I've often thought of writing a book, "Becoming White" describing how each (European) ethnic group was despised and mistreated until a couple of generations had passed and they were considered assimilated. Even the Finns! Apparently the Finns were a despised ethnic group in the 19th century, which explains how Mark Twain's character with a contemptible loser of a father was called "Finn."
I'm turning 71 this month. Back in the late 1990s, I knew a retired local Italian American man who said he wasn't white when he was young, he was Italian. Now he was considered a WASP. Italians may be white, but they weren't always treated as if they were here in the USA. (Austrian-Bavarian-Cherokee-Dutch-English-French-Irish-Scottish with possibly a drop of Spanish and Welsh American here.)
Columbus: My dream is to open the first Italian restaurant in your country. Give you some real food: starches, spaghetti, cholesterol. All the better things. That's called progress, you see?
Native: Hmmmm.
Columbus: Now right here would be a good location for the restaurant. Ocean view and all that. Is there room for a parking lot?
Native: You kidding? Whole country is parking lot.
Columbus: I s'pose. Well, I'd like to put a little deposit down on the property here.
Native: Okay.
Columbus: I only have a few dubloons on me, so if you'll direct me to the nearest bank, I'll get a check cashed.
Native: You out of luck today. Banks closed.
Columbus: Oh? Why?
Native: Columbus Day.
~ "Stan Freberg Presents The United States Of America"
I was cheering you on until you dropped "we’re still really the only white ethnic group that people mock or have any remaining prejudices about...." Really? You so easily slip over your fellow Catholics to the north and east that were part of the same fin-de-siecle wave -- not to mention the DPs as WWII ended? Our names still get mangled if our ancestors didn't change them. And the jokes about our stupendous stupidity -- still knee-slappers?
When I read or listen to discussions from both sides, I wonder how many people actually understand why and when the day became a national holiday, not once but twice in our history. I suggest everyone read the history before you appropriate the real meaning for a cause. I will give you a hint: March 14 , 1891 New Orleans lynching ( President Harrison) and WWII Italian alien registration (FDR). Those that forget the past will repeat it. Shall we call it Cabrini Day?
And while celebrating Indigenous People's Day, remember the First American Revolution: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, in which the Pueblos kicked the Spaniards out of what later became New Mexico and kept them gone for 12 years.
On their return, having FO, they did considerably less FA.
I recently saw someone explain that the situation with Irish and Italian immigrants back then could be more accurately described as that they were not allowed full access to "whiteness", as opposed to "not being white". "Whiteness" is a powerful thing in the U.S., and there are certainly different levels of access to it. It's also something of a shifting notion, but I think most of us know it.
One thing left out of the story is that 12 October was already a holiday of sorts in most of the rest of the Americas... although more as a celebration of the Spanish "civilizing" myth -- the "Europeanizing" of the Americas -- than of Columbus' allegedly Italian (er... Genoese) origin story.
As it is, given that of course there was inter-hemispheric contacts before, but the one that set off a massive cultural and ecological shift on the planet (for better and worse) is worth marking on the calendar.
In Columbus's time, Italy was not even a country but a collection of city states ruled by leaders with the title "doge." He would not have been considered Italian but Genovese - assuming he was actually from Genoa, which is doubtful. He could have been from anywhere. He could have been Portuguese (as many scholars today believe.)
luv ya, hun!!!
I've often thought of writing a book, "Becoming White" describing how each (European) ethnic group was despised and mistreated until a couple of generations had passed and they were considered assimilated. Even the Finns! Apparently the Finns were a despised ethnic group in the 19th century, which explains how Mark Twain's character with a contemptible loser of a father was called "Finn."
https://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day
The Oatmeal: Christopher Columbus Was Awful (But This Other Guy Was Not)
Amazing. Happy Bartolome day.
I'm turning 71 this month. Back in the late 1990s, I knew a retired local Italian American man who said he wasn't white when he was young, he was Italian. Now he was considered a WASP. Italians may be white, but they weren't always treated as if they were here in the USA. (Austrian-Bavarian-Cherokee-Dutch-English-French-Irish-Scottish with possibly a drop of Spanish and Welsh American here.)
