A Great Conspiracy against our raceCulture, Labor, HistorySeriesGeneral Editors: Daniel Bender and Kimberley L. PhillipsTe Forests Gave Way before Tem: Te Impact of African Workers on the Anglo-American World, 16501850Frederick C. KnightUnknown Class: Undercover Investigations of American Work and Poverty from the Progressive Era to the PresentMark PittengerSteel Barrio: Te Great Mexican Migration to South Chicago, 19151940Michael D. Innis-JimnezOrdering Coal: Railroads, Miners, and Disorder in the Gilded Age, 18701900Andrew B. ArnoldA Great Conspiracy against Our Race: Italian Immigrant Newspapers and the Construction of Whiteness in the Early Twentieth CenturyPeter G. VellonA Great Conspiracy against Our RaceItalian Immigrant Newspapers and the Construction of Whiteness in the Early Twentieth CenturyPeter G. VellonaNEWYORKUNI VE RS I T YPRE S SNew York and LondonNEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESSNew York and Londonwww.nyupress.org 2014 by New York UniversityAll rights reservedReferences to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs thatmay have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataVellon, Peter G.A great conspiracy against our race : Italian immigrant newspapers and the construction of whiteness in the early twentieth century / Peter G. Vellon. pages cm (Culture, labor, history Series)Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8147-8848-6 (cloth : alkaline paper) 1. Italian American newspapersHistory20th century. 2. Italian AmericansRace identityHistory20th century. 3. WhitesUnited StatesRace identityHistory20th century. 4. ImmigrantsUnited StatesHistory20th century. 5. Italian AmericansCultural assimilationHistory20th century. 6. Italian AmericansSocial conditions20th century. 7. United StatesRace relationsHistory20th century. I. Title. PN4885.I8V45 2014 071.308951dc23 2014016413New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.Manufactured in the United States of America10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Also available as an ebook>>v ContentsAcknowledgmentsviiIntroduction 11.Te Italian Language Press and the Creationof an Italian Racial Identity 152.Te Italian Language Press and Africa 373.Native Americans, Asians, and Italian Americans:Constructions of a Multilayered Racial Consciousness 574.Te Education of Italian Americans in Matters of Color 795. Defending Italian American Civility, Asserting Whiteness 105Epilogue 129Notes 135Index 163About the Author 172>>vii AcknowledgmentsIn 1997, I had the good fortune of meeting Philip V. Cannistraro at the Graduate Center at Te City University of New York. One of the leading scholarsinItalianAmericanhistory,Philtookanimmediateinterest inmyworkonethnicityandrace.AlthoughPhilpassedawaymuch toosoonin2005,itisnotanunderstatementtosaythisbookcould haveneverbeenpublishedwithouthim.Heconsistentlyprovided keenadvice,insightfulcomments,andmuch-neededencouragement. His generosity as a scholar and mentor continue to inspire me to pro-vide the same guidance for my students. I am eternally grateful to have called him my friend. IamalsoindebtedtoCarolBerkin,whohasbravelyservedasmy unofcialadviserandsageaferPhilspassing.Simplyput,Carolhas always been there when I needed her. Whether she was reading chap-ters of the manuscript, ofering her expertise in the realm of academia, orlendinganeartomyneuroticramblings,Carolskindnessistruly extraordinary. Tere are many others who have made this book a real-ity. I owe a great debt to David Roediger, whose own work has inspired thewayIinterpretandreadhistory.In2006,hereassuredmethata book centered on the Italian language press and race would be not only worthwhile but a welcome addition to the literature. At a very delicate time in my life, his confdence in the project proved vital to my going forward. Heartfelt thanks go to Mary Anne Trasciatti and the late Nun-zio Pernicone, who both read through the manuscript during its early stages,oferinginvaluableadvice.Ahostofotherscholarshaveread specifcchapters,providedinsightfulcomments,andoferedpointed critiquesorsuggestionsaboutsourcesormethodology.Tebookis viiiixincompletingtwochapters.Ihavealsobeneftedfromthesupportof colleaguesandfriendsintheHistoryDepartmentatQueensCollege/CUNY,especiallyJoelAllen,SarahCovington,PremillaNadasen,and FrankWarren.ManythankstoAugustoPasquariello,whotirelessly translatedhundredsofItalianlanguagenewspaperarticleswithout complaint. Tanks also to Nella Giusto, who spent her vacation in New York City helping with translations as well. Sometimes you meet special people along the way, ofen for brief periods, who infuence the trajec-tory of your future.One such person is Richard DiMedia. I thank him forhisinspirationintheclassroomandhisbeliefthatIcouldpursue andearnaPhDinhistory.HratchandLeslieZadoianaretwopeople who have remained infuential in my life and whose friendship I trea-sure. Hratch continues to be an endless source of knowledge, wisdom, and humor. I am a better person for knowing him. Finally,deepgratitudegoestomyfamily,onboththeVellonand Pasquariello sides. Tanks to my brothers, Michael and Steven, and my sister, Kathleen, for always having my back. My many sisters and broth-ers through marriageMaryann, Mary, Adrienne, Giovanna, Carmine, andSaverioprovidedunwaveringsupport.Specialgratitudegoesto my father-in-law, Augusto Pasquariello, and my mother-in-law, Maria, for caring for me like their own son. Rose, my best friend, confdante, therapist,and(probablyhermostdifcultrole)spouse,hasbeenwith mesincethebeginningofthislong,longjourney.Shehasselfessly readthroughchapteraferchapter,oferedcrucialadvice,andhelped methroughtheinevitableintellectualdeadendsalongtheway.Her unyieldingemotionalandspiritualsupportoverthepasttwenty-three yearshascarriedmetoplacesIdidntthinkpossible.Simplyput,she has made me a better person. To paraphrase Walt Whitman: We were together.Iforgettherest.Mytwouniqueandspecialboys,Jackand Luca, have literally grown up with this book. At various times they have proved to be a welcome diversion from the rigors of research and writ-ing and have flled my life with unimaginable joy, humor, goofness, and stress. Tey will never know how much it meant to me to see them so excitedoverthisbookseventualpublication.Tisbookisforthemas proof that hard work and perseverance never go unrewarded.Temperingtheexcitementofthebookspublicationistheabsence oflovedonesnolongerwithus.MynephewMichaelVellonrecently x1 IntroductionIn1886,inresponsetoalynchinginVicksburg,Mississippi,thelocal Commercial Herald declared, Te lynching of those who commit rape isthebestpossibleprotectionfromthehorriblecrime.1Whitesouth-ernersofentoutedthepreservationofsouthernfemalevirtueasthe standarddefenseoflynching,especiallybecauseprovingguiltregard-ing rape was deemed difcult. Moreover, even in cases where guilt was proved,lynchingservedastheantidotetopunishmentsinterpretedas too lenient. Extralegal violence, or popular justice, as many southern-ersdescribedit,alsoservedthepurposeofprotectingthevictimand her family from further public dishonor. According to the Commercial Herald, It is the refnement of cruelty and humiliation to put upon the witnessstandthevictimoftheoutrage,andperhapsmembersofthe familytoprovethehorribledetailsandfacethebadgeringofthelaw-yersforthedefense.Anyrespectablefamilywouldshrinkfromsuch anordeal,andnorespectablecommunityshouldexactit.Expressing obviousapprovaloftheVicksburglynching,theCommercialHerald warned,Godhelpthecommunitywheretherearenotwillingarms ofbravemen,toprotectthefemales.Southernsentimenthasalways [been] sound on this point, and the standard of virtue is higher in the SouthernStatesthananywhereelseintheworld.2Althoughthetone and content seemed relatively standard for incidents of mob violence in theSouth,theCommercialHeraldwrotethearticleinresponsetothe lynching not of an African American but rather of Frederico Villarosa, an Italian immigrant from Palermo, Sicily. In what was described as the frst lynching to have occurred in Vicksburg in ffy years, Villarosa was arrestedandeventuallymurderedforallegedlyassaultingtheyoung 23Americans belonged racially. Coverage of racially charged events such as lynching, race riots, and slavery, as well as frequently discussed topics such as capitalism and religion, exposed an immigrant press coming to grips with, and navigating, the vicissitudes of American race and color. Wrestling with unfattering racial characterizations directed at Italians, ItalianAmericannewspapersinitiallyinterpreteddiscriminationand violence within an African American context. For example, in the early decades of Italian immigration, newspapers frequently expressed sym-pathy and understanding for African American victims of white racism, ofen exhibiting a sharp critique of white American racism and oppres-sion as one deeply rooted in skin color.However,despiteapparentprominentisympathyfortheplightof AfricanAmericans,theiracknowledgmentoftheintimateconnec-tion between race and color proved to have unintended consequences. Exposed to the intense heat of World War I hyperpatriotism and anti-immigrantrhetoric,manifestingmostimmediatelyincontinuedcalls forrace-basedimmigrationrestrictionanddemandsfor100percent Americanism,mainstreamItalianlanguagenewspapersgrappledwith thecontinueduneasinessoverItalianimmigrantmarginality.Con-currently,duringthisperiodtheUnitedStatesincreasinglycameto focus on the Negro question as the foremost social issue afecting the nation. Tis owed to several factors, including the migration of African Americans into the urban North and the emergence of the New Negro movement.AccordingtoMatthewPrattGuterl,Teresultwasacul-tureofracialthinkingtermedbi-racialismbytheeugenicistLothrop Stoddard, which encouraged Americans to focus on race-as-color, and almostsolelyonwhitenessandblackness.8Duringthisemergingbi-racialistperiod,Italianimmigrantprominentiespousedaparticular class-basednotionofItalianidentity,oritalianita,infuencedbythe recent Italian unifcation in Italy. Steeped in racial nationalism, promi-nenti versions of Italian identity argued for full inclusion as Americans based upon an imagined Italian heritage of civilization and whiteness. BytheperiodofWorldWarI,mainstreamnewspapers,cognizantof thestrongassociationbetweenonesracialgroupingandtheirdefned whitenessornonwhiteness,abandonedaracialperspectivethathad concomitantlyentertainedcolor,race,andcivilizationinfavoramore rigid binary of black and white. 