Issue XXII - Italic Institute of America
Issue XXII - Italic Institute of America Issue XXII - Italic Institute of America
FocusEnemies of the Stateby Robert A. Masullo------------------~-----psychological and financial harm to thousands of ItalianAmericans, both immigrants and their American-born children.Italian-Americans who were considered more dangerousto national security were exiled toFort Missoula, Montana."I believe myself to be good but 1 find myself deceived.''So wrote Stefano Terranova just before he leaped to his deathfrom a San Francisco building. The year was 1942. StefanoTerranova 's motive for suicide was shame. Shame of beingItalian at a time when Italy's anned forces were locked inmortal combat against the United States and its allies inEurope.Four other Italians residing near San Francisco, a citycoincidentally named in honor of an Italian saint, ended theirlives oulOffearof arrest or exile. Indeed, some 600,000 ItalianAmericans were branded "internal enemies," and 10,000 wereforced to leave Lheir homes along the California coast Some1.600 were arrested and 264 were interned in a camp in frigidMissoula, Montana, at the order of Lhe U.S. governmentIronically, it happened at the same time many of them hadrelatives in the American anned services fighting and dyingfor the American cause.1942 was America's first full year of World War II. Italy,along with Germany and Japan, were its enemies and residentswith links to Italy, no matter how remote, were suddenly seenby other Americans and government officials as suspect.What happened to Japanese Americans is well known.German Americans must still research their story. But now,after nearly a half-century, the Italian American story is beginningto emerge. Anti-Italian activities took place to varyingdegrees throughout the United States but were most severe inthe West, particularly in California. They did untold physical,TOGETHER BUT UNEQUALAt that time, Italian Americans in the Western UnitedStates felt they were the equals of other Americans. Unlike theNortheast, Southeast and Midwest, where Europeans of olherbackgrounds were well entrenched before the great wave ofItalian immigration took place (1880-1924), Italians arrived inthe West about the same time as other Europeans. They helpedbuild the banking industry (Bank of America), agriculturalproduction (Del Monte, S & W), and the Napa Valley vineyards(Gallo, Mondavi, Italian-Swiss Colony) as well as thePacific fishing fleers.It was this latter dominance of California fisheries, whichgave Italian Americans access to large boats and homes alongthe Pacific coast, that brought fear to the Anglo-Saxon establishment.Japan was, in early 1942, masterofthePacificand,after the telling blow at Pearl Harbor, sortees were made byJapanese submarines against some portions of the Californiacoast. Were California's Italians aiding and abetting theirJapanese Axis partners? Only after America's victory at thebattle of Midway in June, 1942, did things calm down somewhat.Nevertheless, thousands of Italian aliens and their citizenchildren were forced out of their homes within ten miles of theCalifornia's fishing fleet was made up largely of ItalianImmigrants from Sicily. Denied their livelihood, somefisherman even had their boats Impounded by the U.S.government and utilized for patrol and mlnesweeplngduties.The Italic Way12XXII. 1994
coast and their freedom fwther restricted by curfews andtravel limits. In San Francisco, just to cite a conspicuousexample, the parents of baseball legend Joe DiMaggio wereforbidden to travel more than five miles from home without apermit (DiMaggio Sr. was a fisherman). Even noted physicistEnrico Fermi, who contributed enormously to America's developmentof the atomic bomb, had his travel restricted on theEast Coast and around Chicago. Others were penned up inQuonset huts and treated like prisoners of war. Noted teachers,actors and journalists in Italian settlements throughoutAmerica were branded "under suspicion," "subversive" or"disloyal."Joe Dl Maggio's parentswere subjected to curfewand travel restrictiondespite their son's fame.OVer 500,000 Italian-Americansserved In WW II whiletheir ethnic kin were consideredInternal enemies. Sgt.Anthony Basllone was amedal of honor winner wholater lost his life In combatA QUESTION OF LOGISTICSWhy did this happen? And why do we know so little aboutit?In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan andthe subsequent declaration of war by the United States onJapan and its allies,ltaly and Germany, America went througha frenzy of bigotry in the guise of patriotism.People with links to Italy, Germany or Japan, no matterhow many years they had lived peacefully in the United States,suddenly were viewed in a hostile light.While it is widely known that Japanese Americans on theWest Coast were rounded up and interned in camps-in whattoday is rightly seen as an obscene trouncing of their Constitutionalrights-it is virtually a secret story that Italian Ameri·cans and Gennan Americans were victims of the same hysteria.The original intention of the military was to intern ~people of Italian, German or Japanese heritage, whether'--iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiixxn.