“The human heart speaks a single language”

Belmonte wrote in his article that his grandmother taught him “that the human heart speaks a single language of desire and terror.” He articulates this recurring motif of unity in the complex atmosphere of Bensonhurst. These ornate relations pave a struggle for generations of Italians to follow, trying to come to terms with who they are as a people and what they are capable of. It is unfair to say that the Italian American community were all middle class white racists. Dan DiMaggio, in his essay “Personal Reaction On Importance of Studying the Italian-American Working Class,” writes about Maria Laurino’s struggle with her identity following the murder of Yusuf Hawkins. He considers the way “the media sought to use the incident to scapegoat working class Italian Americans for many of the evils of racism in” American society. Laurino struggled with her identity as both “a member of the media” (she was a journalist) “and as an Italian American.” All in all, this time period is characterized by an effervescent, dynamic culture and its antithesis: unmitigated hate.