[Bill]

Wow! Earlier Y? Forum postings directed against Italian Americans ("Why do Italians Hate Blacks?") make my head spin. Hollywood propaganda has worked its magic.

Quick sound bites:

1) Upon their arrival, Italians made less than blacks and were the second-most lynched ethnic group in the United States (re: the 1891 New Orleans massacre: 12 Sicilians hung by a crowd of thousands - and one of the reasons they and others were hung? Because the Italians dared to treat their African American co-workers as equals. This outraged white Southerners.)

2) Congressman Vito Marcantonio of New York introduced legislation outlawing lynching laws.

3) Mayor LaGuardia appointed the first African-American female judge in the nation (1935).

4) Dr. Leonard Covello, a high school principal, specifically reached out to black and Puerto Rican students long before it was acceptable (early 1930s).

The lists go on and on. But you'd never know it from our racist media, which loves to exploit the worst in all people.

Ciao.

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[Gene21624]

Thank you for your educated and fact-based response. Fabrications and exaggerations are much too often accepted as truth, perpetuated and, sadly, sometimes even recorded as history.

What does it take for us to realize that yes, humans may share some tendencies due to similar economic conditions, regional traditions or other factors, but that we are all individuals? For every 'Why do?' (blacks, whites, men, women, etc.) question I've read on Y? Forum, I have thought, 'I know some one like that, but I also know (or know of) 10 people who are not like that.' The 'Why do all?' myth is a reality only in our sensationalized media, dollar-seeking entertaiment industry (where perpetuation makes millionaires) and those of us who allow preconceived perceptions to be an easy and convenient explanation for an entire race or gender. Don't allow Hollywood propaganda to spin our heads anymore.

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[Patrick]

Seriously folks, cant we get over the past? slavery is history now people. Im Irish, but when people see me they call me white, black people call me cracker. What is their excuse? because 'white people' enslaved 'them' years ago. When I see a person, I notice what race he is, but I don't make any preconceptions about his/her personality from their appearence. So I would appriciate the same, because reverse racism is just as prevelent in society today as racism. I live in a dorm with 20 guys, I am one of 3 white guys, theres more mexicans, blacks and even filipinos than me. Do I feel threatened by this? no. But do I feel offended when I am classified as white, and therefore racist and oppressive.

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[KC-Tate]

Bill, Thank you ever so much from your insightful post. I've learned a lot. Where can I get more information on this topic?

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[Charles]

You're right. I thought it was odd when Spike Lee game out with the movie 'Jungle Fever'. I featured a black man having an affair with an italian woman. Everyone in her NY community was upset. I've been around italians all my life. They are some of the best people when it comes to interractions with black people. Peoples from these two cultures date routinely. Why didn't Spike use an Irish lady in the role? When I first moved to this town, the only guy who befriended me is an Italian guy. He has since moved back to New York. If we would go out and meet people of other backgrounds, instead of believing everything the media and the government tells us about each other our country would be even stronger.

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