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii1994~iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil;;;;;;American citizens or not T t tv-c~~e obvious that such a roundup was impossible. Moreover, nanonal politicians, includingPresident Roosevelt, thought better of antagonizing ItalianAmerican voters in the East and Mid-WestSigniftcantly, Japanese Americans living in Hawaii, themost vulnerable U.S. territory, were left untouched simplybecause there were too many of them (one-third of the population)and they were too much involved in the island's economy.But in the Western states their number, about 100,000,and concentration were just right for internmentItalians, on the other hand. presented a logistical nightmare.They were dispersed throughout the country andwere not as racially distinctive as Japanese Americans.Moreover, Italian Americans had some political clout andpopularity. These were the days of New York City'sFiorello LaGuardia and baseball's Joe Di Maggio (MammaDiMaggio went so far as to take to the radio in a plea forcalm). And men like business tycoon A.P. Giannini (Bankof America) was himself a son of immigrants. But despitethe exemplary role-models and the disarming stereotypes ofChico Marx and Heney Armetta in American cinema at thattime, Italians had been objects of fear and suspicionthroughout the 1930's. Unlike the Japanese Americans, theItalic community expressed much enthusiasm for Mussoliniand the Fascist regime. In 1942, their ethnic pridewould return to haunt them.HURT&SHAMEThe reason we know so liuie of what happened to Italiansand Germans is twofold. On the one hand, the federal, state,and local governments were not proud of what they did.Many records were destroyed, actions were covered up ordenied and later generations of bureaucrats pleaded ignorance,often quite legitimately since little documentationDON'T SPEAK THEENEMY'S LANGUAGE!Just as the German-American Image suffered In theHun scare of the First World War, the Italian languageand culture was dealt a mortal blow with World War IIposters such as this.3iiiiiiiiiiii;;;;;;;;;;;;;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii= The 1 talic Way;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
- Page 2: UEUIEA6ARESUPPRESSIONSYSl!MSASSOCIA
- Page 8 and 9: lflTTHEROAD,JACQUESFollowing in the
- Page 10 and 11: EditorialAN ACT OF ATONEMENTNow tha
- Page 12 and 13: (718) 858-5525Lie. #481583FAX (718)
- Page 16 and 17: ~- _,g~ _ _,......-t..~_.:;---,~was
- Page 18 and 19: Harry WarrenGreat American Composer
- Page 20 and 21: THE ITALIC WAY Rate Card(number o f
- Page 22 and 23: NIGHT TIME IS • TIMEFor All Of Yo
- Page 24 and 25: Media Madness[In which we presenl m
- Page 26 and 27: News of the InstituteYOUTH PROGRAM
- Page 28 and 29: "SECURITY BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFES
- Page 30 and 31: Warren (continued from p.17)Warren'
FocusEnemies <strong>of</strong> the Stateby Robert A. Masullo------------------~-----psychological and financial harm to thousands <strong>of</strong> Italian<strong>America</strong>ns, both immigrants and their <strong>America</strong>n-born children.Italian-<strong>America</strong>ns who were considered more dangerousto national security were exiled toFort Missoula, Montana."I believe myself to be good but 1 find myself deceived.''So wrote Stefano Terranova just before he leaped to his deathfrom a San Francisco building. The year was 1942. StefanoTerranova 's motive for suicide was shame. Shame <strong>of</strong> beingItalian at a time when Italy's anned forces were locked inmortal combat against the United States and its allies inEurope.Four other Italians residing near San Francisco, a citycoincidentally named in honor <strong>of</strong> an Italian saint, ended theirlives oulOffear<strong>of</strong> arrest or exile. Indeed, some 600,000 Italian<strong>America</strong>ns were branded "internal enemies," and 10,000 wereforced to leave Lheir homes along the California coast Some1.600 were arrested and 264 were interned in a camp in frigidMissoula, Montana, at the order <strong>of</strong> Lhe U.S. governmentIronically, it happened at the same time many <strong>of</strong> them hadrelatives in the <strong>America</strong>n anned services fighting and dyingfor the <strong>America</strong>n cause.1942 was <strong>America</strong>'s first full year <strong>of</strong> World War II. Italy,along with Germany and Japan, were its enemies and residentswith links to Italy, no matter how remote, were suddenly seenby other <strong>America</strong>ns and government <strong>of</strong>ficials as suspect.What happened to Japanese <strong>America</strong>ns is well known.German <strong>America</strong>ns must still research their story. But now,after nearly a half-century, the Italian <strong>America</strong>n story is beginningto emerge. Anti-Italian activities took place to varyingdegrees throughout the United States but were most severe inthe West, particularly in California. They did untold physical,TOGETHER BUT UNEQUALAt that time, Italian <strong>America</strong>ns in the Western UnitedStates felt they were the equals <strong>of</strong> other <strong>America</strong>ns. Unlike theNortheast, Southeast and Midwest, where Europeans <strong>of</strong> olherbackgrounds were well entrenched before the great wave <strong>of</strong>Italian immigration took place (1880-1924), Italians arrived inthe West about the same time as other Europeans. They helpedbuild the banking industry (Bank <strong>of</strong> <strong>America</strong>), agriculturalproduction (Del Monte, S & W), and the Napa Valley vineyards(Gallo, Mondavi, Italian-Swiss Colony) as well as thePacific fishing fleers.It was this latter dominance <strong>of</strong> California fisheries, whichgave Italian <strong>America</strong>ns access to large boats and homes alongthe Pacific coast, that brought fear to the Anglo-Saxon establishment.Japan was, in early 1942, master<strong>of</strong>thePacificand,after the telling blow at Pearl Harbor, sortees were made byJapanese submarines against some portions <strong>of</strong> the Californiacoast. Were California's Italians aiding and abetting theirJapanese Axis partners? Only after <strong>America</strong>'s victory at thebattle <strong>of</strong> Midway in June, 1942, did things calm down somewhat.Nevertheless, thousands <strong>of</strong> Italian aliens and their citizenchildren were forced out <strong>of</strong> their homes within ten miles <strong>of</strong> theCalifornia's fishing fleet was made up largely <strong>of</strong> ItalianImmigrants from Sicily. Denied their livelihood, somefisherman even had their boats Impounded by the U.S.government and utilized for patrol and mlnesweeplngduties.The <strong>Italic</strong> Way12<strong>XXII</strong>. 1994
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