Italian Americans
By Glenn Sullivan
An article we addressed in journalism class Color: White/Complexion: Dark written by Louise DeSalvo, discusses the topic of whether an Italian immigrant is or isn’t “white. ” This article deals with a time when Italians first immigrated to America in mass numbers shortly after the emancipation proclamation. The U.S. was looking for someone to fill the role of African Americans as laborers, so they labeled Italian immigrants as “dark” so they could be economically and culturally positioned at the bottom of American society. In order to become white, or be recognized as white they would have to distance themselves from this social category.
Libera Maria Calabrese was an Italian American who came to the U.S. when she was 57. When she entered the United States she was described on her documents as racially: White/Complexion: Dark. Labeling her as white meant she was eligible for naturalization. Libera’s granddaughter says that her grandmother would never describe herself as dark even though she was forced to. She had to sign her name on documents, declaring that the information about her skin color was true. Her granddaughter says that in a photograph taken of her in the month of March, it was clear her grandmother was certainly not “dark”.
The fact that Libera Calabrese was labeled as having a dark complexion made her not quite white, which suggested she wasn’t smart enough, good enough, reliable enough, capable of self-control, and not quite clean enough to be “white.” Her granddaughter says, “Grandma became a dark white citizen, a white nigger, not truly white, an Italian American.”
This month, as we recognize Italian heritage, it is important to acknowledge the stigma Italian Americans have had to endure for over a century and the compromises they were forced to make because of it.
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