Author: Weronika Patycka
How Hank and Red Fight Asian American Stereotypes
Gene Leun Yang’s and Sonny Liew’s The Shadow Hero describes how a 19-year-old Asian American man becomes a superhero by the name of “The Green Turtle.” Throughout the graphic novel, Asian American stereotypes are challenged especially when it comes to the portrayals of Hank and Red.
In the beginning of The Shadow Hero, Hank is drawn as scrawny and thin, but once his mother convinces him to start training with Uncle Wun Too, his physique soon changes to being a more muscular one. Generally, through the media’s inaccurate and stereotyped perception, Asian men tend to be shown as intelligent but also gawky and feeble. In The Shadow Hero, Yang and Liew diverge from this physical stereotype, but, to some extent, make Hank a bit awkward. However, this awkwardness is not meant to reflect the Asian American stereotype, but instead, it is meant to reflect Hank’s age since he is only 19 years old. Through Hank’s toned physique and his awkwardness, Yang and Liew try to diminish the Asian American stereotype in order to show that Asian American men can be relatable and can also be superheroes.
Liew and Yang also challenge the stereotypes of Asian American women through the portrayal of Red. The reader first meets Red when Hank attempts to rescue her from two older men who want to assault her. Soon, it becomes evident that Red is not a damsel in distress but rather can fend for herself, especially since she rescues Hank from the men and urges him to go to the hospital. Though Red is the daughter of Ten Grand, she does let this stop her from spending time with Hank. She also relies on her own abilities rather than just her family name to save herself. In the media, Asian American women tend to be portrayed as submissive and quiet. However, Yeng and Liew portray Red as the opposite –a woman who can fight for herself and does not need to be rescued.
The Shadow Hero fights many Asian American stereotypes through Hank and Red. Through this fight against these stereotypes, Yang and Liew prove that Asian American characters are multi-dimensional and can relate the audience. Also, Yang and Liew show how incorrect media is when it comes to Asian Americans since it tends to focus solely on stereotypes. Essentially, by diverting from stereotypes, Yang and Liew show how being a superhero does not need to be limited to a White American male and also how every love interest or female character in a comic book does not need to be a damsel in distress.
Immigration and Politics at Brink of 21st Century New York City
The transition into the twenty-first century brought about new changes in New York City, such as new development, more law and order, and a new wave of immigrants entering the metropolis. Due to the 1965 immigration reforms, New York City’s population began to increase dramatically. In the 1990s, the city became even more global, and the new immigrant wave was so large that between 2000 and 2003, about 340,000 immigrants made NYC their new home causing the foreign-born population to constitute 37.8 percent of the city’s population.
As NYC residents began moving to the suburbs in increasing numbers, immigrants began to fill these vacant neighborhoods up and revive them. For example, one of the areas that was transformed through the new wave of immigration was Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, which was soon found with Russian Jews who had been city dwellers who were skilled and educated. Though they faced some complications originally, the Russian Jews were welcomed into a community that wanted to aid them.
Unlike the Russians, the Chinese tended to be more isolated rather than integrated. Chinese immigrants were suffered from exclusion policies; however, the immigration reforms of 1965, allowed for Chinatown’s population to increase dramatically while also allowing southern Chinese families to reunite. Besides southern Chinese immigration, Chinese immigrants from Taiwan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong immigrated at the same time. However, for these immigrants, they chose to live elsewhere instead of Chinatown. Their presence caused the increase in rent while also financing the development of restaurants or stores. Nowadays, the increase in banks in Chinatown resulted in the gentrification of the neighborhood causing residents to move to Brooklyn or Queens and form Chinatowns there.
The economic and political growth in the Chinese American community lead internal tensions between class lines, resulting from the Asian immigrant stereotype. Asian immigrants are generally stereotyped as ambitious and studious, which lead to an emphasis on education and attending prestigious institutions by their children. On the other hand, adults who have professional backgrounds used their skills to help neighborhoods out. For example, Korean immigrants pooled money together to become business owners that eventually saved declining neighborhoods. Though the presence of Asian immigrants is very high in New York, media still tends to group all Asians together and forgets to acknowledge the different languages and cultures of the separate Asian groups. Nonetheless, Asian immigrants provide a solid example of perseverance and the “American Dream.”