45historyembracescategoriesinadditiontoblack.Whattheseworks attempttoaccomplish,ingeneral,istorecover,oruncover,aracial identitytowhitenessthatbeliesthetraditionalassumptionthatbeing white means racial transparency. According to Coco Fusco, an activ-ist and writer, Racial identities are not only black, Latino, Asian, Native American, and so on; they are also white. To ignore white ethnicity is to redouble its hegemony by naturalizing it.10AlthoughsouthernItalianswerewhiteenoughtoenterthecountry andnaturalizeasAmericancitizens,consistentalarmovertheirsuit-ability to become full members of the American republic included con-cerns regarding their race and whiteness.11 Historians have attempted to describethisprecariousracialstatusinavarietyofways,fromcondi-tionally white to situationally white or not quite white.12 Along with historians such as Robert Orsi, John Higham, David Roediger, and oth-ers,Ibelievetheterminbetweenmostaccuratelydescribestheracial positioninwhichEuropeanimmigrantsfoundthemselvesasthey learnedandnegotiatedtheAmericanraciallandscape.Writinginpar-ticularaboutsouthernItalianimmigrantsinEastHarlem,Orsiproved instrumentalinestablishingthenotionofinbetweenessandtheefort to establish a border between oneself and those perceived as the darker other. As historian Ian Haney Lpez and others have demonstrated, race is understood not as an absolute category but rather as comparative tax-onomies of relative diference. Races do not exist as defned entities, but only as amalgamations of people standing in complex relationships with othersuchgroups.13Orsisworkdeflypresentsthevariousdegreesof perception that undergird racial otheringbetween us and them, white and black, Protestant and Catholic, American and foreign. Defned as an inferiorracebymanyAmericans,southernItalianimmigrantsarrived already stigmatized by northern Italian constructions of race and civiliza-tion coming out of Italian unifcation branding them as turks or African. Learning and adapting to the American racial system would be a process fraught with confusion, requiring an intimate struggle against the uncer-taintiesandrealitiesofinbetweeness.AccordingtoOrsi,Teimmi-grants were transformed frst into Italians in this country, initially in the perceptions of others who were hostile to them and their dark skins; then theyhadtobecomeAmericansatatimewhenthisidentityitselfhad become the site of bitter, ofen racially charged confict.1467fromtheirprivilegedcolorstatusaswhites.Tisdistinctionbetween race and color, argued Guglielmo, explains how southern Italian immi-grants could face racial discrimination upon their arrival but still enjoy privileges due to their whiteness. Guglielmo contends that the notion of racial inbetweeness must be refned in order to account for the fact that Italians did not need to become white; they always were in numerous, critical ways.18AGreatConspiracyagainstOurRaceapproachestheconceptof race, color, and inbetweeness in several divergent ways from White on Arrival. First, the book will work within segments of the historiography thatchallengeGuglielmosassertionthatraceandcolorcanbeneatly disentangled.AccordingtoDavidRoediger,althoughItaliansdidnot experience the same kind of hard racism as African Americans, new immigrantsofenwereplacedbetweencallsfortheirracialexclusion andgreateracceptance.Terefore,toargueinbetweenessnecessarily involvesawillingnesstokeepbothsimilarityanddiferenceatplay. Indeed,anironictwisttothefussovertermssuchasinbetweeness is that this description of southern Italians is not the invention of con-temporaryhistoriansbutrathernomenclatureoftheperiod.Atvari-oustimesnewspaperheadlinesexplicitlydescribedItaliansasagroup betweenwhiteandblackandquestionedtheracialftnessofItalian swarthy sons of the sunny south by focusing upon some of the many markers informing race, such as physical appearance, culture, religion, language,color,class,andplacementwithinthehierarchyoflabor.19 Although southern Italians enjoyed privileges based upon legal defni-tions as white, their consistent depiction as swarthy and frequent com-parisonstoAfricanAmericans,aswellastheItalianlanguagepresss owncorrelationofrace,civilization,andcolor,complicatethenotion thatraceandcolorcanbesoeasilydivorced.Indeed,asRoedigerhas maintained,theseparationbetweenraceandcolorthatGuglielmo posits(whenhearguesthatItalianimmigrantsweresecurelywhitein thecriticalcategoryofcolorbutvulnerabletointra-Europeanrank-ingsofraces)isdifculttosustain.20Further,itisimportanttonote thattheconnectionbetweenraceandcoloronlygrewmoreintimate through the World War I period and later; according to Guterl, By the late 1920s and early 1930s American political culture was almost single-mindedly focused on the Negro and on race-as-color.21 89examininghownewspaperowners,editors,andjournalistsevaluateda range of nonwhite races such as African and African American, Japa-nese,Chinese,AsianAmericans,andNativeAmericans.Infuencedby Gail Bedermans work linking the discourse of civilization to race, white-ness,andmanhood,insightsintotheItalianAmericanpressspalimp-sest of race, color, and civilization emerge. Te pages of the press reveal, especially early in the immigrant experience, a complex racial worldview inwhichonesperceivedcivilizationcouldpotentiallytrumponesnon-whitenessinthehierarchyofrace.24BymakingItaliansactiveagentsin the construction of U.S. racial ideologies, this book also contributes to a fuller understanding not only of the interconnectedness of ethnicity, race, class, and identity but, more specifcally, of how immigrants fltered soci-etalpressures,redefnedtheparametersofwhiteness,andconstructed their own identity as Italian, American, civilized, and white.Te Importance of the Italian Language PressTeimmigrantpressintheUnitedStatesdatestotheeighteenthcen-tury,butitsmaturationoccurredwiththemassarrivalofnewcomers, predominantlyfromsouthernandeasternEurope,inthelatenine-teenth and early twentieth centuries. Historian Robert Harney observes thatthepressisthebestprimarysourceforanunderstandingof theworldofnon-English-speakinggroupsintheUnitedStates,their expectations and concerns, their background and evolution as individ-ual communities.25 Although many scholars acknowledge the immense role played by the immigrant press in facilitating or expediting the pro-cess of assimilation to the host country, the Italian language press in the United States has ofen been overlooked in comparison to other immi-grantpublications.26Indeed,asrecentlyastwentyyearsago,avolume on the ethnic press in the United States did not include an essay on the Italian language press.27 In order to glean the importance of these news-papersinItalianimmigrantenclaves,oneneedlooknofurtherthan theimmensereadershiptheyenjoyed,aswellashowmanynewspa-pers went in and out of existence during the period of mass migration. ArrivingatthesametimeasItaliansinNewYorkCity,easternEuro-pean Jews, while statistically more literate, provide a useful comparison to demonstrate Italian immigrant thirst for the written word.1011the center of Italian immigrant life in the United States, New York and themetropolitanareawerehometomainstreamnewspaperssuchas Il Progresso Italo-Americano, Bolletino della Sera, and LAraldo Italiano, as well as radical papers such as Il Proletario and La Questione Sociale. Containing the largest single concentration of newspapers in the coun-try, New York City ofers the perfect locale to explore the vitally impor-tant but underexamined Italian language press. Given distribution and circulationfgures,aswellaswhattheItalianlanguagepressprovided tothecommunitybywayofnews,nostalgia,anddirection,Italian Americannewspapersassumedimmenseimportancebyprovidinga forum, or staging area, where identity, culture, and race interacted.33 * * *Teorganizationofthismanuscriptfollowsathematicformatyet maintains a loose chronological approach. Chapter 1 provides a glimpse intotheItaliancommunitiesofNewYorkCityinthelatenineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Te chapter sketches where Italian immi-grantslived,theculturalinstitutionsandnetworkstheybuilt,and thetypesofemploymenttheyfound.Moreover,itprovidesadetailed breakdown of the multifaceted Italian language press in New York City and its impact and importance for the immigrant community. Examin-ing the role of prominenti such as Carlo Barsotti, the chapter argues that Italianlanguagenewspapersplayedavitalroleinshapingimmigrant attitudes toward race, color, civilization, class, and identity.Chapters2and3revealhowtheItalianAmericanpressperceived nonwhite peoples such as Africans, African Americans, Native Ameri-cans,Chinese,Japanese,andAsianAmericans.Chapter2examines howmainstreamandradicalnewspapersemployedAfricaasatrope forsavagebehaviorbyanalyzingtheirdiscussionofwageslavery, imperialism,lynching,andcolonialism,inparticularItalianimperial-istventuresintonorthernAfricainthe1890sandLibyain19111912. TeItalianlanguagepressconstructedAfricaasasinister,darkconti-nent, representing the lowest rung of the racial hierarchy. In expressing moral outrage over American violence and discrimination against Ital-ians,thepressutilizedthisimageofAfricatoemphaticallyconveyits shockanddisgust.Tisdialoguewouldrevealmuchaboutthepresss 1213outside attempts to posit otherwise as extremely dangerous. Continued demands for full incorporation into American society were inextricably tied to establishing not only the civilized nature of the Italian race but also Italians acceptability as whites. Finally,theepiloguepeersintothesucceedingdecadesandspecu-lateshowandwhysecond-andthird-generationItalianAmericans becamefrmlyentrenchedaspan-ethnic,whiteAmericans.ForItal-ianimmigrantsandtheirdescendants,thetwentiethcenturyproved transformativeinmanyways.Afectedbymajorexternaleventssuch as Fascism in Italy, World War II, and civil rights movements, as well as internaldesirestobeAmerican,acrucialaspectoftheiradaptation would be racial in nature. From victims of lynching to perpetrators of racial violence, the journey of Italian Americans uniquely embodies the tremendouscostsofanassimilationprocessthatinculcatesthevalues of white over black.