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Ben Lawson chair of both the Italian Studies and Film Studies Department at Purdue University conducted a survey of forty students asking, "Do Mafia movies and television shows such as the Sopranos affect the image of Italian Americans?" Ninety-eight percent of the subjects saw movies or television shows that contained the mafia and replied that the most prominent Mafia movie and or show was The Godfather (56% replied).
Lawson then broke down the participants into ethnicity: Italian and not Italian for the question, "Name three things that come to mind when thinking of Italian-Americans." Those with Italian-American ethnicity replied with: "good food, intelligent, charming, easy to get along with, etc." while the non Italian-American heritage replied with: "Mafia, greedy, sneaky, good food, New York, violence, accents, etc." This further illustrates that there is an Italian American stereotype, which has impacted our society.
I don't get it. What's your point? That the Gambino family is higher on the social ladder? Perception-wise that's an emphatic NO. Money-wise, sure, they're in a better position than most. Still, I have no idea where you're trying to go with this.
Again, there is a reason why I said I was only talking about this particular portion of the Italian American population. Anybody who pays attention to organized crime in America though knows that the Italian Mafia was and still is the largest organized crime syndicate in the country, closely followed by the Chinese Triads. The only reason that poor Chinese aren't stereotyped as being Triad affiliated is because their home base happens to be SF, which everyone thinks has no crime. And besides, minority crime doesn't get romanticized. Just watch the average Blaxploitation film that stereotypically depicts poor blacks and compare it to The Godfather or Goodfellas... no comparison.
I don't get it. What's your point? That the Gambino family is higher on the social ladder? Perception-wise that's an emphatic NO. Money-wise, sure, they're in a better position than most. Still, I have no idea where you're trying to go with this.
My point was that in the time period you referenced when Italians were heavily discriminated against, even the "garbage" of Italian Americans still had more rights, more job opportunities and in general "more" than African Americans of all education levels in the same period, and the Italians knew this. Same with the Irish.
Again, there is a reason why I said I was only talking about this particular portion of the Italian American population. Anybody who pays attention to organized crime in America though knows that the Italian Mafia was and still is the largest organized crime syndicate in the country, closely followed by the Chinese Triads. The only reason that poor Chinese aren't stereotyped as being Triad affiliated is because their home base happens to be SF, which everyone thinks has no crime. And besides, minority crime doesn't get romanticized.
Using movies or any organized crime as some sort of standing examples as above/below blacks is nonsensical. I cite an Italian mass lynching. You come back with the godfather and organized crime. As if that reflects the Italian immigrant experience in any way.
And what in the world does organized crime have to do with anything?
Quote:
Just watch the average Blaxploitation film that stereotypically depicts poor blacks and compare it to The Godfather or Goodfellas... no comparison.
Yea, compare it and you get the stereotypes I just linked. You think "non Italian-American heritage replied with: "Mafia, greedy, sneaky, good food, New York, violence, accents, etc." is romantic?
bahaha are you comparing exploitation films to the Godfather and Goodfellas?! really now. I love both kinds of films but the difference is ridiculous. Besides those films portray whites just as poorly if not worse than blacks. Blacks are always the hero's at least.
I'll tell you why Italians are successful, they work together. Families help families, friends help friends. They're ethnocentric as hell and to non-Italians it might be a ****-off and they may be pretty rude but it really works for them. There is a huge Italian community here and it's no secret that they attained success in that way.
Using movies or any organized crime as some sort of standing examples as above/below blacks is nonsensical. I cite an Italian mass lynching. You come back with the godfather and organized crime. As if that reflects the Italian immigrant experience in any way.
And what in the world does organized crime have to do with anything?
Yea, compare it and you get the stereotypes I just linked. You think "non Italian-American heritage replied with: "Mafia, greedy, sneaky, good food, New York, violence, accents, etc." is romantic?
Compared to "lazy, stupid, murderous, welfare babies, drug addicted, etc." yea it is.
In my time on CD, I've seen an incredible number of black people calling white people racist. I've also seen issues amongst Hispanic posters and whites. Do people not realize that racism goes both ways?
I personally am quite tired of being told I'm racist when trying to address the facts about minority communities, or just for the fact that I'm a conservative who tends to vote Republican.
Facts are facts and cannot be disputed. I don't treat people any differently based on their skin color. The only time I treat people differently is when they do behaviors that are unacceptable. Until people get it through their heads that it's less about race and more about lifestyle, race relations cannot change. That goes for any race or ethnic group, but it seems like white people are accused of hindering this transition more than any other group.
I want to know why people only talk about how whites are racist when other groups do it as well, perhaps more so, and for some reason, among minorities, it's acceptable to discuss white people in a negative stereotypical manner.
To me, it should be common sense that all types of people could be racist, so this question doesn't even matter. The truth is that historically white people have been the ones to do outwardly racist things. If you are in the United States then you know our history here: white people made it to where there was a white water fountain and a "colored" one. Whether you want to admit it or not, no where else has racism like that happened on that level.
bahaha are you comparing exploitation films to the Godfather and Goodfellas?! really now. I love both kinds of films but the difference is ridiculous. Besides those films portray whites just as poorly if not worse than blacks. Blacks are always the hero's at least.
I'll tell you why Italians are successful, they work together. Families help families, friends help friends. They're ethnocentric as hell and to non-Italians it might be a ****-off and they may be pretty rude but it really works for them. There is a huge Italian community here and it's no secret that they attained success in that way.
Michael Corleone is no more of a hero than Black Caesar (Tommy Gibbs) and Priest are. All three are running criminal enterprises... the difference is that the mafia lifestyle became emulated by the real life black kingpins.
To me, it should be common sense that all types of people could be racist, so this question doesn't even matter. The truth is that historically white people have been the ones to do outwardly racist things. If you are in the United States then you know our history here: white people made it to where there was a white water fountain and a "colored" one. Whether you want to admit it or not, no where else has racism like that happened on that level.
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