Did My Mom Have ‘White Privilege’? She arrived from Italy in 1911 and then at age 14 went to work in a factory sewing ladies’ coats. By Angela Rocco DeCarlo
https://www.wsj.com/articles/did-my-mom-have-white-privilege-1518739479
At the age of 14, my lovely mother went to work in a Chicago factory sewing ladies’ coats. It was 1918. She was a brilliant girl but couldn’t go to school because her family needed the income. Whenever I hear people rile about “white privilege,” I often wonder if they have my mother in mind.
Twelve million European immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Today, it’s estimated that 40% of the U.S. population is descended from these pioneers. My mother arrived with her parents, Christopher and Angela Serritella, in 1911. Like many immigrants of the era, they were so thrilled to be in beautiful America that they did whatever they thought proper to be good citizens. Grandfather Donato DiCarlo didn’t mind at all when an immigration official suggested Dan DeCarlo would sound more American. They happily learned English too.
My family came from Ricigliano, where practically everyone was named Serritella or related to someone who was. The town was inland from the beautiful seaside resort of Sorrento. It took monumental determination for people from Ricigliano to take the train to Naples for the Atlantic crossing, not knowing what they would find on the other side.
Many experienced discrimination, especially if their complexions were dark. During World War II thousands of American citizens with Italian names were rounded up and whisked away to detention areas. We don’t hear much about this anymore. Italians are not good complainers. Metropolitan Opera star Ezio Pinza was arrested and held for three months.
As a child I lived on Chicago’s South Monitor Avenue, across the street from Sam Giancana. We children didn’t really know who he was until years later. In 2013 New York’s Metropolitan Opera staged a production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” with a Frank Sinatra character as the libertine duke. During an intermission interview, one of the duke’s courtiers was introduced as Sam Giancana. I was the only one in the theater who laughed.
Not all Italians were opera stars. Some took to the dark side. The interesting thing about the Italian-American gangsters of old was they actually had a sense of loyalty and honor. They loved America. CONTINUE AT SITE
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