>>15 1Te Italian Language Press and the Creation of an Italian Racial IdentityTe Italian Language Press and Racial IdentityOn April 2, 1927, Carlo Barsotti, the founder and owner of New Yorks IlProgressoItalo-Americano(ItalianAmericanProgress),waslaidto restinwhatwasreportedtobeanexactreplicaofRudolphValenti-noscofn.In1872,thetwenty-two-year-oldPisanhadarrivedinthe United States a poor immigrant, but by the time he died he had become oneofthewealthiestandmostinfuentialleadersintheItalianimmi-grant community. Barsotti earned a lucrative living as a labor agent, or padrone,directinggangsofItaliansontherailroads,ranasmanyas fourlodginghouses,andownedasavingsbankthatcateredtoItalian immigrants. Motivated to fll what he considered a void in the expand-ingItaliancommunity,BarsottifoundedIlProgressoin1880.By1920, the newspaper had become the most important, and largest, daily Ital-ian language newspaper in the United States.1Facedwithincessantcallstorestrictimmigrationbaseduponrace, a ferce hypernationalism unleashed by World War I, and frequent vio-lence and discrimination, historically provincial Neapolitans, Sicilians, andCalabriansfoundthemselvesunitedbyacommonantagonist.At theforefrontofcampaignstoupliftheracewasanItalianlanguage mainstream press that sought to justify Italian worthiness as a civilized race. Te mainstream press accomplished this by focusing on italianita, oracelebrationofallthingsItalian.Newspapershighlightedcommu-nity events, defended Italians from American nativism, and sponsored campaigns to erect monuments to fgures such as Christopher Colum-bus and Giovanni da Verrazzano and in the process contributed signif-cantly to an emerging racial identity as Italian that had never existed in theoldcountry.2Despitetheobviousfnancialandnarcissisticappeal 1617to sociologist Gabriella Gribaudi, the South was considered a frontier dividingcivilizedEuropefromcountriespopulatedbysavagesfrom Africa.5 French author Crueze de Lesser remarked in 1806 that Europe ends at Naples and ends badly. Calabria, Sicily and all the rest belong to Africa. In 1860, an envoy of Italys frst prime minister, Camillo Cavour, wroteoftheSouth:Whatbarbarism!SomeItaly!TisisAfrica:the bedouin are the fower of civilized virtue compared to these peasants.6By the late nineteenth century, writers such as Alfredo Niceforo and Cesare Lombroso claimed to have scientifcally validated southern Ital-ian inferiority through the theories of the positivist school of biological racism. Lombroso, a noted Italian criminologist, pinpointed biological, rather than socioeconomic, reasons behind the proliferation of crime in thesouthernregions.AlfredoNiceforo,anItalianacademic,reasoned thatthemoralandsocialstructureoftheSouthrevealedaninferior civilization that was reminiscent of a primitive and quasi-barbarian age. Describingsouthernersasfeminine,orpopolodonna,andnorthern-ersasmasculine,orpopolouomo,Niceforoprocessedcivilizationand barbaritythroughagenderedlensthatservedtoclarifyandreinforce thenotionofsouthernItalianbarbarism.Constructingarelationship betweenfemininityandbarbarityversusmasculinityandcivilization,7 thesescientifcconclusionsonlyservedtoreinforcewhatnorthern Italianshadcometoaccept:southernItalianswereaninferiorbreed of savages and barbarians biologically distanced from progressive, civi-lized northern Italians.8 Tese theories had a transnational impact and infuenced the anti-immigration and restrictionist forces in the United States.Indeed,in1905,fouryearsaferGiuseppeSergisTeMediter-raneanRacewaspublished,theU.S.commissioner-generalofimmi-grationrevisedthegovernmentsclassifcationofItaliansandbegan to distinguish between northern and southern Italians as two peoples. InformedbySergistheories,thecongressionalcommissioncharged withinvestigatingimmigration,morecommonlyknownastheDill-inghamCommission,elaborateduponthisdistinctionandconcluded initsfndings,publishedin1911,thatItalianscomprisedtwodistinct races:northernItalianandsouthernItalian.9Teseracialdiferences remained at the core of the commissions recommendations to restrict new Italians described as a long-headed, dark, Mediterranean race of short stature. 1819By1903,onecommunitystudyrevealedtheonlysectionofManhat-tanthatdidnotcontainItaliansstretchedfrom72ndStreetto140th Street on the west side of the island. Given the fuidity of these commu-nities,populationstatisticscannottelltheentirestory,althoughthey can provide an important snapshot of how these communities evolved. TetwomostdenselypopulatedandrenownedItaliancoloniesdur-ing this period were the areas around Mulberry Street on Manhattans Lower East Side and East Harlem, from 100th Street to 115th Street and from Second Ave to the East River. By 1918, the Mulberry Bend district housed approximately 110,000 Italian immigrants and their American-born descendants and was the largest Italian colony in New York. Te next largest Italian enclaves were in East Harlem, numbering approxi-mately75,000,andtheLowerWestSideofManhattan,numbering 70,000.14Formany,bytheearlytwentiethcenturytheareaknownas Mulberry Bend in Manhattan had become synonymous with the most visibleproblemsassociatedwithunfetteredimmigration.Withthe publicationofJacobRiissbookHowtheOtherHalfLivesin1890,for thefrsttimeAmericanswereabletopeerintoaworldtheyhadonly heard about. High population density, overcrowded tenements, unsani-taryhealthconditions,inadequatewaterandsanitation,crime-ridden streets, and unintelligible languages became emblematic of the foreign-ness of Italian immigrants within the city.15 Italians remained loyal to traditional values of campanilismo, or the desire to trust only those from their very immediate family, extended family,ortown,andthroughchainmigrationsettledinareaswhere kinorextendedkinhadestablishedresidency.Ofenthisresultedin entiretownsorvillagesbeingtransplantedtospecifcstreetsinNew York City.16 For example, the Mulberry Bend area was composed pre-dominantlyofsouthernItaliansfromCalabria,Naples,andSicily, although immigrants from Genoa lived there as well. East Harlem, or ItalianHarlemasitwouldbecomecommonlyknown,sawmuchthe same pattern emerge as immigrants predominantly from the SouthNaples, Calabria, Salerno, Avigliano, and Sicilyflled the tenements. Itwasnotuncommonforeachstreettobeinhabitedbyadiferent regional population, with Neapolitans living on 106th to 108th Street andimmigrantsfromBasilicatapredominatingfrom108thto115th Street.172021Early on in the immigrant experience, mutual aid societies and fra-ternalorganizationsdidlittletolessentheregionaldiferencesand rivalriesthatexistedwithinItalianimmigrantenclaves.Performing important psychological and social roles, these organizations assumed immenseimportanceandindirectlyhinderedwidespreadcollective organization,ofentothechagrinoflabororganizers.22However,as immigrantcoloniesmatured,especiallyafer1900,attemptsatcollec-tiveorganizationaroundalargerconsciousnessasItaliansbeganto take hold. For example, the National Order of the Sons of Italy, created in1905,wasthefrstorganizationthatbegantosubsumelocalfrater-nalorregionalsocietiesunderalargerumbrellaoffederatedsocieties and lodges. By World War I, the Sons of Italy began to wield signifcant powerwithinItaliancommunitiesonthelocalandstatelevels.23Te emergenceoftheSonsofItalydidnotreplacelocalmutualaidsoci-etiesgermanetoparticularvillagesortowns,butitdidcoincidewith the creation of an image of Italianness that did not exist in Italy. Soci-etybanquets,dinnerdances,andannualreligiousfeastscelebrated regional ties through the lens of a minority population reviled by many as unwelcome others. As such, organizations ofen focused on the mer-itsofItaliancultureandcivilizationasameansofcommunityuplifandsurvival,therebypromulgatinganascentItalianpatriotism.And, althoughby1921somecontemporaryobserverssuchasJohnMariano believed mutual aid societies and fraternal clubs prolonged a fractured Italianidentityandsustainedanti-Americanizationsentiment,these organizations actually accelerated the emergence of a collective Italian racial identity.24Religious observation and practice proved to be an arena where Ital-ianimmigrantsdidnothaveaneasytransition.Althoughpredomi-nantlyRomanCatholic,Italianimmigrantsdidnotblendsmoothly into New Yorks Irish Americandominated Catholic community. Tere were several levels of dissonance between the Irish hierarchy and their new communicants that for some time posed severe barriers to immi-grantsfullincorporationintotheCatholicparishes.Clearly,priests and upper-level church hierarchy were not immune from the prejudice anddiscriminationthattargetedsouthernItalianimmigrantsintheir newhome.Italianattitudestowardpriests,churchattendance,doctri-nal tenets, and the personal manner in which Italians worshipped God 2223home to more than any other city by 1920 with 12.25 However, this did not capture the full breadth of the presss impact as 267 additional news-papers, both radical and mainstream, were published and circulated at various times throughout this period.26 In addition to being the largest Italian colony, New York City ofered advantages to the news industry notavailableinmostothercities.Withrespecttosuccessfulcommer-cial dailies such as Il Progresso, New Yorks geographic location allowed the paper to tap into efcient news-gathering resources and dissemina-tion facilities, as well as obtain the latest news from the colony or from Italyintheshortestamountoftime.Publisheddaily,IlProgressoand Bolletino della Sera became a vital source of immediate information not onlyforItalianslivinginNewYorkbutalsoforthoseoutsidethecity and state.27Italianlanguagenewspapersrefectedtheheterogeneityandfuid-ity of the community itself. Newspapers frequently went in and out of existence,andamajorityofnewspaperscouldnotmaintainalasting