The New America

Background

I came to America 57 years ago, a month after my 18th birthday for a one year stay.  My father wanted me to return to Italy to continue my studies but events complicated the decision process.  I received draft papers from the Italian military 7-8 months after my arrival requesting that I visit the Consul General's office in New Haven -- a short train ride from New London where I lived with my parents, younger brothers, and my paternal grandmother.  As a green card holder, I was required to register with the Selective Service.  I did not want to go back to Italy.  I liked the lifestyle in America and the many opportunities it offered.  Without my father's approval, I coaxed uncle Angelo to approve my joining the US Army Reserves.   If I had chosen to serve in the Italian military I would forfeit my green card and the right to readily return to America and to my family.  

America as I found it ...

My father applied for an immigrant visa on his behalf and the entire family five years earlier.  His brother, an American citizen, was our sponsor.  Sponsors were responsible for the economic needs of those sponsored for five years.  

In those days, immigration was tightly controlled with racist overtones.  Those wishing to come from Northern Europe were given a visa pretty much upon request.  Those wanting to come from Southern and Eastern Europe were allotted an annual quota -- small enough to keep people in line for five or more years.  It was US policy to give preference to certain nationalities and to exclude others, namely Asians, Latin Americans, and Africans.  

After basic training in New Jersey, I was sent to Fort Gordon, in the State of Georgia.  After a long train ride, upon arrival in Augusta, I discovered segregation.  Blacks were not allowed to eat in restaurants; there were two different water faucets: one for white and one for colored; and they had to sit in the back of the bus.  Although the Armed Forces had been integrated after WWII, discrimination was widely practiced.  People like myself were more or less in limbo.  Some felt that I was not white, others treated me as an in-betweener.  I found this element of American society disturbing, to say the least.  But soon, I returned to New England and the memories of this experience began to fade.

Upon my return to New London, I found an interesting job in a linoleum manufacturing plant. I wanted to improve my command of English before going to the university.  I worked there for a year and one half.  Although I enjoyed the work and I was satisfied with the money I was earning, I discovered that immigrants were not as welcome as I thought.  I was ridiculed for my accent, belittled for having come "on the banana boat".  I was called a dago, wop, guinea, grease ball, spaghetti bender, and a DP (displaced person).  It was constant, unrelenting abuse.  No political correctness, no mercy.  My co-workers told degrading jokes about my and others' nationalities and laughed mercilessly.  

Jobs were plenty ... America had won the war and its economy was in high gear.  The European and Asian economies had been decimated by the war.  Gasoline was 25 cents per gallon.  A cup of coffee cost a mere dime.  You could eat a nice meal at the local diner for 75 cents.  

We were discouraged to speak Italian.  We were in America and we had to adapt as quickly as possible in order to avoid being singled out.  Italians were beginning to marry non-Italians (primarily other catholics), although the practice was discouraged on the basis of incompatibility of values, history, and yes, food tastes.  Many of these marriages ended up in divorce -- a scandalous practice to Italians.  People were telling you that America was a melting pot, yet Italians retreated to their own ghettos and neighborhoods.  There were Little Italys all over America -- New York, Boston, Hartford, New Haven, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Baltimore, San Francisco, to name a few.  And of course, you had the Chinatowns, Greektowns, Polishtowns, Jewish quarters, and Black ghettos.  The melting pot was a myth to be revered and celebrated, but it remained just that a myth..

Politicians were all white and male.  Italians were proud to point out that Fiorello La Guardia, the well known mayor of New York, was half-Italian.  My mother was impressed to find a distant cousin to be a judge in the Superior Court of New London.  Although we had many famous singers with Italian names, few Italians were elected officials.  Often labeled by their opponents as members of or associated with the mafia, they would face certain defeat.

Things began to change ...

The civil rights struggle of the '60's ushered a decade of hard fought battles to defeat discrimination.  The Viet Nam War served as a catalyst to a number of causes, including the notion of freedom and equality for all.  Segregation was defeated.  Equal access by Blacks began to increase, although many whites resisted it. Examples of civil discontent was on page 1 of all newspapers and evening news programs. The Civil Rights Act was heralded as a major breakthrough for racial equality in America.

In my view, a less noticed act of Congress was, by and large, the biggest change yet.  Its huge impact would be felt decades later with concomitant implications.  The change was the immigration reform.  No longer quota was set based on ethnic or racial background.  All aspirants would be treated alike.  It was now possible for Asians, Africans, and Latin Americans to join the pool of applicants.  Immigration from Europe began to drop off dramatically as European nations began to improve their economic conditions and join the boom.  Therefore, most, if not all, legal immigrants were now Asians and Latin Americans.  Immigration policies were adjusted also to allow people with scarce skills to more easily come to America.  

America now accepts 1 million legal immigrants per year.  A large number of illegal (euphemistically called without papers or sin papeles) immigrants began crossing the border unwilling to wait in line for five or more years.  Bad economic conditions back home pushing them to cross the borders.  We now have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in America.  

Where are we now?

You can see the changing America in the profile of our newly elected Congress.  Never before so many Blacks, Latinos, Asians, women and gay members have been elected to Congress.  They bring a new perspective, and, perhaps a new approach.   Minorities are now approximately 30% of the electorate.  By 2050, they will be the majority.  They are already the majority in California.  The growing influence of women on politics will also bring many subtle changes.

This change in the landscape will modify the prevailing value system and the many symbols we associate with that value system.  The changing face of America looks to Gandhi, Mandela, and Obama as role models and inspiration, just as earlier whites looked to Washington, Jefferson and other founding fathers for theirs.  To see a Black man leading our country has a very strong appeal and a lot of positive symbolism for the emerging majority.

Although a 75-year old white male, I do not suffer from nostalgia of the good old days.  They were good for me, but they were not all that good for some others.  I have had the opportunity to work and associate, in addition to whites, with many friends and colleagues from Asia, Latin America, and Africa.  They bring much energy, culture, and brain power to America.  We will be better off for their arrival, and we should celebrate the future rather than mourning the past.

I am grateful for the opportunity to make America my home.  I have lived here more than 80% of my life.  New comers will fall in love with America, warts and all.  They will have their chance to make this union more perfect.