2011-06-05

Being Italian

Also known as anti-Italianism (like anti-Irish sentiment) has been a part of the North American experience.

I found the study on films to be interesting and how Italians are mostly portrayed in a negative life. It was something I detected over the years. Converesely, my perception of how the English are portrayed would be the opposite.

I bring this up because only two months into my daycare and we've been getting interesting comments from parents. As much as we may not want to believe or admit it, but culture matters.

People do seem to pay attention. Whatever the findings made about Italians in the movies, the impact on the actual lives of people don't seem to be much of an issue.

Being in Quebec, as part of the questioning, parents have been asking us our cultural background. When we tell them, the reaction is not just positive but met with relief and respect. It's weird because growing up, the "wop" slur was never too far off a discussion. We were all "rich" and in the mafia so the plot went.

Not that we weren't above playing off the stereotype. People unfamiliar with Italians would ask all sorts of questions and we'd just let them think we were part of it.  We got a glimpse into a world where the sense of fear was present. We got to feel it. Even though in reality we weren't part of the mafiosos, some of our friends were and so when we were in a club guess what? The Goodfellas treatment.

Anyway.
It's not just French-Canadians asking. Our clientele so far are educated bilingual (and in some cases trilingual) professional high income earners. We're talking international private bankers, chartered accountants with their own firms, airplane mechanics, doctors, educators, TV producers, theater executives and notaries.

Most of these, when told of our heritage, were pleased and made it be known they were so.

I can't explain it but the best thing I can say is, people are watching.

The funny thing is, we're Canadian.

But our (that is, all citizens with different cultural backgrounds)  blood line follows us around.

2 comments:

  1. Trudeau (O.K. you hate him, I know) ran on the slogan «our strenght is in our diversity», even the P.Q. is beginning, insistance on BEGINNING, to realise it and tries to woo the ethnics. A few young ones are falling for it after being 101ized.

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  2. I don't hate Trudeau. Nor have I ever said as much. I do respect our leaders even when I disagree with them including Pierre.

    I don't hate Layton either. For the record.

    The PQ have a LONG way to go.

    The concept of 'strength in diversity' was and is hardly a Trudeau innovation. It's been around for centuries.

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