ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS Stock Photo Ellis Island 1904 Socio Demographics Ethnicity Over 157 million Despite being in the US for more than 120 years Italian Americans still strongly identify with their Italian roots ID: 613234
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Slide1
“A tavola non si invecchia”
ITALIAN IMMIGRANTSSlide2
Stock Photo: Ellis Island 1904Slide3
Socio Demographics: Ethnicity
Over 15.7 million
Despite being in the U.S. for more than 120 years, Italian Americans still strongly identify with their Italian roots Italian Americans are the nation’s fourth largest European ancestry group after the Germans, Irish and EnglishSlide4
Socio Demographics: Ethnicity cont.
Italian Americans are the only European group whose population has increased since the 1990 census.
Italian is the fourth European language most spoken in U.S. homes.Slide5
Socio Demographic Information
United States Census Analysis
Total population 15,723,000
Male
49.5% (7,789,000)
Female
50.5% (7,935,000)
Population 17 and under
14% (2,240,000)
MARITAL STATUS
Male: Never Married
32% (1,916,000)
Female: Never Married
27% (1,665,000)
Male: Now Married
57% (3,375,000)
Female: Now Married
54% (3,296,000)
Male: Divorced
8% (468,000)
Female: Divorced
10% (623,000) Slide6
Socio Demographic Info cont.
FAMILY
Number of Families 3,948,000
Average Family size
3.08
LIVING ENVIRONMENT
Urban
88% (13,809,000)
Rural
12% (1,914,000)
EDUCATION
High School Graduate
29% (2,893,000)
Bachelor’s Degree
18.5% (1,843,000)
Master’s Degree
7% (691,000)
Professional School Degree
2% (229,000)
Doctorate Degree
0.85% (84,000)Slide7
Socio Demographic Info cont.
OCCUPATION
(Employed 16 years and older)
TOTAL IN WORKFORCE-
49% (7,692,000)
White Collar Occupations-
66% (5,081,000)
Blue Collar Occupations-
34% (2,611,000)
(Includes farmers, police officers & fire fighters)Slide8
Socio Demographic: Geography
THE TEN STATES WITH THE MOST ITALIAN AMERICANS
New York 2,700,000
New Jersey 1,500,000
California 1,450,000
Pennsylvania 1,400,000
Florida 1,001,000
Massachusetts 860,000
Illinois 745,000
Ohio 676,000
Connecticut 634,000
Michigan 451,000-Detroit 321,000Slide9
RECAP
Italian Americans are above average in their levels of education, income and occupation.
The vast majority (88%) live in or near a big city, have small families (one child), low divorce rates (8%) and white collar jobs (66%).Slide10
Italian American StereotypesSlide11
Origin of WOP
(1)Italian dialect
guappo swaggerer, tough, from Spanish guapo, probably from Middle French dialect vape, wape
weak, insipid, from Latin
vappa
wine gone flatFirst Known Use: 1908
(2)informal + offensive
:
an Italian person ◊The word
wop
is very offensive and should be avoided. Used as an abbreviation for Italian immigrants “without papers” or "without passport”Slide12
Guinea
(slur that is used against an
Italian-Americans that refers to the Guinea Coast of Africa; using this slur is a very offensive way of implying that Italian-Americans are non-whites)Slide13
Even Mafia-themed advertising that may not include specific references to Italian Americans are perceived by the general public to be about Italian Americans.Slide14
Thanks to the popularity of “The Sopranos” and “Mob Wives” and entertainment like it, most advertising that uses Italian Americans portrays them as gangsters.Slide15
Gorilla Juicehead
Meatballs
Guidos
Guidettes
DegosSlide16
AIDA/NIAF
American Italian Defense Association and the National Italian American Foundation have protested the depiction of Italians in the HBO television series The Sopranos (1999-present) while ignoring most contemporary presentations of Italian ethnicity and even applauding the depictions of Italians in television commercials for Ragu, radio advertisements for Sprint PCS, and television programs such as the NBC series
Friends (1994-present).Slide17
Joey
TribbianiSlide18
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that two-thirds of the Italian Americans in the work force are in white-collar jobs as executives, physicians, teachers, attorneys, administrators, politicians, etc.Slide19
Italian Values/ NormsSlide20
Family Size
Strong Roman Catholic traditions
Southern Italy descendants more traditional, emphasis on larger family/includes extended and community living inSlide21
Social Interactions
Great pride in social interactions; good reputation, approval from peers