The confusion of immigration and being in a new environment is common among all immigrants. However, for Puerto Rican immigrants, they are torn between their country of origin and their country of residence since they have become American citizens in 1917. Puerto Rican migration reached its peak in the 1950s, but during the 1960s and 1970s, other Latino groups began to challenge Puerto Rican dominance. The tension was prevalent between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and in 2000, Dominicans outnumbered Puerto Ricans and made up 70 percent of the northern area of Manhattan. Additionally, the mass immigration of Dominicans lead to the development of a Dominican community in Corona, Queens. Through this migration, Latina women formed alliances to tackle immediate problems which lead them to create a more unified Latino identity.
West Indian immigrants are also becoming more prominent in New York City. The first major wave of West Indians came during the Harlem Renaissance. During this time, tensions began to grow between African Americans and West Indians due to the rise in West Indian businesses and professions. However, during the civil rights era, the tensions diminished. Nowadays, NYC has the largest number and variety of West Indian immigrants. In 2000, most of the black community of NYC consisted of West Indians. This interwoven identity lead to West Indians and African Americans to be linked together more. Eventually this lead to the development of a pan-ethnicity, which could potentially be used to help people of color gain access to power. As New York City’s demographics continue to make minorities become majorities, pan-ethnicity will be essential in order to form less polar race relations.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Besides a new wave of immigration, New York City also experienced many changes through the mayoralty of Rudy Giuliani, who focused on limiting public activism and increasing individual initiative and private enterprise. Giuliani believed that social programs allowed lazy people to exploit the hard-working. To combat this notion. Giuliani began to reject welfare applicants and ultimately, removed 600,000 people from welfare rolls. Giuliani also implemented tax cuts to aid business, tax breaks for big corporations, and budget allocations for private institutions that helped the rich but harmed the poor and minorities.
In addition, Giuliani also changed schools. Giuliani shifted school security supervision to the police department and also instituted citywide testing to bring uniformity to the system. Giuliani spent money on books and computers, leading to cuts in operating and construction budgets of schools. He also tended to fund construction in schools in Queens or Staten Island that supported him rather than in schools in Brooklyn or The Bronx that needed it. In addition, Giuliani threatened to cut off CUNY funding unless they university implemented a new entrance exam.
Though Giuliani brought about many controversies in his mayoralty, his past actions were overshadowed due to 9/11. Giuliani’s actions caused his approval ratings to reach 85 percent while also changing his perspective from being a reckless mayor to a strong and sensitive one. Giuliani’s legacy tends to be compared to that of LaGuardia due to their humble backgrounds, love of NYC, or persistent reform agendas. However, unlike LaGuardia, Giuliani tried to divide the city and attack almost every institution. Nonetheless, his actions during 9/11 caused him to be instantly viewed as a patriot. Though Giuliani’s mayoralty was controversial, he will be remembered by his actions during 9/11 since he was the voice of tranquility in a time of insanity for New York City.
How Emma Lou and Alva Act as One Person
Wallace Thurman’s The Blacker The Berry describes the early adulthood of Emma Lou, a young African American woman from Boise, Idaho. Throughout the first two chapters of the novel, Thurman details Emma Lou’s move from Boise to Los Angeles for college and her move from Los Angeles to New York after dropping out of college. However, in the third part of the novel, Thurman switches the point of view of the novel to include Alva, a man who eventually runs into Emma Lou.
In the first two chapters of the novel, Emma Lou constantly reminds herself to become “friends with the right people.” In college, Emma Lou meets Hazel, a Southern African American woman who is immediately critiqued by Emma based on how she presents herself. In Harlem, she meets a man named John who helps her settle in Harlem by finding her an apartment. Like with Hazel, Emma Lou neglects forming a true friendship with John due to his dark skin tone. In part three, Emma Lou’s control over her friendship changes once she meets Alva.
Emma Lou meets Alva at a cabaret that she was invited to go to with Arline and her brother. After meeting Alva, Emma Lou becomes obsessed with him; she tries to look for him in Harlem every day. Eventually, the two reunite at a casino, but when Emma Lou asks Alva whether he remembers her or not, he responds by saying yes even though he does not remember her. The two end up dancing once again and begin seeing each other.
Emma Lou’s actions prior to getting together with Alva reflect on how she always wanted to please people who disregarded her because she thought they were “the right people.” Emma Lou, rather than focusing on making true friends, always wanted to make friends with people who had a lighter skin tone than herself. Alva’s treatment of Emma Lou draws parallels with how she treated John and Hazel. Rather than genuinely being friends with the two, Emma Lou to some extent manipulated them. John and Hazel were both under the spell that they were friends with Emma Lou whereas this was actually not the truth.