circulationinordertoremainfnanciallysolvent.Refectingthecom-munityitserved,thepressvariedinitspoliticalorientation,ranging from mainstream political identifcation as Republican or independent tomoreradicalideologiessuchassocialistandanarchist.Temain-stream,orcommercial,pressenjoyedlargercirculationsthantheItal-ian radical press and by virtue of subscriptions and advertising revenue usually experienced a longer life span. Some of this owed to the serious obstaclessocialistandanarchistpapersfaced,suchasfercegovern-mental repression that severely hampered their print operations. How-ever, radical newspapers were no less important, ofen beyond what was refectedintheircirculationnumbers,andsomemaintainedpublica-tion for decades. Te era of mass Italian immigration coincided with the emergence of what historian Rudolph Vecoli termed the prominenti phase of Italian journalism in the United States.28 Te prominenti, or prominent ones, were generally Italians who had arrived early on in the migration pro-cess, knew some level of English, and established businesses that served the immigrants. Men such as Carlo Barsotti and Louis V. Fugazy owned andoperatedboardinghouses,neighborhoodbanks,saloons,orgro-cerystores,workedaslaborrecruitersandagents,oractedasnotary publics, sometimes combining all of these functions. Teir practices did 2425andchangingthedatestosuittheirpurposes.In1882,Barsottihired Adolfo Rossi as editor, and the circulation increased steadily to 6,500 by 1890 and 7,500 by 1892. By the early 1890s, the papers masthead already proclaimed in English that Il Progresso was the most infuential Italian dailynewspaperinNewYorkandintheUnitedStatesandhadthe largest circulation of any Italian paper in America.31 During the 1890s, BarsottiwouldmergeasmallerItalianlanguagenewspaperinNew YorktitledCristoferoColombowithIlProgresso.32Tepaperscircula-tion dramatically increased afer 1900, but circulation reached its height of175,000copiesduringWorldWarI.ItsformereditorAlfredoBosi credited the success to Carlo Barsottis tireless work and many popular patriotic initiatives.33 By 1920, Il Progresso had expanded to eight pages andboastedacirculationreaching108,137.Asixteen-pageillustrated Sunday supplement enjoyed a circulation of 96,186. According to Bosi, the Sunday supplement was a publication without equal . . . it is printed on the best machines that produce 40 copies per hour so the paper can get out quickly to anxious Italian readers across the City.34Attempting to build on the success of Il Progresso, Vincenzo Polidori, along with Giovani Vicario, a Naples-born attorney, established LAraldo Italiano(theItalianHerald)in1889.LAraldowaspublishedeveryday except Mondays and was soon accompanied by an evening newspaper, IlTelegrafo.35TepaperemployedvalorousjournalistssuchasLuci-ano Paris, Giuseppe Gulino, Luigi Roversi, Paolo Parisi, Ernesto Valen-tine, and Agostino DiBiasi and at various times was listed as a Republi-can paper and other years identifed as independent.36 Some historians described the paper as more balanced in its reporting than Il Progresso andmorefriendlytolaborthanitschiefrival,especiallyafer1910.37 However,despitehavingalargercirculationthanIlProgressointhe earlypartofthetwentiethcentury,LAraldocouldnotkeepupwithIl Progressos explosive growth and reached its circulation zenith at 18,000 in 1916.38 By 1917, both LAraldo and Il Telegrafo were sold by Vicario to Il Giornale Italiano, edited by Ercole Cantelmo and part of Frank Fru-gones publishing consortium. By 1920, the papers circulation narrowed to 12,454 copies.39

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, a new daily Italian lan-guageeveningnewspaperaddedtotheincreasingcompetitionamong NewYorksmainstreamnewspapers.In1898,FrankFrugonefounded 2627Troughouttheperiod,manymainstreamnewspaperscamein andoutofexistencethatdidnotpossessthecirculationnumbersof IlProgressoorBolletinoyetwereinfuentialnonetheless.In1910,Ital-ianscholarandauthorAlbertoPecorinifoundedandeditedIlCitta-dino(theCitizen),anewspaperissuedbytheCivicLeaguePublishing Association.TepaperwaspublishedeveryTursdayandwasidenti-fedashavinganindependentpoliticalorientation.46Pecorinipub-lished prominently in Il Cittadino, ofen using the front page to inform Italians,aswellasEnglish-speakingAmericans,ofissuesandevents importanttoboth.InasectiontitledToOurAmericanReaders, Pecorinioferedsubstantivediscussionsandeditorialsontopicssuch as Americanization, citizenship, immigration restriction, and literacy.47 TesetopicswerewellrepresentedinbooksheauthoredsuchasGli Americaninellavitamodernaosservatidaunitaliano(TeAmericans in modern life observed by an Italian), published in 1909, and La Storia dellAmerica(TehistoryofAmerica),aconcisehistoryoftheUnited StatesintendedforuseinAmericanizingItalianimmigrants,which hepublishedfortheMassachusettsSocietyoftheColonialDamesin 1920.48 Il Cittadino was published for ten years and was widely respected by American readers as well as by English language newspapers such as theNewYorkTimes,whichlabeleditoneofthebestofthecitysfor-eign language papers.49 Although mainstream newspapers dominated circulation within the Italianimmigrantcolonies,radicalorsovversivi(subversive)publica-tionsrivaledtheirintellectualgriponthecommunity.50Championing classstruggleandclassconsciousness,radicalnewspaperscontained politicaltheoryandconsistentlyreportednewsoflaboractivitiesand strikes. Italian language newspapers not only tried to connect workers with employers but also ofen functioned as their protectors. Especially inradicalnewspapers,numerousarticlesdetailedthescurrilousprac-ticesofAmericanemployersandItalianlaborbosses,alertingItalians to strike activities and employer exploitation around the country.51 For example, religious festivals such as those at Our Lady of Mount Carmel inEastHarlemwereharshlycondemnedassadspectacleswherethe church and prominenti padded their own pockets with the hard-earned wages of ignorant and exploited Italian workers.52 2829ItaliansocialistmovementwithinthebroaderAmericanlaborstrug-gle. Migrating from Italian-centered dictates and aligning more closely tothedoctrinesofrevolutionaryindustrialunionism,Trescasawthe value of using the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) as the vehi-cle to push Italians beyond their own provincial worldviews and estab-lishthemwithinalarger,class-basedmovement.AccordingtoBruno Cartosio, Tresca was the one who really transformed Il Proletario into an Italian-American newspaper.56 TefortunesofIlProletariorefectedthetwistsandturnswithin theItaliansocialistmovementduringthisperiod.Anideologicalsplit emerged between those who viewed the IWWs revolutionary socialism as the path toward class liberation and moderates who wanted to work withintheAmericansocialistmovement.In1907,GiuseppeBertelli lef his editorial position at Il Proletario and started his own newspaper inChicago.AlthoughIlProletarioandtheItaliansocialistmovement suferedfromconsistentinfghting,from1909throughWorldWarI, IlProletarioreachedtheheightofitsinfuenceandcirculation.Tis periodcoincidedwithamaturingworking-classactivism,therising infuence of the IWW, and the prominent role played by Italian work-ersinthatstruggle,especiallyinnortheasternindustrialareassuch asLawrence,Massachusetts,andPaterson,NewJersey.57Duringthe repressive period of World War I, legislation such as the Espionage Act, the Sedition Act, and the Trading with the Enemy Act made it possible fortheDepartmentofJusticeandtheU.S.PostOfcetosuppressany publicationthefederalgovernmentdeemedsubversive.IlProletario wasforcedtomoveitsheadquartersfromBostontotheIWWhead-quarters in Chicago in 1916. Ironically, it was during this period that Il Proletario reached its high point in circulation at 7,800 copies.58 Along withtheIWW,IlProletariocameunderintensegovernmentscrutiny asitsofceswereraided,itsmailingprivilegesdenied,anditseditor, Angelo Faggi, was arrested and deported to Italy in 1919. Te newspa-perresumedunderthetitleLaDifesa,aferthewarbecameIlNuovo Proletario, and in 1920 published again under the original masthead of IlProletario.Althoughthenewspaperwouldcontinuetopublishfor almosttwodecades,itslackofstrongorganizationalsupportrefected the chilling efectiveness of repressive antilabor campaigns.59 3031Uplifing the Race in the Pages of the PressTeItalianlanguagepressprovidedaninstitutionalframeworkfor theculturaltransformationoftheItalianimmigrantpopulationand the development of a collective Italian identity as American and white intheUnitedStates.InconjunctionwithanexplodingItalianpopu-lationinNewYorkCity,Italianlanguagenewspapersaddressedmul-tipleneedsandfacilitatedimmigrantorientationtonewsurround-ings.AccordingtohistorianRudolphVecoli,thepresstookonan importance[it]lackedintheoldcountry.61Forexample,IlProgresso publishedclassifedemploymentlistingsonitsfrontpagethatsought twentybricklayerstoworkonSpringStreetindowntownManhat-tanorwomentocook,clean,andironforagoodsalary,stipulating that speaking English was not necessary.62 Te second page of the stan-dard four-page format featured news from communities in and outside NewYork,wherereaderscouldfndadetailedreportofthecrimes, feste, arrests, and other prominent features of the local life.63 Moreover, articlesandnoticesdetailingthenumerousdinnerdances,meetings, andreligiousfeatssponsoredbythemanyItalianimmigrantsocieties also appeared on this page.64 Tis news kept Italians connected with kin orpaesaniwhomayhavesettledelsewhere,whetherinEastHarlem, Brooklyn,orevenChicago,andchippedawayatregionalidentitiesin favor of a more national collective consciousness as Italians. However, in addition to providing tangible services such as employ-ment listings and announcements of neighborhood events, newspapers servedasaconstructionsiteformultiplecampaignstomanufacture, assert,anddefendtheItalianrace.Tefrstpageofdailynewspapers usuallyreservedthreetofourcolumnsfornewsfromEurope,specif-cally Italy, and the other half for news of the day from the United States. Amid negative American perceptions, dislocated Neapolitans, Calabri-ans,and Siciliansyearnedfor anynews from Italyand were especially