Imagine my surprise when I checked my phone mail today to find a racist phone mail, which advertised a Resident Advisor's program. I am a Resident Advisor and I can attest to the fact that Residential and Dining Programs (RDP) trains us extensively on racial matters. For this reason, I am surprised that another Resident Advisor would choose to advertise his program with an offensive phone message.
This disgusting, degrading dialogue can be felt by any race. To one race: "Yo, dis buckwheat. I wuz chillin wit my homies in da watermelon patch da otha day when I thought 'We'd be keepin' it real if we showed people how ta pick a fly watermelon.' Come to my program to learn how to pick the best fruit."
To another race: "Herro! I makey flied lice for you, you come-a to my p-o-gam. I show good way!"
To another race: "Hey ma-in. My name's Pedro ma-in. Eef joo come to my program I'll tell joo the difference between all tha gang symbols. Come to my program to learn about gang activity in America."
Did any of those statements send chills up your spine? Do you wish you could find out who sent that message so you could give him a piece of your mind? Consider this statement: "Yo guito, whatawe gonna do wit da money from da guy we just whacked. How can we avoid gettin taxed?"
Guito is a name that may be used as a racial slur for Italians. The accent that the individual was using was an impression of the stereotypical member of the original mafia crime families. Now think about it. How is this scenario different from depicting an American of African descent in a watermelon field, or an American of Latino descent in a gang?
Yet racism concerning Italians is common, and commonly ignored. During Resident Advisor training this past year, a skit was performed by a group, which imitated an Italian family. The father had a pillow stuffed under his shirt to make a crude potbelly, and he spoke in broken English with a stereotypical Italian accent. He talked about how much he loved spaghetti. Out of all of the RDP officials present, you would think that one of them would catch this perpetuation of stereotype and have a word with the group. Apparently, even one of the greatest proponents for racial sensitivity dropped the ball on that one.
I do not blame the Resident Advisor for his ignorant offense. He, like many Americans, would not see the potential for offense in a statement like that. This is a problem on the societal scale. While a statement like that concerning Blacks or Latinos would qualify for a dismissal in the workplace, the Italian version would be completely ignored. The newspapers are showered with attention to incursions against Blacks and Latinos, while attention to other discrimination takes a back seat in local news. Even our former President Clinton accused NY Governor Mario Cuomo without grounds, of having mafia connections. Clinton later wrote a formal apology for his slander. I'm curious. How many of you were aware of this event? A President racially stereotyping a Governor is big news, right? It would be big news if the Governor were of any descent other than European.
Just as our nation groups Americans of Asian descent into one big cluster, they group Americans of European, Russian, South African, and Australian descent into the "White" ethnicity. Koreans are as kin to Japanese as Italians are kin to Poles, Britons, Frenchmen, or Russians. Yet government funded organizations still operate under the pretense that they are culturally aware. In reality they are operating in the best interests of the culture who comprises the organization. Movements for Blacks and Latinos have captured the nation's attention and sensitivity, yet our country does not distinguish Vietnamese from Chinese or Italians from Britons. Comparatively, Blacks comprise 12.9% of the population while Italian descendents comprise 8%. Do Italian descendents receive 2/3 of the attention that Blacks do? Of course not, they are considered White, and they're the ones who we laugh at for eating spaghetti.
Although I have Italian descent, I was not personally offended by the Resident Advisor's message. I would like to view America as a unified nation where the terms African-American, Asian-American, and others are destroyed. I want us all to be Americans and I want to let notions of race remain in the home and personal character, instead of being broadcast by labels. We should finally proclaim the solitary American race for true unity, but this is a greater topic for a later discussion.
Although I was not personally offended, in today's politically correct heap of nonsense, I find these current events to be hypocritical. We nominate racist rap artists for awards (2-Pac, Dr. Dre, Onyx, Gravediggaz, Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, and Ice-T, who often mask their message by referring to Whites as "Devils"). We endure racist Presidents, and we are sensitive to the issues of specific groups, while ignoring and participating in the discrimination of others. (See http://www.italian-american.com/italaffm.htm and http://www.eaif.org/ )
Thomas E. Kurek
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
[email protected]