Humor, agreeability, reliability, success > assertiveness
Region plays big part in norms
North- punctuality, reliability, organization, economic success
South- friendliness, warm character, leisure lifestyle
Technological advances changed values as well; outside influencesSlide22
Cultural Competency
Differences in Northern/Southern Italians
Individualistic/ Industrialized vs Traditional/ CollectivisticSocial relationships vs Business Success
Speaking more with body language, especially southern Italians
Dictionary specifically for gestures
Hug/ Kiss on both cheeks
No dirty hands
Eating Customs
Two main meals, skip breakfast
Dinner party atmosphere, no snackingSlide23
Education
Italians take education very serious
In Italy, Monday through Saturday (required attendance)
Intense levels of study
Exam to enter higher secondary school (traditional American High School)
Emphasis on school passed on to American counterpartsSlide24
Values found in proverbs
Family:
Proverbs contain aspects of culture, relate to any situation or topic
family
, food, women, the weather, love, and
friendship
“Tal padre,
tal
figlio
” = “like father, like son”
Strong family ties, anchor of social structure
Major support system.
Slide25
“Con nulla non
si
fia nulla”
“Of nothing comes nothing”
Very conscious about appearance; the clothes make the (wo)man
Clothing says a lot about person’s education, social standing, family background
Thoughts of others decided on first impressions; physical appearance extremely valuedSlide26
“Chi dorme non
piglia
pesci”
“He who sleeps, catches no fish”
Work hard, play hard mentality
In Italy; 6 day work weeks, 8am-1pm/3pm-7pm
Big break for lunch, return afterwards
BocceSlide27
Language
Federico Fellni, movie director
WWIIAlien and Sedition Acts of 1798
Nowadays, a way to get in touch with family heritageSlide28
Strengths
Erik Amfitheatrof observed in 1973 that, "The children of the Italian immigrants no longer feel Italian. They are American. In shedding a sense of apartness from American life, they have also relinquished their once-powerful emotional associations with a remote Italian world”Slide29
Strengths-Sojourners
Desired:
immediate employmentmaximum savingsquick return
Consisted of mostly:
young, single men of prime working age (15-35)
clustered in America's urban centers. Slide30
“campanilismo”
^^ represents an enduring symbol of devotion to, and love of ones region, city, town, village
their family-centered peasant cultures and their fiercely local identificationsAs they increasingly interacted with fellow immigrants,
campanilismo
gave way to national identitySlide31
“Little Italy's”
What are the facts:
Highly concentrated
Kin and village-based chain migration networks
New World societies
Cultural patterns were constantly evolving
Interplay between older forms brought from Italy and new inventions forged in the United States.
Many attempted to recreate old-world celebrations and rituals upon arrival in the United StatesSlide32
World War One
WWI
also produced countervailing
pressures that generated more intense nationalism among Italians and powerful drives toward assimilation—"100 percent Americanism"—in the wider societySlide33
Second generation conflicts with f
irst generation
Heavily influenced by the traditional
contadino
culture passed on from their
parents
Traditional
notions
of:
proper behavior, stressing collective responsibilities toward the family, strict chastity and domestic roles for females, rigid chaperonage and courting codes, and male
dominance
Clashed
with the more individualist, consumer-driven American values children learned in schools, stores, and on the streets.
Problems
of marginality, lack of self-esteem, rebellion, and delinquency were the outcomesSlide34
Strengths of today
Geographically
concentrated in the old settlement
areas
Pronounced
attachment to the values of domesticity and family
loyalty
rely heavily on personal and kin networks in residential choices, visiting patterns, and general social
interaction
suffer from stereotypes associating it with criminal behavior, especially in the form of organized crime and the
mafia
Television and film images of Italian Americans continue to emphasize criminals, "lovable or laughable dimwits" who engage in dead-end jobs, and heavy-accented, obese "Mamas" with their pasta pots.Slide35Slide36
“At the table with good friends and family you do not become
old”