attentivetocolonialventuresinthelatenineteenthandearlytwenti-eth centuries in Ethiopia and Libya, as well as a series of natural disas-tersthatravagedpartsofItaly.ProminentisuchasBarsotticapitalized ontheseunfortunateeventsbyinitiatingsubscriptiondrivestoraise moneyforearthquakevictims,aswasthecasein1887,1905,and1908 when earthquakes ravaged diferent parts of the mainland and Sicily.65 3233ItalianimmigrantsandlobbiedtohavetheItalianlanguagetaughtin New York City public schools. According to Il Progresso, Nine-tenths of the children of Italians born in America and those who arrived at a ten-der age without a teacher to teach them their language or their patriotic andreligioustraditionsendupignorantoftheslightestknowledgeof their country of origin.71 Led by prominenti, Italian immigrants viewed theadoptionofItalianintotheNewYorkCityschoolsasameasure that validated their race and culture as worthy of American respect. In 1906, Il Progresso exclaimed that the introduction of Italian was a great moral victory following years of struggle for the Italian community of New York, refecting not only the emerging prominence of Italians as aninterestgroupbut,moreimportantly,thegrowingappreciationof the American public for our community.72 Since the majority of south-ernItalianimmigrantsspokeonlytheirownregionaldialectsrather than a standard Italian, the emphasis on the Italian language, and what it represented in this new and ofen hostile environment, helped forge a group identity that did not exist in Italy.Historians have noted the importance of the Italian language press in facilitating an ideological shif among immigrants from a more provin-cialworldviewasNeapolitans,Calabrians,andSicilianstoacollective identity as Italians.73 Tis transition has been described, ofen negatively, asonethatpostponedtheassimilationofItaliansintoAmericansoci-ety. With constant appeals to Italian nationalism and frequent displays of Italian pride, many have asserted that men such as Barsotti sought to keep immigrants isolated and dependent upon their own patronage as a means to maintain their power and control. Indeed, seeking to extend theirinfuenceandexposureascommunityleaders,formerpadrones, bankers, and lodging house owners perceived newspaper ownership as a powerful vehicle to accomplish these goals. To realize the full impact of Italian language newspapers, however, one must peer beyond the ret-rograde intentions and narcissistic impulses of Italian immigrant com-munity leaders. And, although historians such as Rudolph Vecoli have wiselynotedthatItalianimmigrantswerenotsimplyactedupon,but decided for themselves what was reality, to ignore the power of newspa-pers to shape or create the rubric of debate is untenable. Tese men were so concerned with their infuence and public image that internecine battles among newspaper owners, ofen fought within 3435the colony.78 However, imperceptible to Pecorini, and even Barsotti and Frugone at the time, was how the Italian mainstream presss defense of Italians and Italian civilization would prove critical to establishing a col-lective identity as Italians. Rather than retard immigrant acculturation, uplifingtheraceafordedItaliansaplatformfromwhichtoproudly argue for their full inclusion in American society as Italian, American, and white.AsToddVogelstateswithrespecttotheAfricanAmericanpress, Aperiodicalanalyzedasaculturalproductioncreatesanidealstage for examining society. . . . In this way, the press gives us the chance to seewritersformingandreformingideologies,creatingandrecreating apublicsphere,andstagingandrestagingraceitself.79Duringmass immigration,Italianlanguagenewspapersemergedoutofnecessityto fllacrucialvoidinthelivesofanever-increasingstreamofsettlers. WhetherreportingoneventsinItaly,organizingsubscriptiondrives for Italian earthquake victims or memorials to Italian heroes, publish-ing employment advertisements, or providing information about labor organizations,theItalianlanguagepresscateredtoitsconsumersand ofered a life preserver for many Italians grasping for normalcy in their new environment. According to Robert Park, along with city life, main-stream newspapers such as Il Progresso served to break down the local and provincial loyalties with which immigrants arrived, and substituted alessintensebutmorenationalloyaltyinitsplace.80Implicitinthis process, Park stressed, was the importance of the press in fostering, or creating,ahybrididentity,neitherAmericannorforeign,butacom-bination of both.81 Italian language newspapers played a pivotal role in thisprocessbyforginganuniqueclass-andrace-basedidentitycen-tered upon an exalted civilization rooted in an Italian past wiped clean of sectional discord and questionable racial and color status. >>37 2Te Italian Language Press and AfricaAdayaferthebrutallynchingofelevenItalianimmigrantsinNew Orleansin1891,IlProgressoItalo-Americanopublishedaletteronits front page written by an Italian American named Marchese. Marchese expressed outrage over the cruel work of the mob in New Orleans and added that his hometown of Springfeld, Massachusetts, commiserated withthevictims.Moreover,heexpressedparticularshockoverhow thiscouldhappeninacivilizednationsuchasAmerica.Echoinga sentimentthatprevailedthroughouttheItalianAmericanpress,Mar-cheseconcludedthatthebarbaricactoflynchingmightbeexpected inAfricatenebrosa(dark,murkyAfrica)butnotintheUnitedStates.1 InalettertoCristoferoColombo,anotherNewYorkItalianAmerican daily, Alberto Dini went one step further by maintaining that not even thesavagepopulationofCentralAfricawouldapproveofsuchadis-gracefulaction.2AccordingtoacynicalItalianAmericanpress,the linebetweenAfricansavageryandAmericancivilizationbecame blurred: But where are we? Te only diference now between the free sons of America and the savages of Africa is that Americans have yet to become fesh eating cannibals.3 In a scathing indictment of American lawlessness, African savagery was held as the standard against which tojudgeAmericansociety.InresponsetoDinisletter,theCristofero Colombo asserted, At least cannibals respect the laws of primitive tribal justice so that a massacre like this would have been avoided.4Marcheses and Dinis letters refect not only the vicissitudes of Ital-ianimmigranttopographiesofrace,color,andcivilizationinlate nineteenth-centuryandearlytwentieth-centuryU.S.societybutalso atransnationalracialawareness.Teseimmigrantshadseenparallel 3839FrequentlyNewYorksItalianlanguagepressconstructedAfricaasa primitive,savagecontinent,thepolaroppositeofEuropean,Western societies, and ofen employed the phrase continente Nero (black conti-nent)orAfricatenebrosa(murky,darkAfrica).7Africabecameacon-venient trope for Italian language newspapers wrestling with their own questions of Italian American identity in a new and ofen inhospitable country.Inaddition,radicalItalianlanguagenewspapersutilizedthis image to express their incredulity over how gullible immigrants allowed themselvestobebamboozledbyreligiousdoctrinesandleaders.For mainstream newspapers, however, their portrayals of Africa as the sav-age,blackcontinentservedmultiplegoals.Empoweredbythemoral certainty of their case, mainstream newspapers responded to American violence and American calls for race-based immigration restriction by questioning American civilization. Tis harsh rhetoric, and the infated senseoftheirowncommunityscivility,bolsteredanemergingItalian identity.Inaddition,ItaliancolonialventuresintonorthernAfricain the 1890s and again in 19111912 served to further inform this identity byprovidingfertilegroundforhypernationalisticappealswithinthe Italian immigrant community. Te perception of Africa as uncivilized, savage, and dark was a key element of this strategy.* * *Fromthe1880sthroughthe1920s,Italianlanguagenewspaperscon-sistently employed the image of Africa as the most appropriate way to convey savagery. Much like American contemporaries, the editors sub-scribedtoahierarchicalnotionofrace.Designationsofcivilizedand savage nations littered the pages of mainstream and radical newspapers that generally regarded European nations, as well as the United States, asfree,democratic,andcivilizednations.8Forinstance,theanarchist publicationIlGridodegliOppressimockedthetaintedaccomplish-mentsofChristopherColumbusinascathingindictmentoftheman, as well as the Italian people who revered his image: Rather than slavery and destruction to the Natives living in America, Columbus could have broughtwhatisEuropeancivilitytoAmericaandreturnedtoEurope only what was superfuous of the natural wealth of the American land.9 Fortheanarchists,therefore,thehumanisticgoalshouldhavebeen 4041is a civilized nation, she [America] has a duty to educate the barbarians fromtheSouth.14UnliketheirownclaimssupportingItaliancolonial ventures into Africa, mainstream newspapers attacked American impe-rialclaimsofbearingthewhitemansburden.Indeed,thepressironi-callymockedAmericanmissionaryexcursionsintoChinaandcentral Africa in light of the uncivilized behavior directed at Italian immigrants intheUnitedStates.15Perhapstheharshestcontemporarycriticism demoted American civilization to a racial classifcation akin to Afri-can.In1899,themainstreamIlProgressodeclared,Whydotheysay they[Americans]havetosendpeopletocivilizethebarbariansinthe PhilippineswhenwehavewhiteMatabelihereintheUnitedStates? TewordMatabeliisderivedfromMatabeleland,whichiscontem-poraryZimbabwe.Inthisexample,theuncivilizedactionsofAmeri-canscontradicttheirsupposedmissiontocivilizeFilipinos.However, by juxtaposing racial signifers and giving the savage a white face, use of the term white Matabeli raised questions as to whether Il Progresso believedAmericanscouldeverbecompletelyequivalenttouncivi-lized and black Africans.16 Although espousing a progressive agenda toward human rights and social, political, and economic equity, the Italian language radical press alsoembracedthefamiliarlanguageofracialhierarchy,inparticular theimageofAfricatenebrosa.Inveighingagainstcapitalism,southern Italianignorance,religion,orprominenti,theradicalpress,muchlike itsmainstreamcounterpart,ofenexpressedscornanddisappoint-ment through comparisons