This week, I sat down with John Viola who is the host of the Italian American Podcast. John and I go in-depth about the current state of the Italian American culture as it relates to Italian nationals and even current race relations. What is the current role of the Italian American community in the USA in 2020? This is a must-watch interview as it relates to Italian American culture and recent history.
“For Italian Americans, yes, we followed on the heels of Germans, Scandinavians, and Irish in terms of our immigrant wave,” John explains. “But in truth, we were so much more other than those other groups. The Irish, yes they were Catholic but at least they spoke English. Scandinavians were also Protestants but they fit in because they looked Anglo-Saxon. From there, here comes this “olive horde.” We came in gigantic numbers (like we would do with anything, including family Christmas). We come in this huge number–we’re a different religion, we look different, we eat differently. Everything is different. With this idea of enclaving for safety, you start to take things that in your home country that would be [considered] trends; they become permanent anchors of your life system… Italy evolved at a way different pace after The War.”
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