Describe how Italian Americans began to construct a social ...

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Describe how Italian Americans began to construct a social identity as assimilation proceeded.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

The authors argued that according to the Anglo-conformity model, the very meaning of the word American had become
 
  A) substituted.
  B) diversified.
  C) anglicized.
  D) Africanized.

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Answer to Question 1

As assimilation proceeded, Italian Americans began to construct a social identity as a nationality group rather than viewing themselves in terms of their village or province. Italian Americans shed old identities for new ones. As immigration from Italy declined, the descendants' ties became more nationalistic. This move from local or regional to national identity was followed by Irish and Greek Americans. The changing identity of Italian Americans reflected the treatment they received in the United States, whereas non-Italians did not make those regional distinctions.

However, they were not treated well. For example, in turn-of-the-century New Orleans, Italian Americans established special ties with the Black community because both groups were marginalized in Southern society. Gradually, Italian Americans became White and enjoyed all the privileges that came with it. Today, it would be inconceivable to imagine that Italian Americans of New Orleans would reach out to the African American community as their natural allies on social and political issues.

A controversial aspect of the Italian American experience involves organized crime, as typified by Al Capone (18991947). Arriving in U.S. society in the bottom layers, Italians lived in decaying, crime-ridden neighborhoods. For a small segment of these immigrants, crime was a significant means of upward social mobility. In effect, entering and leading criminal activity was one aspect of assimilation, though not a positive one. Complaints linking ethnicity and crime actually began in colonial times with talk about the criminally inclined Irish and Germans, and they continue with contemporary stereotyping of groups such as Colombian drug dealers and Vietnamese street gangs. Yet the image of Italians as criminals has persisted from Prohibition-era gangsters to the view of mob families today.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: C

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