to savage Africa. For example, Ancient and Modern Cannibalism, an article in the anarchist La Questione Sociale, lamented the exploitive character of capitalism by juxtaposing modern nations with primitive societies. We are worse than the savages because we have a keenly developed intellect and should know better. . . . in the so called civilized countries and especially in those we inhabit the form ofsavageAfricancannibalismdoesnotexist....however,manypeo-ple are still killed by the thousands in diferent ways every day.17 Radi-calpapersofenemployedtheimageofAfricansavageryevenwhen condemningrace-basedtheoriesofoppression.In1916thesocialistIl ProletariosarcasticallychidedaBostonclergymanforpromotingrace purifcation theories. Te paper added that the reverend was fortunate his comments had a forum such as America, which is the land of the 4243totheItalianlanguageradicalpress,spectaclessuchasreligiousfeasts and processions served as a clandestine ruse designed to divest the Ital-ian working class of its wages. For example, every summer, socialist and anarchistnewspapersservedtoreinforceexistingimagesofciviliza-tion and savagery in its coverage of the religious feast held at Our Lady ofMountCarmelinEastHarlem.Embarrassedandfrustratedover thebehavioroftheircountrymenandcountrywomen,Italianradical newspapers excoriated southern Italian immigrants for their gullibility and ignorance. Il Proletario asked incredulously if the orgies and fan-tasiesofthepellirosseortheottentoticouldbeanymoreinferiorto thesadspectacleourItaliancolonyhasoferedusthelastfewdays.26 Pelle rosse (redskin) was a frequently used term for Native Americans in both the mainstream and the socialist press. Referring to the language of the Khoikhoi peoples of southwestern Africa and Namibia, ottentoti derived from the Italian word ottentotto, meaning Hottentots, and was anof-usedmarkertodistinguishsavagefromcivilizedintheItalian language press during the period of mass immigration.27 Te Hearts of Immigrants Beat in Unison with Tat of Mother ItalyAn Italian civilization defned in part by the image of a black, African otherinformedtheemergenceofanItalianidentitywithinthepages of Italian language mainstream newspapers. Given that the Italian lan-guagepresssofrequentlyassociatedwhatwasconsidereduncivilized orsavagewithZulusandHottentots,itwasunsurprisingthatItalians perceived themselves as quite the opposite. And, for immigrant arrivals who did not possess a strong sense of nation or Italianness upon arrival, theItaliangovernmentslatenineteenth-centuryandearlytwentieth-century colonial wars with African countries served as a graphic exam-ple of this perceived racial hierarchy. Following the example of other European states in the late nineteenth century, Italy embarked on a colonial path into Africa. Tis was fueled by a belief that only European civilization could deliver Africa, yet African conquestwouldsolvedomesticproblemsaswell.Fortherecentlyuni-fedItaliannation,thescrambleforAfricaservedtoawakenpolitical and popular consciousness about people of color and highlighted issues 4445delDuomoinMilantodemonstrateagainstCrispi,shouting,Viva Menelik, Abbasso Crispi, and Via dallAfrica. According to Umberto Levra,apreinsurrectionaltensionexplodedinspontaneousdemon-strations in the piazzas of Italy.32 Although Italy retained the territories of Eritrea and Somalia, the defeat at Adowa remained embedded in the collective popular consciousness of Italians. Mass-produced pamphlets containing songs and poems were sold and circulated widely through-outthecountryintheafermathofAdowa.Oneparticularpamphlet, inaneforttoavengethedefeatpsychologically,drewattentiontothe periodbeforeAdowaasiftodenytheexperienceofdisaster.Entitled VittoriaItalianainAfrica(ItalianvictoryinAfrica),theepicpoem describesthehonorandvalorofItaliansoldiersastheybattledthe wicked and nasty African soldiers. Te image of the African is that of the barbarian savage who engages in military subterfuge that civilized nationssuchasItalywouldnotemployinbattle.Producedformass propaganda,thesekindsofpamphletscreatedanegativeimageofthe African that seeped into the popular mind.33Despite the disappointing outcome, Italys attempts to colonize Ethio-pia in the 1890s functioned as an important element in community for-mationwithinItalianimmigrantenclaves.34Aleafetthatwasprinted inBaltimorebyIlComitatoItaliano,anItalianimmigrantorganiza-tionthatsupportedItalyduringitsEthiopiancampaign,stressed, AlthoughthereissupportinItaly,wehereintheUnitedStateswant toassertoursolidaritywithourbrothersacrossthegreatocean.... oursentimentsaresostrongweneedtoassertourselvesasItalians.35 AddressedtoConnazionali,orcountrymen,theleafetwasdistrib-uted all over the country and even as far away as Denver, Colorado, to champion the cause of the homeland. Troughout the campaign, which hadbeguninJanuary1896,suchmanifestationsofsupportforItalian victory over African forces appeared to be ubiquitous within the Italian immigrantcommunitiesfromLawrence,Massachusetts,toChicago, Illinois.36 Italian immigrants inaugurated new ethnic organizations that began by saluting the heroic Italian soldiers in Africa and the hope for adeservedvictory.37AgroupofItalianwomeninChicagoorganized withintheethniccommunityacollectiondrivespecifcallyforthe warwithEthiopia,theproceedsofwhichweresentdirectlytoQueen MargheritaofItaly.38ItalianAmericanmenweresufcientlyinspired 4647wasimpossible.TegreatbeneftwouldbeincreatinganItalianrace on the other side of the seaa democratic society made up of propri-etary farmers.44 Afer Italys costly defeat at Adowa in 1896, Italian Americans feared that losing to an African army would not only damage Italian prestige internationally but exacerbate an already negative American perception ofItalians.Terefore,althoughAdowadidnotproducethevictorious resultdesiredbythenascentimmigrantcommunity,themainstream presscontinuedtodepictEthiopiawithraciallyinformedandbitter characterizations.Forinstance,variousnewspapersdescribedvictori-ous Ethiopians as barbaric cannibals who eat raw meat and do not wear shoes.45 LEco dItalia vividly described the physical attributes of Mene-lik,theEthiopianemperorwholedthewaragainstItaly,andempha-sizedhisfatnosewithlargenostrils,amouththatistoolargealong with large teeth that protrude outward and are very visible as soon as he opens his fat lips.46 Te Italian language mainstream press also directed somebitternesstowardEuropeancountriesthathadassistedAfrican nations with military aid. LEco dItalia lamented that through military assistancetoAfricannations,EuropeancountriessuchasRussiaand Francehadviolatedcustomanddegradedthem.RussiaandFrance havebrokentheusualagreementthatEuropeannationsdonothelp these kinds of barbarians. . . . it was understood that European nations wenttheretobringcivilizationandprogressandthatiswhatItalyis doing.47Whileincrediblyhumblingandunsuccessful,Italiancolonial eforts in Africa during 1896 provided Italian immigrants in the United Statesanopportunity,albeitbrief,toupliftheItalianrace.Itisnotat all inconceivable that the rhetoric of Italian civilizing missions in Africa amelioratedimmigrantself-consciousness,aswellasinformedacon-certed efort to impress American detractors who questioned the racial suitabilityofItalians.Onlyffeenyearslater,eventsinNorthAfrica wouldprovideItaliansinNewYorkCitywithanotheropportunityto bask in the civilized glory of the Italian race and nation. Libya and Tripoli, 19111912Afer the prospect of colonizing Ethiopia ended abruptly with the defeat of the Italians at Adowa in 1896, an opportunity to avenge this disaster 4849over a certain class of Italians: Why is Italy going to Tripolitania when it can bring civility to Italy frst. . . . It appears that the primitive tribes arehappythewaytheyareasopposedtosouthernItalianswhoare miserable.49TesmalltownofAfrico,Calabria,providedagraphicexampleof howsovversivireliedupontheimageofAfricatoconstructtheideal Italianimmigrantandindoingsoofenembracedaperceptionof Africa very similar to that of Il Progresso Italo-Americano.50 Writing in Il Proletario, Leonardo Frisina, a Calabrian and occasional contributor tothesocialistnewspaper,arguedthatItaliangovernmentalresources could be better spent at home and attacked the misdeeds of Italys colo-nial efort in Libya. To defend this premise, Frisina cited an article pub-lishedin1912inthepatrioticandinfuentialItalianjournalTribuna Illustrata. Africo, the article informed, probably received its name from thedescendantsofAfricanslaveswhowerecaptured,andpossibly escaped, during the days of the Roman Empire. Diferentiating between AfricanandItalianculture,theauthorexplainedtheuniquecustoms and practices particular to this town, such as burying pigs before eating them, stealing sheep, and begging in the streets. AccordingtoFrisina,when socialistsarguedinCalabriathere still existedbarbarousandsavagevillages,Italiannationalistshadsum-marilydismissedtheirviewsastherantofpoliticalextremists.51With some measure of sarcasm Frisina played an interesting game of logic as he attempted to expose the hypocrisy of the Italian governments colo-nialexcursions.Criticizingthepatrioticandself-aggrandizinghabits oftheItaliangovernment,andinparticulartheTribunaIllustrata(a paper that the socialists perceived as a government-subsidized mouth-piece),FrisinastatedthatifDarwincouldshowin1912thatAfricans in Calabria were nearer to orangutans than Adam and Eve, this demon-stration still would not satisfy the Tribuna Illustrata because they must always adhere to the notion that Italy is a civilized country.52 However, inaneforttocondemnthejingoisticpatriotismofajournalsuchas TribunaIllustrata,heconveyedanacceptanceoftheItalianbeliefof Africaasuncivilized:Neverwouldthey[TribunaIllustrata]saythere areuncivilizedpeopleinItaly....Infact,whentherearefeaststhese Africanpeopleselloursonsanddaughtersintoslaverytorichpeople . . . we suggest that Tribuna Illustrata advise the Italian government to 5051UltimatumtoTurkeyBlowsToday.Onlytwodayslatertheheadline read, Tripoli Ours.56 Bolletinos coverage of the confict was not unlike that of other Italian language