE a Everyone s an enemy but family b Only listen to head of family person who holds most power c Hang out with their family only 3 Honor a Men worry everyday about offending anybody b Vendetta if you your family does something wrong to another person or family and now they hate each other i Ex Romeo and Juliet ii Vendettas make them violent c Females honor their family by marrying someone important i Marriage is not for love but for logical reasons like money ii Dynastic marriage linking of two families iii Not married until they have sex consummation of marriage iv Only married if blood is found on sheets because that marks the fact that she was a virgin v Some people who know they aren t going to bleed because they were sexually abused or sexually active prior go into the nunnery Southern Italian Religion Angry at the church because they are peasants to the Pope who is filthy rich Believe anything Catholic non Institutional just don t go to church Organized religion is too political Practice religion at home o Virgin Mary Saints Rosary o Shrine small alter with statues rosary candles etc to pray o Believe in magic Have an issue with other Catholics like Irish Southern Italians 2nd Wave Why they left Why they came o Overpopulation natural disasters taxes tithe o Industrial Revolution big huge factory work Makes everything fast and cheap Low pay We send over head hunters to recruit workers Money o None o Chain Migration at first not effective switched to Return Migration o Send over family based o Only went to stay for 5 years sojourners o 1880 70 return home 1920 10 return home o In the end they end up using Chain Migration to bring entire family over Southern Italians in America 5 million Location o Ethnic enclaves Little Italy o Because they re bringing their whole family before 1921 40 years New York next to Five Points Boston next to Southie 1880 1900 work anf family return migration phase single males o Padrone guy from your village anchor immigrant helps other southern Italians find jobs and such because he knows English Does It for money o Mutual Aid Societies how men organize themselves set up families Family groups with men deciding what they need in America More long term than padrone Almost like a fraternity About 500 in NYC o Tenements Start ethnic enclave Once chain migration starts with women and children can t live in these because they need their own home outside of tenement with a bunch of single men 1900 1920 work and family chain migration o Sweat shops women Women didn t want to be stuck inside tenement Men make them stay inside even for bathroom Sweat shops working inside tenement no ventilation hot Eventually thought children could do this prior to 5 after 5 they go to the factories school isn t important o Women and children want change Men call them whores for wanting to assimilate Families start to break apart o Mafia mafia myth Already believe violent from vendettas Mafia mutual aid society for Sicily Not organized crime for any group just Southern Italians o Wasps beliefs America Stereotypes of Italian in Media 1 Mafia First say Southern Italians are the ones who bring organized crime to all Southern Italians are not involved in Mafia only 002 involved Second all organized crime in America is from Southern Italian It s not the largest richest or even deadliest organized crime a All Italians in Mafia remember North and South are very different 1940s and beyond 2 Blue Collar Work a Skilled but not highly educated b Plumber electrician contractor i Train with master worker who is typically father ii Keeps business in family c At age 14 girls put back in home and boys become apprentices d A way to keep culture 3 Change in image a Sinatra i Loved being Italian his culture ii Romance b Joe DiMaggio i Baseball c Rosie the Riveter i Political cartoon ii Face of women in factory during WWII Italians Today 16 million Americans claim background today 6 Behind Spanish 2nd most popular language in America Little Italy s in every major city Huge difference of those who live in ethnic enclaves and those who don t o Those who don t have assimilated Keep immigrating Still difference in Northern and Southern Italians Immigration Restriction Laws What caused restrictions o Nativism Xenophobia Huge by 1920s Afraid losing power o Numbers of new Immigrants Million per year New don t like or understand How many are coming and how many o 1982 1954 o Immigrant processing center o Ellis Island where immigrants go to get counted so know who s coming in o 12 million are processed but not necessarily allowed to enter o Class based system 1st and 2nd stay in nice cabins and get questioned little Steerage has to leave boat to get processed and are left behind Worst experience Don t speak English no translators at first Sometimes names are changed because of misspellings Tested to make sure no diseases If have any disease given an x and must return home All immigrants must have round trip ticket Turn in round trip ticket for money The Laws 1 The Quota Acts all about origins of immigrants a Immigration Act f 1921 i 357 000 b Immigration Act of 1924 ii 164 000 c Both acts i Aka Johnson Reed or National Origins Act i Look for skilled people ii Neighbors exempt from these laws iii Certain expectations End of Quotas Lyndon Baines Johnson overhauled Immigration I 1965 o President wanted to make it equal o Increase quota and make it equal o Passed Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Put everyone on equal footing Family reunification is key policy 290 000 limit a year no more than 20 000 per country including neighbors 1 Region of Hispanic countries Mexico Caribbean Central America South America Spanish Indigenous Indian Natives Africa Question of illegals Lasted until 1990 Hispanic Mosaic Definition 2 Spanish influence 3 Mixture of 3 cultures 4 Religion catholic 5 Language Mexicans Spanish Colonization Spain colonizes Mexico in 1521 into native population Ethnic hierarchy o White Spanish o Mestizo Spanish and Indigenous o Mulatto Spanish and African o Mexicans native 1st group weren t immigrants but victims to U S expansion English colonization is about ignoring natives Spanish send over single people to marry o Africans The Borderlands Mestizos to the borderlands o Texas Arizona California New Mexico o These
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