While reading “Italians Against Racism” by Anthropologist Joseph Sciorra, which incorporated his anthropological exploration of Italian-Americans and personal experiences in his telling of the events which occurred on August 23rd 1989 and his involvement in the public response following four days later on August 27th, two movies immediately came to mind: “A Bronx Tale” and “Do The Right Thing” (which was mentioned on page 202). Both films served as a social 
commentary on the violent relationship between Italian Americans and African Americans in the Bronx and in Brooklyn. As suggested in both films and in Sciorra’s chapter “Italians Against Racism,” racism is a two-sided hatred between two groups of people based primarily on race (aka: skin color). In Sciorra’s discussion of Italian American communities response to the murder of African American17 year old Yusuf Hawkins, Sciorra explores the causes of Italian American racism towards African Americans and attempts to understand “why Italians in New York had come to base their identity in direct opposition to people of color.” I would like to specifically focus of Sciorra’s comments on the media’s involvement, the injustices of political correctness and the importance of leadership (and therefore courage) because those are the aspects of this particular reading that I find most fascinating.
Beginning with the media’s contributions to racism: at the prayer Vigil for Yusuf Hawkins on Sunday August 27th, 1989 led by a handful of African American reverends, Sciorra is captured on film responding to a speakers question: “Where are the members of this community” and is filmed again after the Vigil walking among a group of African American demonstrators carrying a sign that read: “Italians Against Racism.” Yet, his presence at both events is ignored by both the African American Reverends and by the media because, according to Sciorra “it was much easier for them to have a monolithic evil Italian community than to hear or imagine Italian American voices of conscience and possible partnership.”
To an extent, media keeps racism going. It adds fuel to the fire and keeps hatred burning in communities by only reporting certain details and neglecting to include the names and projects of those who try to counteract racism on a daily basis as well as those descent human beings such as Irene Deserio and her daughter who aided Yusuf in the moments preceding his death or Lucy Capezza, a woman who (among a crowd of other Bensonhurst residents) confronted the arrested suspects. I believe that every nationality, every race, every ethnicity has both good and bad people. It’s just that the bad people get more publicity than the good. By covering up the actions of good people and recognizing only the actions of the bad, the media is doing the public a major disservice. In the interest of making a buck, reporters paint an ugly picture and depict the world in a negative light because goodness and kindness just doesn’t sell. By failing to expose truth in its entirety and promoting racism and hatred, the media is almost just as bad as those who commit violent acts of racism.
Moving on to the issue of Political Correctness: Social injustices are not committed only by those who are violent or by those who manipulate truth for personal gain but also by those who stand by witnessing injustices and do nothing. Sciorra quotes Martin Luther King Jr. The quote by Martin Luther King Jr. “The tragedy of Birmingham is not what bad people did, but that good people did nothing.” In commenting on how Italian American leadership dealt with Yusuf’s murder, Sciorra brings up the modern issue of political correctness and the notion of waiting to speak until it is “politically safe to say something.” In an attempt to curb racism by forcing political correctness on people, we are actually making racism worse and not better. Instead of admitting to racism and trying to break racist habits, political correctness favors ignoring racism all together. In the interest of not sounding racist, the Italian American leaders waited too long to speak out and make an official statement to the media. The hot topics have to be addressed before they’ve had the time to cool down and solidify. Public figures need to strike while the iron is hot and try to make a change while the opinions of the public are still malleable.
Finishing with the importance of courage: The main problem is that being “politically correct” forces politicians and community members to abandon their courage. The fear of standing out an
d being different is soooo powerful, which is why I admire Sciorra so much for his presence at the Vigil and participation in the demonstrations, which took place on August 27th 1989. The courage of one strong individual gives other people courage, just like Joseph Sciorra’s courage gave Stephanie Romeo the courage to abandon the angry crowds and march along side him in the name of peace. Stephanie’s courage in turn compelled Camillio “David” Greco to march along side Sciorra along with three others in a sort of domino effect. BUT still, the actions of one or two individuals or one or two church groups are not enough.
Sciorra suggests that the diffusion of African American pop culture (such as hip hop and rap [*click for an example of Italian Rap*]) into Italian pop culture has lead to an improvement in African American – Italian American relationships. While I agree that the violence has become less prevalent between the two communities, I disagree with Sciorra’s insinuation that the problem is completely solved. The problem still exists on a grander scale, not just between Italian Americans and African Americans, but also between White Americans (including Italian Americans) and “Minorities” (African Americans, Puerto Ricans, etc) more generally. As I mentioned in the previous blog on racism, individuals can still be racism without being overtly violent. The truth is that people need to change their way of thinking in order for change to happen and that, while not impossible, is an extremely difficult process. If other’s like Sciorra are able to find their courage and speak out, if the media would reveal entire truths instead of spinning stories to create clear-cut villain-protagonist relationships, and if artists such as Spike Lee (director of “Do The Right Thing”) continue to provide social commentaries and expose social injustice, racism between whites and minorities could become a thing of the past.