mainstream dailies that draped their front pages with news about the war, Italian soldiers, and international reac-tion. Tis coverage lasted for several months and created an opportunity for Italian language newspapers to build upon the virtues of Italians, the narrative of Italian civilization, and, more broadly, the continued con-struction of an Italian racial identity. Te mainstream press was keenly awareofpastmilitaryfailuresinNorthAfrica,particularlythedefeat at Adowa in 1896. Frequent allusions to Adowa rationalized the defeat as a function of weak national will, while others referenced how these perceptionsremainedmisguided.Eitherway,Italysdefeatonlyffeen yearsearliertoEthiopianforcesremainedfresh.Althoughthefailed colonial venture in Ethiopia in the 1890s rallied a nascent nationalism among immigrant Italians, the bitter defeat to Meneliks forces certainly stung those Italians in the United States who hoped to gain a measure ofrespectfromimperialistventuresabroad.Newspapercoverageof Italian ventures in Libya in 1911 and 1912 served a crucial role in solidi-fyinganemergingnationalistidentity,whilesimultaneouslyfunction-ing to infuence American perceptions of Italians.Unsurprisingly,themainstreampressportrayedItalysmotivesin initiating military actions in Libya as noble and unselfsh. Some ratio-naleswentasfarasimplyingthatItalywasareluctantaggressor,only becoming involved out of patriarchal obligation to reconstitute a father-lessfamily.57IlProgressodeclaredthatItalysglorioustricolorfag would open the eyes of faraway people in a new era of redemption. Its not the cannon that pushes Italy in Tripoli, but the voice of conscience that brings us to the land of Mohammed to bring a new civility. Provi-dence will guide this patriotic action and vile are the people that try to stop the glorious sons of Italy.58 Bolletino della Sera agreed, stating that every honest person who knows the situation has to credit the Italians inthatItalydoesnotaskforgloryinvictoryoverTurks,butsimply wants to end the brutality and protect justice and its people.59 IntensecoverageoftheLibyanconfictlitteredthepagesofItalian mainstream newspapers and ofered editors and owners a ready-made opportunitytoassertItaliancivilization.AlthoughnorthernAfri-canshadsometimesbeendistinguishedfromcentralAfricans,inthis 5253confused as to how American journals could possibly defend savagery overcivilization.HighlightingdiferencesbetweenWestern,civilized, andChristiannationsandMuslimcountries,IlProgressoreminded Western newspapers of Turkish massacres in Armenia and added, Te diferencebetweenItaliancivilizationsisthatwetreatallpeoplethe same way.67

Mainstream owners and editors interpreted events in Tripoli within the context of an emerging collective identity as Italians informed by an italianita generated from their experience in the United States. And, as theyhaddoneinthepast,theytooktheleadinstoking,andinmany respects creating, a collective Italian racial consciousness. LAraldo Ital-ianodescribedthejubilantdisplaysofItalianswhoseexcitementand pride over the Italian conquest sent the papers editions, along with its evening journal, Il Telegrafo, fying of the newsstands. Refective of the importanceandreachoftheimmigrantpresswithinItaliancolonies, LAraldo stated, Whoever has a newspaper and everyone has one in theItaliancommunityreadsaloudthelatestnewstoeveryone.68By March,readerscouldseefull-pageadvertisementspeddlingthelat-estillustratededitionsofthetrueandcompletehistoryoftheItalian andTurkishWar.69AkintoColumbusDaycelebrationsandexhorta-tions to have Italian language taught in New York City schools, propri-etorssuchasBarsottiorganizedsubscriptiondrivestocollectmoney insupportofItaliansoldiersandtheirfamilies.OnesuchdriveinIl Progresso in December 1911 pointed to the colonies meritorious char-ity to the race and listed the names of donors who were instrumental inrenewingtheancientgloryofRomeintheirsupportofTripolis conquest.70 LAraldo Italiano also ran a public subscription drive urging ItalianimmigrantstosupportthecausewiththeheadlineForHeart, Patriotism, and National Dignity.71 Quick to point out the fervency of theNewYorkCityItaliancoloniesinsupportoftheTripoliinvasion, newspapers reported that the hearts of immigrants beat in unison with that of mother Italy.72 Althoughloathtoadmitit,prominentisoughttocapitalizeonthis momentofconquest,especiallyduringthiscrucialperiod,bytracing ItalysinvasionofTripoliaspartofalegacyofimperialistconquest stretchingbacktoancientRome.Articlesladenwithjingoisticlan-guagecelebratedhowmilitaryconquestwouldserveasredemption 5455racialpride.Prominentiinterpretedmilitaryventureswithinthemost gloriousexampletheycouldconjure:theRomanEmpire.Inthepro-cess, the glory of Rome would serve as an instrumental force in healing the emotional and political wounds still lingering from the humiliation atAdowa.ConsistentwithsubscriptiondrivestohonorItalianheroes suchasColumbusandDante,orefortstohavetheItalianlanguage taught in New York City schools, proprietors such as Barsotti and Fru-gone tapped into the glory of Rome as a strategy in identity formation wellbeforeBenitoMussolinisrisetopowerinthe1920s.Withaneye toward an American audience, as much as the Italian immigrant com-munity, the prominenti press perceived and transmitted military domi-nance of an African country not only as evidence of Italian civilization but as a venture that was seamlessly rooted in the newly imagined Ital-ian past. >>57 3Native Americans, Asians, and Italian AmericansConstructions of a Multilayered Racial ConsciousnessIn 1891, roughly three months afer the murder of eleven Italian men in NewOrleans,Louisiana,sixmonthsafertheU.S.militarysmassacre of Sioux men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, and less than a yearafertheU.S.CensusBureaudeclaredthattheAmericanfrontier had been settled, Il Progresso Italo-Americano published an illuminating article titled I Pelle Rossa (Te red skin) in its expanded Sunday sup-plemental edition. Try to imagine the endless prairies and plains that stretch to the West of the populous cities of the United States, Giuseppe Balbi wrote. Tis is the home of the red skins. Balbis article presented a sweeping portrait of Native Americans lives in the United States and their dim prospects for survival in the future. Positioning Native Amer-icans, or redskins (pelle rosse), as the press consistently identifed them, beyond the boundaries of civilization, Balbis article ofered remarkable insight into how the Italian language press constructed race, color, and civilization during the early years of mass immigration.1Tischapterexaminesthepresssperceptionoftwogroupsthat generallyremainedoutsideItalianimmigrantcirclesoffamiliar-itybutnonethelessattractedattentionwithinthepagesoftheItalian languagepress:NativeAmericansandAsianAmericans.Tisconver-sationoccurredduringanintenseperiodofcrisisinnationalidentity sparked in no short order by the infux of eastern and southern Europe-ans whose race and color were dissected, questioned, and feared.2 Ofen infuenced by issues and events relevant to their own predicament and experienceintheUnitedStates,thepressteaseddiferentmeanings from the plight and future of Native Americans and Asian Americans. Forexample,althoughNativeAmericans(pellerose[redskins])and 5859andmalleableconstructionofcivilizationandsavagerytosuittheir owncommunitysneeds.DespiteChineseandJapanesesocietalmar-ginalizationandnonwhiteness,theItalianlanguagepressusedAmer-icascontinuedexclusionoflarazzagiallaasanotheropportunityto chideAmericanracialandeconomicprejudice.UnlikeNativeAmer-icans,defnedasoutsidecivilizedsociety,thismutualinterestserved toinformamuchmorepositiveviewofAsianAmericans,whowere described as worthy representatives of civilization. However,asisdemonstratedmorefullyinsubsequentchapters, prominenti newspapers, in particular, sharpened an ever-evolving racial outlookastheybecamemoreeruditeinthelessonsofAmericanrace and color. By the World War I period, the black/white divide emerged ascentraltothisequation.UnwillingtoconsistentlydefendAsian AmericansfromwhiteAmericantransgressions,prominentipapers chose instead to direct their wrath at eforts to stigmatize Italians as not part of the white American mainstream. Viewing race and civilization along a more simplistic, and rigid, binary of white and black, the Italian language mainstream press advocated for Italian whiteness to the exclu-sion of any group defned as the darker other. Pelle Rosse At the very moment when Italian immigrants began to fll Ellis Islands immigrationprocessinghallandsuferthemostextremeformsof prejudice in the form of lynching, Native Americansthe frst Ameri-cansenduredthelatestphaseofwhiteAmericanaggression.On December 29, 1890, members of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry regiment, led byColonelJamesForsyth,indiscriminatelymassacredapproximately 150LakotaSiouxmen,women,andchildren,woundinganadditional 50 at Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reserva-tioninSouthDakota.Temassacrewasbutone,albeitbrutal,aspect of a larger pattern of violence, deception, and extermination of Indian tribesthatoccurredintermittentlyoverthecourseofthenineteenth century.Lessthanthreemonthslater,Italianlanguagenewspapers explodedoverthegruesomenewsthatelevenItalians,acquittedof murderingNewOrleanspolicechiefDavidHennessy,hadbeenbru-tally and summarily murdered by a mob of local whites. For prominenti 6061inhabited by people descended from European races, or did there exist [there] a population of pelle rosse?7 Italian immigrant readers revealed afamiliaritywiththesecategories.InaletterwrittentoIlProgresso Italo-Americanoshortlyaferthe1891lynching,A.Gentiniexpressed his outrage against the crimes committed . . . by the Pelli Rossi of New Orleans, declaring them the shame of the 19th century and assaults against civilization by barbarism.8 Ironically,themainstreampressdidnotexemptItalianimmigrants from its harsh judgment and criticism. An article titled Scenes of Sav-agerydescribedhowamobintheItalianAmericancommunityin Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, took