In part three, Emma Lou becomes infatuated with Alva, basically reaching the point where she wants to figure out where he is so she can “accidentally” run into him. Emma Lou becomes hypnotized by Alva because she finally finds a man lighter than her who seems interested in dating her. This relationship with Alva proves just how superficial Emma is since she would rather hunt down a man who she literally just met only because she believes he is “the right person” due to his skin tone.
Thurman dedicates one whole part to Alva to juxtapose how he actually sees her and how she longs for him. By showing this juxtaposition, Thurman connects Alva’s treatment of Emma Lou to Emma Lou’s treatment of both John and Hazel. Through this treatment, Thurman shows how Emma Lou longs for affection when it comes from someone who is lighter but views her as inferior rather than from someone who wants to aid her but Emma Lou views as inferior. Essentially, this section enforces the theme of the African American self-deprecation since Emma Lou falls for Alva’s external treatment towards her without knowing that he views her similarly to her classmates or the strangers who critique her skin tone. Basically, this section enforces the idea that Emma Lou only wants to be friends with people that help her status rather than people who can help her emotionally.
A Lack of Admiration and Sympathy
Nella Larsen’s Passing details the encounters and friendship between two African-American women –one that has passed for white while the other chose against it. The woman who passed for white, Clare, is married to a white man, has a daughter, and lives in Europe with her family. On the other hand, the woman who went against passing, Irene, lives in New York City with her husband and two sons. In the novel, both women prove to be neither admirable nor sympathetic.
Throughout the novel, Irene and Clare try to rekindle their childhood friendship. Irene knows maintaining contact with Clare is a bad idea; however, when Clare visits Irene she becomes hypnotized with her appearance and persona. Rather than remembering how toxic Clare is, Irene chooses to focus on her beauty and constantly mentions how Irene is amazing. Irene’s close friendship with Clare not only diverts her attention to Clare, but it also diverts Irene’s husband’s Brian’s attention to Clare. This newfound friendship between Clare and Brian causes Irene to believe that Brian is having an affair with Clare.
Throughout the novel, Clare does not only win over Irene and her family, but she also wins over her own family and Gertrude, another one of her childhood friends. In the beginning of the novel, Irene, Clare, and Gertrude meet up at Clare’s house to catch up. Soon, Irene and Gertrude meet Clare’s husband Jack, who is white, wealthy, and very racist. During their meeting, Jack calls Clare “Nig” and he explains to Irene and Gertrude how he despises African American people. Rather than confront Jack, Irene and Gertrude are indirectly pushed by Clare to laugh the situation off. Irene even feels that she was “held by some dam of caution and allegiance to Clare.” (41)
While Clare may be the manipulator in the novel, this also does not make Irene an angel. In the novel, Irene encounters Jack when she goes shopping with Felise, one of Irene’s friends who is visibly black. From this encounter, Jack draws the conclusion that Irene and Clare are both African American. Instead of mentioning the meeting to Clare, Irene decides to forget about it. Then, during the final party, Jack confronts Clare and tells her that he knows she is not white. Instead of owning up to her actions, Irene chooses to not remember Jack and Clare’s argument clearly. Jack’s interruption ultimately results in Clare falling out of one of the windows, making it unclear whether the death was a suicide or accidental.
Neither of the women is admirable nor sympathetic because they are both narcissistic. Instead of being truthful, Clare constantly manipulates everyone around her to her advantage. On the other hand, Irene lies through omission in order to protect her “ideal” family. In both cases, each woman only fights for herself in order to improve her own life.
Journal Writing: Yay or Nay?
The process of writing will always be tough regardless of whether I am free-writing or writing an essay. However, writing, especially journaling, is crucial to becoming a better writer but also a better thinker. Journaling allows me to write out my thoughts towards anything without worrying about punctuation or flow. They are my words but without an enforced structure.
My last reading intensive English class was AP English Literature and Composition. Surviving that class itself was a journey since there was a large workload and our class discussions were one-dimensional. I also noticed that the same people would participate, causing the discussion to always steer in one direction, and when someone tried to mention something else, that person was ignored. As soon as I became aware of this, I stopped participated and enjoying the class. The reason I disliked that class was because of how limited we were in our views and opinions, which could have easily been solved if we were asked to share some of our opinions through journaling.
