Editing Italian Americans (section)

==Discrimination and stereotyping==
{{Main|Anti-Italianism}}
During the period of mass immigration to the United States, Italians were often victims of prejudice, economic exploitation, and sometimes even violence, particularly in the South.  In the 1890s, more than 20 Italians were [[Lynching|lynched]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/italian8.html|title=Italian - Under Attack - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation - Teacher Resources - Library of Congress|website=Loc.gov|access-date=October 7, 2017}}</ref> The hostility was often directed toward the Southern Italians and Sicilians who began immigrating to the United States in large numbers after 1880.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pitroso |first=Giulio |date=2022 |title=Una prospettiva regionalista su "Italian Diaspora" e "Anti-Italianism" in Australia e negli Stati Uniti A regionalist perspective on "Italian Diaspora" and "Anti-Italianism" in Australia and in the United States |url=https://ojs.cimedoc.uniba.it/index.php/nazionieregioni/article/view/1683 |journal=Nazioni e Regioni |issue=19–20 |pages=119–138 |doi=10.15162/2282-5681/1683 |issn=2282-5681}}</ref>

There was xenophobic attitude at the time defining the idea of "whiteness" in the United States, and a social hierarchy within the various white American communities in which a different degrees of whiteness was associated with each group. Some European immigrants, such as Italians, were considered less white than the early European settlers and, therefore, were less accepted at that time in American society.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jacobson|first=Mathew Frye|title=Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1998|page=56}}</ref> 

Italian stereotypes abounded as a means of justifying the maltreatment of the immigrants. The print media greatly contributed to the stereotyping of Italians with lurid accounts of secret societies and criminality. Between 1890 and 1920, Italian neighborhoods were often depicted as violent and controlled by criminal networks. Two highly publicized cases illustrate the impact of these negative stereotypes:

[[File:sacvan.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|[[Sacco and Vanzetti]] in handcuffs]]

In 1891, [[March 14, 1891 lynchings|eleven Italian immigrants]] in [[New Orleans]] were lynched due to their alleged role in the murder of the police chief [[David Hennessy]]. This was one of the largest mass [[lynching]]s in U.S. history. The lynching took place after nine of the immigrants were tried for the murder and acquitted. Subsequently, a mob broke into the jail where they were being held and dragged them out to be lynched, together with two other Italians who were being held in the jail at the time, but had not been accused in the killing.

[[File:1891 New Orleans Italian lynching.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|One of the largest mass [[lynching]]s in American history involved eleven Italian immigrants in [[New Orleans]] in 1891.]]

In 1920, two Italian immigrants, [[Sacco and Vanzetti|Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti]], were accused of robbery and murder in [[Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree]], Massachusetts. Many historians agree that they were given a very unfair and biased trial because of their [[anarchist]]ic political beliefs and their Italian immigrant status. In spite of worldwide protests, Sacco and Vanzetti were eventually executed in 1927.

While the vast majority of Italian immigrants brought with them a tradition of hard work and were law-abiding citizens, as documented by police statistics of the early 20th century in Boston and New York City which show that Italian immigrants had an arrest rate no greater than that of other major immigrant groups,<ref>[http://www.clevelandmemory.org/italians/Partiii.html Italians] clevelandmemory.org p. 123 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220204034/http://www.clevelandmemory.org/italians/Partiii.html |date=February 20, 2016 }}</ref> a very small minority brought a very different custom. This criminal element preyed on the immigrants of the Little Italies, using intimidation and threats to extract protection money from the wealthier immigrants and shop owners, and were also involved in a multitude of other illegal activities. When the Fascists came to power in Italy, they made the destruction of [[Sicilian Mafia|the Mafia in Sicily]] a high priority. Hundreds fled to America in the 1920s and 1930s to avoid prosecution.

[[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], which went into effect in 1920, proved to be an economic windfall for those in the Italian American community already involved in illegal activities, and those who had fled from Sicily. This entailed smuggling liquor into the country, wholesaling it, and then selling it through a network of outlets. While other ethnic groups were also deeply involved in these illegal ventures, and the associated violence, Chicago mobster [[Al Capone]] became the most notorious figure of the Prohibition era. Though eventually repealed, Prohibition had a long-term effect as the spawning ground for later criminal activities.

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| caption2          = Media portrayal of mobsters, such as the fictional [[Vito Corleone|Don Corleone]], has been a major factor in shaping Italian American ethnic stereotypes.<ref name=Gambino>{{cite web |last1=Gambino |first1=Megan |title=What is The Godfather Effect? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/what-is-the-godfather-effect-83473971/ |website=[[.smithsonianmag.com]] |access-date=May 26, 2021}}</ref>
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In the 1950s, the scope of [[American Mafia|Italian American organized crime]] became well known though a number of highly publicized congressional hearings that followed a police raid on a top-level [[Apalachin Meeting|meeting of racketeers]] in [[Apalachin, New York|Apalachin]], New York. With advanced surveillance techniques, the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|Witness Protection Program]], the [[Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act]], and vigorous and sustained prosecution the power and influence of organized crime were greatly diminished in the decades that followed. Two Italian American prosecutors, [[Rudy Giuliani]] and [[Louis Freeh]], were instrumental in bringing this about. Freeh was later appointed director of the FBI, while Giuliani would serve two terms as Mayor of New York City.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Sopranosposters2.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|TV series like ''[[The Sopranos]]'' have been criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes about Italian Americans.{{ffdc|1=Sopranosposters2.jpg|log=2016 January 3}}]] -->

