When my great grandparents immigrated thru Ellis Island from Italy they described a lot of problems in the US with acceptance of the Italians. They mastered English and committed to only speaking English in their home in order to assimilate and fit in. They forbade their children from speaking Italian so my grandmother, being the youngest child, never even learned it. This was because Italians on the East Coast at that time, at least as my family described their immigration experience, were considered an unwelcome and unwanted minority. They were definitely not considered white.
My entire upbringing, on the other hand, I always considered myself white (only Italian if people asked me directly about my heritage) and people (as far as I know) have always classified me as white also based on my appearance. So, maybe your experience has not been like mine but my comment was meant to say that as far as I know, Italians in this country are largely if not wholly considered "white" and lumped in with that racial/ethnic group.
We are living in a time where racism against white people, at least according to the left (who are the most guilty creating and promoting racism toward anyone who broadly classifies as "white") does not exist.
Thanks for the explanation, and I'm sorry about the loss of your cultural heritage due to the way things were for Italians at that time. Same with my family. My grandparents (both sets) emigrated from Italy, and the language was purposefully suppressed so as to blend in and become American.
I agree... Italians are white. We can get better tans than most other Caucasians!
In the context of my original comment, I thought your comment was going a different direction, so that was my misunderstanding.
When my great grandparents immigrated thru Ellis Island from Italy they described a lot of problems in the US with acceptance of the Italians. They mastered English and committed to only speaking English in their home in order to assimilate and fit in. They forbade their children from speaking Italian so my grandmother, being the youngest child, never even learned it. This was because Italians on the East Coast at that time, at least as my family described their immigration experience, were considered an unwelcome and unwanted minority. They were definitely not considered white.
My entire upbringing, on the other hand, I always considered myself white (only Italian if people asked me directly about my heritage) and people (as far as I know) have always classified me as white also based on my appearance. So, maybe your experience has not been like mine but my comment was meant to say that as far as I know, Italians in this country are largely if not wholly considered "white" and lumped in with that racial/ethnic group.
We are living in a time where racism against white people, at least according to the left (who are the most guilty creating and promoting racism toward anyone who broadly classifies as "white") does not exist.
Thanks for the explanation, and I'm sorry about the loss of your cultural heritage due to the way things were for Italians at that time. Same with my family. My grandparents (both sets) emigrated from Italy, and the language was purposefully suppressed so as to blend in and become American.
I agree... Italians are white. We can get better tans than most other Caucasians!
In the context of my original comment, I thought your comment was going a different direction, so that was my misunderstanding.