This mindset of not enjoying English classes continued along as I went to college. However, the second MHC seminar changed my view of English classes due to journaling. Yes, writing them is a pain and can sometimes take more time than I would like, but I enjoy elaborating about aspects of a reading we might not have discussed in class. I also enjoy being able to sometimes incorporate parts of my journals when I participate in class discussions.
I also enjoy journaling because I can fully explain my idea without worrying about whether I am taking up too much class time or whether I am elaborating enough. Sometimes, I refrain from participating in class because I do not like when everyone fixates their eyes on me when I want to say something. Due to this, I occasionally question why I participated and try to draw back to my bubble. Fortunately, when I journal, I never truly have to worry about how people react physically to my words. I do not have a person glancing at me as I write. Instead, I feel free because I can look more thoroughly at what I read and pick out what I saw that others may have missed.
Overall, journaling is tedious, tough, and time-consuming. Aside from those setbacks, it is incredibly rewarding; not only can I describe my perspective, but I can also see how my thoughts change towards each piece. Here, I can write independently with no worries and no interruptions.
Shaun Tan’s The Arrival: A Story About All Immigrants Not Just One
Prior to the start of Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The Arrival, Tan includes a two- page section composed of sketches of immigrants, a publication page, and two title pages. These five pages all evoke the idea that Tan’s graphic novel can relate to all immigrants, instead of just one single immigrant. Tan’s sketches show the diversity of the immigrant pool by displaying people of different ages, sexes, and ethnicities. Tan continues this diversity on the first title page where the title of the graphic novel and Tan’s name is written in symbols, reflecting how foreign the country is to immigrants.
Similar to the immigrant sketches, Tan shows diversity through the documents that are imprinted on the first title page. The documents on the first title page are inspection cards, date of birth cards, and other cards that are printed in different languages and show varying types of handwriting. Including documents that are in more than one language emphasizes unity, since it shows how every immigrant experienced entering a foreign country in the same manner. Also, these documents show how all immigrants were almost subjected to being defined through various documents when they immigrated, which removed some differences between immigrants and unified them slightly.
The most noteworthy aspect of this whole section is found on the second title page. On the second title page, Tan includes a drawing of the main character. However, the drawing is a one-fourth profile of the man looking to his left in a suit and jacket. Not including the man’s face in the drawing is striking because it prevents the reader from having a bias against the main character. Instead, the reader just views the main character as a male immigrant rather than looking solely at his race or age. Also, because the man’s face is angled so that it is looking back, it shows that the man seems to be longing for something, such as his family or his home country. The angle of his face could also be included to allow the audience to understand how immigrants felt reserved and alone when coming to a different country.
Essentially, the picture ties the whole motif Tan is evoking throughout the first few pages. It shows how the feelings and homesickness of the man are shared between all immigrants, and they all experience the same examinations and struggles when entering the United States. Instead of focusing on a single man, Tan wanted to show how immigration is the same for everyone; thus, evoking a motif of oneness between all immigrants.
Gilded Age Living: A Summary of The Empire City
New York City was the center of American modernization during the late-nineteenth-century. Due to New York City’s appeal to both immigrants and rich and also being the home to finance, industry, and trade, the city earned the label the Empire City. However, New York was filled with problems ranging from the Tweed Ring to the “discovery of poverty.”
The late 1800s, dubbed as the “Gilded Age”, were a time where money was more important than morals, which encompassed the nation’s debate over the definition of progress. During this time, New York City was run by robber barons and their businesses, such as John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil Trust or J.P. Morgan and his banking house, who made New York City the home of America’s national and international business. During this time, regulations were weak causing trusts to form; one of the most famous was Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust which used cutthroat competition and systematic consolidation to obtain control.
Aside from the economic aspects, New York City was also physically transforming. During this time, the city metamorphosed through elevated railways, new buildings, and electricity. The Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 which allowed the five boroughs to link together, making New York City a mega-city, the biggest city in America, and the second biggest city in the world. The Statue of Liberty also became America’s symbol of freedom during the “Gilded Age,” since it instilled the idea for immigrants that New York City was the door into America.