From the earliest days of the movie industry, Italians have been portrayed as violent criminals and sociopaths.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bertellini | first1 = Giorgio | year = 2004 | title = Black Hands and White Hearts: Italian Immigrants as 'Urban Racial Types' in Early American Film Culture | journal = Urban History | volume = 31 | issue = 3| pages = 375–399 | doi=10.1017/s0963926805002427| s2cid = 145365445 }}</ref>  This trend has continued to the present day. The stereotype of Italian Americans is the standardized mental image which has been fostered by the entertainment industry, especially through commercially successful movies like ''[[The Godfather]]'', ''[[Goodfellas]]'', and ''[[Casino (1995 film)|Casino]]''; and TV programs such as ''[[The Sopranos]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nj.com/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/stories/121600essex.html |title=Essex officials tell 'The Sopranos': Fuhgeddabout filming around here |access-date=July 31, 2008 |last=Schuppe |first=Jonathan |date=December 16, 2000 |work=[[The Star-Ledger]] |archive-date=February 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206175545/http://www.nj.com/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/stories/121600essex.html }}</ref> This follows a known pattern in which it is possible for the mass media to effectively create universally recognized, and sometimes accepted, stereotypes.<ref>Campbell, R., ''Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication'', St. Martin's Press, New York, p. 1998</ref>

A highly publicized protest from the Italian-American community came in 2001 when the Chicago-based organization AIDA (American Italian Defamation Association) unsuccessfully sued [[Time Warner]] for distribution of [[HBO]]'s series ''[[The Sopranos]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italiansofchicago.com/topics.html |title=And They Came To Chicago: The Italian American Legacy |publisher=Modiomedia.com |date=December 1, 1958|access-date=September 3, 2010 }}</ref>

The [[DreamWorks Pictures|DreamWorks]] animated film, ''[[Shark Tale]]'', was widely protested by virtually all major Italian-American organizations as introducing the mob genre and negative stereotyping into a children's movie.<ref>{{cite web|author=Vicki Vasilopoulos |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/nyregion/ok-what-about-sharks-is-so-italian.html |title=O.K., What About Sharks Is So Italian? - New York Times |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 29, 2004 |access-date=August 10, 2014}}</ref> In spite of the protests, which started during its early production, the movie was produced and released in 2004.

In 2009, [[MTV]] launched a reality show, ''[[Jersey Shore (TV series)|Jersey Shore]]'',<ref name="FoxNews.com">{{cite news|author=Joshua Rhett Miller |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/italian-american-groups-ask-mtv-to-cancel-jersey-shore/ |title=Italian-American Groups Ask MTV To Cancel 'Jersey Shore' |publisher=[[Fox News]] |date=November 25, 2009 |access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref> which prompted [[Reactions to Jersey Shore|severe criticism]] from Italian American organizations such as the National Italian American Foundation,<ref>https://www.niaf.org/niaf_event/national-italian-american-foundation-official-statement-mtvs/</ref> Order Sons of Italy in America, and Unico National for its stereotypical portrayal of Italian Americans.

The effective stereotyping of Italian Americans as being associated with organized crime was shown by a comprehensive study of Italian American culture on film, conducted from 1996 to 2001 by the Italic Institute of America.<ref name="italic.org"/> The findings showed that over two-thirds of the more than 2,000 films studied portray Italian Americans in a negative light. Further, close to 300 movies featuring Italian Americans as criminals have been produced since ''The Godfather'', an average of nine per year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.italic.org/imageb1.htm |title=Italian Culture on Film, Image Research Project, Italic Institute of America |publisher=Italic.org |access-date=January 16, 2013 |archive-date=August 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823134829/http://italic.org/imageb1.htm }}</ref> According to the Italic Institute of America:
: The mass media has consistently ignored five centuries of Italian American history, and has elevated what was never more than a minute subculture to the dominant Italian American culture.<ref>"Hollywood vs Italians", The Italic Way, a publication of the Italic Institute of America, Vol XXVII, 1997</ref>

In actuality, according to recent FBI statistics,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/organizedcrime/italian_mafia |title=FBI — Italian/Mafia |publisher=Fbi.gov |access-date=August 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524172413/http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/organizedcrime/italian_mafia |archive-date=May 24, 2014 }}</ref> Italian American organized crime members and associates number approximately 3,000; and, given an Italian American population estimated to be approximately 18 million, the study concludes that only one in 6,000 is active in organized crime (0.007% of Italian-Americans).<ref name=Gambino/>