Great post, Robyn. It really puts disparate pieces of American history into a cohesive perspective.
Columbus: My dream is to open the first Italian restaurant in your country. Give you some real food: starches, spaghetti, cholesterol. All the better things. That's called progress, you see?
Native: Hmmmm.
Columbus: Now right here would be a good location for the restaurant. Ocean view and all that. Is there room for a parking lot?
Native: You kidding? Whole country is parking lot.
Columbus: I s'pose. Well, I'd like to put a little deposit down on the property here.
Native: Okay.
Columbus: I only have a few dubloons on me, so if you'll direct me to the nearest bank, I'll get a check cashed.
Native: You out of luck today. Banks closed.
Columbus: Oh? Why?
Native: Columbus Day.
~ "Stan Freberg Presents The United States Of America"
Ms coming home up two games to zip. Leafs have to win the next 3. Go Ms!
Manifest Destiny is a helluva drug.
I was cheering you on until you dropped "we’re still really the only white ethnic group that people mock or have any remaining prejudices about...." Really? You so easily slip over your fellow Catholics to the north and east that were part of the same fin-de-siecle wave -- not to mention the DPs as WWII ended? Our names still get mangled if our ancestors didn't change them. And the jokes about our stupendous stupidity -- still knee-slappers?
When I read or listen to discussions from both sides, I wonder how many people actually understand why and when the day became a national holiday, not once but twice in our history. I suggest everyone read the history before you appropriate the real meaning for a cause. I will give you a hint: March 14 , 1891 New Orleans lynching ( President Harrison) and WWII Italian alien registration (FDR). Those that forget the past will repeat it. Shall we call it Cabrini Day?
Is that a painting of Oliver Reed as Columbus?
Columbus Day. The only holiday that started because America lynched Italians and then felt kinda bad about it.
Now MAGA celebrates it like it’s a heritage festival for genocide and bad geography.
They call him a hero for discovering a place that was already full of people. That’s not exploration, that’s trespassing with boats.
He didn’t prove the earth was round, he proved Europeans were stubborn.
Columbus didn’t find a new world. He just found new people to abuse and new gold to steal.
If MAGA wants a saint, they should pick one that didn’t mistake slavery for salvation.
Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It’s the least we can do after five centuries of pretending ‘oops, our bad’ counts as history.
And while celebrating Indigenous People's Day, remember the First American Revolution: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, in which the Pueblos kicked the Spaniards out of what later became New Mexico and kept them gone for 12 years.
On their return, having FO, they did considerably less FA.
Yes
I recently saw someone explain that the situation with Irish and Italian immigrants back then could be more accurately described as that they were not allowed full access to "whiteness", as opposed to "not being white". "Whiteness" is a powerful thing in the U.S., and there are certainly different levels of access to it. It's also something of a shifting notion, but I think most of us know it.
That is a very good way to describe it.
One thing left out of the story is that 12 October was already a holiday of sorts in most of the rest of the Americas... although more as a celebration of the Spanish "civilizing" myth -- the "Europeanizing" of the Americas -- than of Columbus' allegedly Italian (er... Genoese) origin story.
As it is, given that of course there was inter-hemispheric contacts before, but the one that set off a massive cultural and ecological shift on the planet (for better and worse) is worth marking on the calendar.
In Columbus's time, Italy was not even a country but a collection of city states ruled by leaders with the title "doge." He would not have been considered Italian but Genovese - assuming he was actually from Genoa, which is doubtful. He could have been from anywhere. He could have been Portuguese (as many scholars today believe.)
Also too folks of Polish ancestry still get a lot of shit, at least in the Midwest.
Polish folks get made fun of in the Midwest for sure but are they discriminated against? I honestly don't know.
I've been called Mick all my life because I have red hair. Fun fact, I'm not Irish.
Same with French Canadians in Maine and Massachusetts.
The Cajuns!