New York City not only transformed physically and economically but also politically. The Tweed Ring became the prominent form of political corruption, thus, becoming a model of how government should not act. The Tweed Ring was lead by William Tweed who held various elected and appointed positions that helped him eventually dominate both Tammany Hall and the Democratic Party. Tweed’s power eventually lead him into ruling both state and city by 1868. However, the 1871 Orange Riot showed how though Tweed offered jobs and schools to his Irish Catholic supporters, he could never tame them. Tweed was eventually punished and sent to Ludlow Street jail, where he died at the age of fifty-five. Even after his death, the Tweed Ring remained strong, ingraining the notion that the “Gilded Age” was full of greed.
During the “Gilded Age,” the building of brownstone buildings and mansions was juxtaposed with the already existing tenements. The opulent buildings with their spacious living conditions contrasted the dark and confined tenements. Journalist Jacob Riis published the book How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York. When making his book, Riis used a magnesium powered camera to illuminate the darkness of the slums. His book was a great success, allowing people from all over the country to see the true living conditions in New York.
New York City also experienced a debate over child and public education during this era. Schools were meant to be used as agents of assimilation in order to teach children how to work in the new industry and resist Tammany Hall. In 1896, New York State reorganized the schools in the city to be under one centralized system, and in 1901, New York City became the first city to require schooling for all children under twelve. However, schooling issues did not end there. Racial segregation in schools was a state policy since 1864, causing some schools to have very limited opportunities for black children. For example, in Jamaica, black children were limited to a one-room schoolhouse and one teacher to teach seventy-five students. The black working class and lawyers fought for the cause; however, they risked jail time and job loss for fighting. Eventually in 1900, a law desegregating schools in New York State was signed by Governor Theodore Roosevelt.
The public not only opened its eyes to the poor living and educational conditions but also to poor working conditions during this time. New York City’s unions began protesting and striking during the 1860s and 1870s. Labor organizations were created during this time in order to fight for better wages and working conditions. Throughout the “Gilded Age,” New York City embodied the negatives of the industrial age through its corrupt government and poor living, working, and educational conditions. However, throughout this era, the people of New York City fought for better treatment and conditions. During this age, the people “learned to smile and weep with the poor,” in order to fight for their rights. (104)
The Godfather 2: How Michael’s Life Fell
The Godfather 2 not only describes how the Vito Corleone became a mob leader but also juxtaposes Vito’s rise with the demise of Michael Corleone’s life as Michael becomes more engulfed in the mob business rather than his family. One scene that shows Michael’s demise is the scene where he argues with his wife Kay.
Before the scene begins, there is a seven-second shot showing the entrance of the hotel where Michael and Kay are staying and the street. Including this shot prior to the actual scene allows the reader to be aware of the setting. The grayscale shot also shows how normal this day by showing how life is “dull and gray.” The shot serves to foreshadow how this normal, common day will actually be the day where Michael loses everything.
The scene begins with Michael talking to Rocco, one of his associates, and soon, Kay enters, asks Rocco to leave, and then begins to discuss their family life with Michael. While Kay is talking to Michael, the camera focuses on Michael rather than her, showing how Michael’s reaction remains neutral since he tends to be more focused in his own thoughts, which results in him having a blank face. Pointing the camera at Michael allows the viewer to see his movements as well, which show that he does not care for Kay’s words and wishes she finishes speaking quickly. However, when Michael is speaking, the camera focuses and zooms in on him as if to show that his words have more impact than Kay’s.
During the argument, the camera switches the scene from Kay and Michael to their children in the hallway. Their daughter is running around in the hallway and talking to her grandmother, whereas their son is leaning on the wall, staring at his feet, and barely showing any emotions. Their son, Anthony, in this scene, begins to resemble his father through their shared personality. Anthony secludes himself from his family. Michael also isolates himself since he constantly plays the mob game in order to protect them instead of interacting and genuinely living. Anthony’s actions also that he is reserved and lost in his thoughts similarly like his father, who always seems to be lost in thought.
When their argument starts to develop, the camera angle switches to include both of them, showing how they are both part of the marriage, but they do not view it in the same way. Also, during this scene, there is a major color contrast; Michael is dressed in black and white and standing next to the bleak window, whereas Kay is dressed in browns and blends into the sepia theme of the room. This contrast shows how much the two differ, while also showing how Michael is isolating since he is engulfed by bleakness. The window in the scene also serves as a metaphor, since Kay wants to escape the marriage, yet Michael is blocking her.
