Italian America’s Spirit Was Too Strong to Be Broken by Bigotry


Our ancestors' hard fought rise in this nation gives us pause and compels us to look back, and forward.

By: Basil Russo, ISDA National President 

The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia clearly demonstrated how far Italian Americans have risen in the U.S. since our ancestors arrived more than a century ago.

Aside from the presidency, there is no more important or prestigious position in our country than being a Supreme Court Justice. And we had not just one, but two, including Justice Samuel Alito.

Numerous Italian Americans have served as governors, speakers of the house, CEOs of major corporations, union presidents, cardinals of the church, innovators in the areas of medicine, science and education, as well as some of the most famous entertainers and athletes.

U.S. Census statistics show that Italian Americans, as a group, are among the highest wage earners and are among the best educated, while having one of the lowest divorce rates. Clearly Italian Americans have made it, and in a big way. We are major contributors to the success of America.

But our rise to a position of prominence in the U.S. did not come easy. The successes we enjoy today are the result of a long and difficult struggle. Between 1880 and 1925, approximately 4 million Italian immigrants arrived in America with nothing more than their dreams and a willingness to work to make a better life for their families.

When they arrived, they were greeted with suspicion. They were commonly referred to as dagos, WOPs and guineas. They were forced to live in diseased tenement housing. They were only allowed to work the most dangerous and lowest paying jobs. Two of the most tragic events of American bigotry and prejudice, involving the inhumane treatment of Italian immigrants, can be seen in the following historic accounts.

THE NEW ORLEANS LYNCHINGS

In 1890, the police chief of New Orleans, David Hennessy, was shot and killed. Several prominent individuals, who sought to wrestle control of the New Orleans docks away from Sicilians, hatched a plan to blame the immigrants for the chief’s death.

Dozens were arrested, 19 were indicted, and nine were placed on trial. The jury returned its verdict and found none of them guilty. Despite the ruling, these men were put back into Parish Prison.

A few days later, the mayor of New Orleans and his staff called for a vigilante gathering in the town square. Thousands of men showed up and they stormed the jail.

Eleven of these immigrants were clubbed, shot and hanged. This was the largest publicly witnessed lynching in U.S. history.

The New York Times wrote an editorial in support of the murders and people spoke of impeaching President Harrison, when he condemned the murders. Lynchings of Italians and Sicilians continued periodically throughout the south over the next 20 years.

Here’s an excerpt from The Times’ piece, which was published on March 16, 1891 — two days after the lynchings:

“These sneaking and cowardly Sicilians, the descendants of bandits and assassins, who have transported to this country the lawless passions, the cut-throat practices, and the oath-bound societies of their native country, are to us a pest without mitigations…These men of the Mafia killed Chief Hennessy in circumstances of peculiar atrocity…Lynch law was the only course open to the people of New Orleans to stay the issue of a new license to the Mafia to continue its bloody practices.”

On this 130 year anniversary of this darkest chapter in Italian American history, let us remember those who lost their lives that day:
Antonio Bagnetto, fruit peddler: Tried and acquitted.
James Caruso, stevedore: Not tried.
Loreto Comitis, tinsmith: Not tried.
Rocco Geraci, stevedore: Not tried.
Joseph Macheca, fruit importer and Democratic Party political boss: Tried and acquitted.
Antonio Marchesi, fruit peddler: Tried and acquitted.
Pietro Monasterio, cobbler: Mistrial.
Emmanuele Polizzi, street vendor: Mistrial.
Frank Romero, ward politician: Not tried.
Antonio Scaffidi, fruit peddler: Mistrial.
Charles Traina, rice plantation laborer: Not tried.

SACCO AND VANZETTI

In April of 1920, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants, were arrested in Boston and charged with the murder of a shoe factory paymaster and a guard.

Sacco and Vanzetti both considered themselves to be anarchists, but they were men who believed in human dignity, freedom and justice.

The trial pitted these two immigrant workers against those in positions of power and authority, who were fearful the labor movement in America posed a threat to them. The trial judge was a prejudiced and bigoted man, who expressed his feelings publicly. Sacco and Vanzetti were found guilty and sentenced to death on Aug. 23, 1927.

People throughout the country believed they were innocent, and that they had not received a fair trial. Mass demonstrations were held throughout America as well as in major cities throughout the world to protest the executions.

These two great miscarriages of justice clearly exhibit the deep-seeded bias and prejudice Italian immigrants and their children were subjected to in America.

It was only because of the courage, sacrifice and struggle of the immigrants that Italian Americans were ultimately given the opportunity to achieve their great successes in our country.

Editor’s note: Today, minority groups are still fighting for racial and economic equality in our nation, and ISDA fully supports their cause and peaceful protests. However, we will continue to fight, at the ballot box and in the courtroom, for our history as it relates to Columbus Day — a federal holiday that was founded in response to the deadly discrimination and economic suppression endured by Italians for decades. 

 

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