October is Italian Pride Month and I’m sick of being subjected to defamation: A group of foreign students asked me what part of Italy my family was from, when I said Sicily, a Vietnamese guy asked, “Are you mafia?” Everywhere from the US, to Germany, to China, Thailand…everywhere I have ever been, this joke has been sprung on me by people of all sorts of flawed races. If the same people met a black guy they wouldn’t ask “So what are you on trial for?” Or ask to borrow money from the Jewish guy (like he’d lend it to you). But somehow, it is universally, culturally acceptable to make Mafia jokes about Sicilians. For this reason, in 1970, mobster Joseph Colombo formed the Italian American Anti-Defamation League. Sadly, Joe Colombo was the victim of a Mafia hit, when he was shot three times, at a League rally in Columbus Circle… So, stop with the unfounded racist jokes or maybe someone’s gonna wind up in a cement mixer.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 14:13:08 +0000