Their argument then shifts to Kay telling Michael how he is blind, since he does not realize that her miscarriage was actually an abortion. During this part of the argument, the camera focuses and zooms in on Kay, showing that she was in control of her choice and how she now has control over the future of her family. While Kay is explaining to Michael why she aborted the baby, the camera uses a reverse shot technique, but this technique is not employed in the typical way. Instead of looking over the listening person’s shoulder, the shot ocassionally focuses a few seconds on Michael. Each time the camera switches from Kay to Michael, he becomes more and more enraged. This anger eventually turns into domestic abuse which finally pushes his wife to leaving.
The final shot of the scene still incorporates the color division that is present. Once again, Kay is blending into the sepia side of the room, whereas Michael is on the more contrasting black and white side. However, this time around, Michael’s side is actually in the next room, showing that the differences between them are so great that they are better off being apart in two separate rooms than together.
Don’t Forget the Italians: A Summary of All Nations Under Heaven (Part II)
After the Jews, Italians were the second largest immigrant population to arrive in New York City before World War I. Italians immigrated to the United States for a better life, but unlike the Jews, a majority of the Italians that arrived were illiterate and laborers. Both the Italian and the Jewish people had to face prejudice, below average housing conditions, and poverty.
Prior to the mass Italian immigration, the Italian population in New York City was almost nonexistent. In 1850, there were only 853 Italian New Yorkers, but by 1920, there were over 800,000 Italian American people living in New York. Originally, Italian immigration consisted of young men who came to America to make money which would be used to purchase land back in Italy. Unlike the Jews, most Italians returned to Europe, but these men would later return to America with their wives and children. Unmarried Italian men would return to Italy, marry, and then, return to New York.
To make a living, most Italians provided manual labor for the city. One of the main forms of manual labor for the Italians was helping construct subway routes in the outer boroughs. Italians chose to stay close to their workplaces, which led to the development of Italian communities and neighborhoods in Harlem and the Bronx. Besides choosing to live by their work, Italians preferred to live with people from their village or region.
Upon their arrival, Italians lived in tenements that were abandoned by the Irish and Germans, which tended to be overcrowded, dark, and damp. The size of the tenements forced some children to live on the streets, whereas some families had to take in lodgers in order to maintain financial stability. Besides terrible living conditions, Italian neighborhoods experienced crime. The press of the time gave Italian immigrants a reputation of being criminal, and some prominent forms of crime included the Mafia and “Black Hand” letters. This reputation helped promote anti-immigration which resulted in Congress imposing immigration restrictions during the 1920s.
Besides manual labor jobs, Italian men found jobs as bartenders or barbers, while some opened up their own small shops or became street merchants. Soon, Italians began to enter the garment business. The few women that came to the United States during this time tended to work in the garment business. Up to 85% of the young and unmarried Italian women were found working in the garment industry, and even married women were often found in garment sweatshops until they birthed children. To make ends meet, young girls were often taught how to take care of the household at a young age and then, were sent to work.
Italians did not enforce education as much as the Jews. Italians distrusted the public school system since they believed that it was meant to compete with parents for the control of their children. Besides this distrust, low-income families needed their children to work to help keep the family financially stable. As a result, most children were taken out of school before the age of 14 in order to begin working. At this age, boys would sell newspapers until they were old enough to work laborious jobs, whereas girls would sell flowers and finish making clothes in tenements.
Like the Jews, Italians tended to side with the Republicans. However, some Italians did not side with either the Republicans or the Democrats, so instead, they joined the Jewish-dominated Socialist party. Besides deciding political parties, Italian American politics also involved creating Italian organizations to help the incoming immigrants, such as the Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants.
In addition to politics, Italian Americans came from a predominantly Catholic country, and to keep their religion alive, Italian priests serviced in church annexes, which were usually found in basements of churches. However, like with public education, Italian immigrants did not trust the church since they viewed it as an organization that did not care for the people’s needs. Also, Italian male immigrants believed that attending church was a women’s job, and as a result, they only attended church on major Catholic holidays. Soon, Italian annexes developed into Italian churches, and by 1911, there were 50 Italian Catholic churches in New York City. One of the main festivities for Catholic Italians was the festa, which was a procession that honored a saint through food, fireworks, and music.
As the years went on, Italian immigrants moved up on the social ladder, while also maintaining strong ties between other Italians. The immigration restrictions of the 1920s pushed European immigrants into assimilating leading New York City to become a melting pot rather than a salad bowl. However, the assimilation process was slow, which allowed for ethnic ties to maintain their strengthen for future years.