the law into its own hands and viciously attackedanotherpaesanoaccusedofimpropersexualrelationswitha fourteen-year-old girl. Il Progresso remarked that the men surrounded the accused and began a savage ceremony of deathacting and dancing like Indians, singing songs of death. . . . the sad fact is that certain of our countrymenhavenothingtoenvyfromthePelliRosse.9Inusingthe trope of the savage pelle rosse to convey its disappointment and disgust, IlProgressoservedtoscold,andinmanywayscaution,Italianimmi-grantsbyoferingagraphicexampleofuncivilizedbehaviordeemed unacceptable to Italians. * * *InthelatenineteenthcenturytheAmericanWestandthefrontier elicitedromanticvisionsintheEuropeanimaginationandintheItal-ian mind. Te great plains of the United States represented virgin lands that had been conquered by the army of progress, leaving behind the remnants of a dwindling Native American population. AlthoughItalianimmigrantsinNewYorkCityandNativeAmeri-canshadverylimitedinteraction,sensationalstoriesrelatedtoNative AmericansranintermittentlywithintheItalianlanguagepressand evokedscenesmimickingpopularimagesofthewildandsavagepelle rosse. In 1891, Il Progresso Italo-Americano gave wide coverage to a sad account of two young Italian immigrants, Alfonso Lauriano and Fran-cesco Schetti, fghting in the U.S. Seventh Cavalry Regiment at Fort Sill, IndianTerritory,Oklahoma.InlinewithownerCarloBarsottispen-chantforhighlightingcrimesagainstItalians,itcouldnothavebeen 6263lumpenproletariat,atasteofthesavageWest.14AferNaples,Cody tookhisshowtoRome,wherehisarrivalwaswidelyanticipated. Immense trafc jams developed throughout Italys capital city as thou-sands of carriages tried to make their way to the Monte Mario district to capture a glimpse of the makeshif Indian village constructed for the show. Constructing a nascent and newly emergent class-based italianita coming out of Italian unifcation that owed much to exalted notions of Italiancivilizationandrace,prominentinewspaperscloselyfollowed Codys tour, with front-page coverage containing headlines such as Te Wild West in Rome and replete with schedules detailing his arrival in Italian cities.15 In addition, these stories ofen appeared alongside front-page reports of Italys colonial ventures in Africa. Given the Italian civ-ilizingmissionunderwayinAfricainthe1890s,thiswasareceptive message among Italian language newspapers struggling with immigrant acceptanceintheUnitedStates.FortheItalianmiddleclass,ingen-eral, Bufalo Bill represented military conquest and, in some ways, the AmericanequivalentofItalianKingVictorEmmanuelIIorfolkhero GiuseppeGaribaldi.16TeromanceoftheWildWestShowssuggested and reinforced notions that the forces of nature ordain the advance of civilization and progress against the insidiousness of barbarians.17 Unlike their critical view of white American oppression toward Afri-canAmericansduringthisperiod,mainstreamnewspaperstepidly responded to atrocities committed against Native Americans perceived to live outside the boundaries of civilization. For radical papers, such as Il Proletario, class considerations remained dominant despite position-ing Native Americans as pelle rosse. Te newspaper steadfastly critiqued capitalismandcolonialismbycallingattentiontotheUnitedStates stainedhistoryofrelationswithbothAfricanAmericansandNative Americans: TebourgeoismakethelawsintheirfavorsothatwhenanAmerican orEuropeanbourgeoiswanttotakesomethingtheyfndanyexcuse. InAmerica,itwasthattheIndiansdidntcultivatetheland;inAfrica thepretextwasthattheywerebarbariansandsavages....thesitua-tion becomes worse every day so that the poor Indians, who were own-ers of the land, are now described as savage beasts to be massacred and tortured.18 6465upon what was viewed as a hybrid union at the time, the paper scorn-fully described these Indians as savage beings who resist every attempt atcivilizationaswellashumanitariansentiment.24Foraprominenti presswrestlingwithattemptstofashionanItalianAmericanidentity deemedacceptablebywhiteAmericans,NativeAmericanswillingly and stubbornly squandered their chance at civilization. Referring to the dwindling Ute tribe in Montana, Il Progresso feared that race hatred is veryprofoundinthesefewrepresentativesofthisveryunhappyrace whohaverefusedthecivilizationoftheinvaders.25Balbineatlysum-marizedtheviewpointofthemainstreampresswhenhearguedthat the nomadic life means that they [Indians] do not dedicate themselves toindustryoragriculture....thisisthewaytheIndiansofAmerica are,whoserace,becauseofitsresistancetothecivilizingprocess,a resistance more tenacious than that of Africans, is destined to be extin-guished in the not too distant future.26 Inthe1909bookGliAmericaninellavitamodernaosservatida unitaliano,writtenbyAlbertoPecorini,thefutureeditorofIlCitta-dinodedicatesachaptertitledUnaRazzacheMuore(Adyingrace) toexplainthedisappearanceofNativeAmericans.Ponderinghowto incorporate this race among whites, Pecorini concludes that maybe the most generous thing we can do is let them die out.27 Troughout the periodofmassimmigration,itappearsquiteobviousthattheItalian languagemainstreampress,inlinewithamajorityofAmericansoci-ety,didnotenvisionalongexistenceforthepellerosse.Immediately afer Wounded Knee in 1891, Il Progresso critiqued the United States for onlyprolongingwhatwasinevitable:Whytheydonthavethecour-age to terminate this unequal opera of destruction with a general mas-sacre and end it once and for all. . . . it would be better to shorten the Indians agony.28 In 1914, an article in Il Progresso titled Te Last Red-skin: A Race Destined to Expire became an unintentional bookend to GiuseppeBalbis1891synopsisofNativeAmericans.Balbisconfdent prediction in 1891 that the pelle rosse were soon to be extinguished was confrmed, albeit wistfully, by Il Progresso: At the time of the discovery ofAmericathepellerossewerecountedbythemillions,nowtheyare counted at approximately 350,000. You do not have to be a prophet to know that these people are destined to vanish. In two or three genera-tions there will no longer be any representatives of the pelle rosse who 6667TeodoreRooseveltinPortsmouth,NewHampshire,GiuseppeSergi, a prominent Sicilian-born anthropologist, authored an article in Il Pro-gressotitledTeYellowRace.ViewingJapanasarisingpower,the articleprobedthegeopoliticalandsocialramifcationsofitsmilitary victory over Russia. Sergi did not agree with some in the United States whofearedayellowperilthreateningthesafetyoftheUnitedStates and Europe; rather, he interpreted Japans burgeoning hegemony in the Pacifc as a positive result of the war. Even though they [the Japanese] arethedominantpowerintheOrient,itisagoodthingsinceitwill preservetheAsiaticracewhichhashadcivilizationforthousandsof years, commented Sergi.31 Regarding China, Sergi maintained that the yellow race possessed a history of civilization that enabled it not to be bullied by white European colonialism: TemethodsofcolonialismthatEuropenevertiresoffromtreat-ingindigenouspeoplesasinferior,orusingconqueredpeopleaswork horses or worsewill not be possible in China. Tis is so because China as a nation is not comprised of primitive tribes like those of the Damara or the Daomei of Africa. In China the Europeans have shown to be less civilized than the Chinese, who are extremely civilized. In fact, if Europe weretoconquerChinaitwouldbeadisasterforhumanity,areturnto barbarism,andwoulddestroyoneofthemostancientandimportant models of world civilization.32Inafront-pagearticle,IlProgressomaintainedthatJapanexhibited all the tenets of a progressive civilized race, including European nations suchasItaly:InJapanpopulareducationfourishesandpeoplein Americaareafraidofayellowperil!...Terearemanyschoolsand illiteracy is very low, especially if compared to Russia and Italy. . . . it has alltheelementsofcivilizationinitsevolution....TisiswhatJapan teaches usit is civility in its highest form.33 Yet, despite these positive perceptions, at times the Italian language pressdidstrugglewiththeinherenttensionofimplyingracialequal-ityamonglarazzagiallaandtheUnitedStatesorEurope.Praisefor JapaneseorChinesecivilizationwasofentemperedbyanemphasis that Westerners had imparted civilization to Asian peoples. As coverage of Japan and China increased during the period of the Russo-Japanese 6869andPoleswillleavethisbestiallabortootherracespossiblytheChi-neseand rise above this bloody toil in favor of the kind of work per-formedbythemoreevolvedraces.38WithinIlionsracialhierarchy the constant infux of immigrants into the United States had created a levelingoftheracesbybringinglesscivilizedpeoplesintocontact with more evolved people.39 It is this motivation that prompted Ilions disclaimer that my observations are not here to create hate or confict betweenracesbutarejustplainbyalltosee.Tisiswhysocialismis not restricted to some races, but rather involves all humanity.40 Tere-fore,somewhatillogically,Ilionarguedfortheinsignifcanceofracial diference by delineating how racial diference would directly lead to a socialist society. Race-Based Immigration RestrictionAlthoughentitledtolegalentryandnaturalizationunderthe1790 immigrationlawthatpermittedanyalienbeingafreewhiteperson, Italianimmigrantsconsistentlyconfrontedaccusationsimpugning their racial characteristics and suitability for citizenship. White Ameri-cansofenusedunfatteringcomparisonstopeopleofcolorasavital componentindisparagingItalianimmigrants.Althoughthemost immediateandsalientcomparisonswouldbetoAfricanAmericans, itwasnotunusualforAmericanstodescribeItalianunskilledlabor-ers as the Chinese of Europe. One Italian American editor in Detroit maintained,Italiansaremaltreated,mocked,scorned,disdained, andabusedineveryway.TeinferiorityoftheItaliansisbelievedto bealmostthatoftheAsiatics.However,oneissuethatafectedboth communities,althoughtomuchdiferentdegrees,andseeminglycre-atedmutualsympathyremainedtheareaofimmigrationrestriction and exclusion. Vigilant against attempts to target their race for restric-tion, Italian language newspapers remained wary of attacks such as the onefromaGermanlanguagenewspaperinChicagothat,borrowing a phrase from a certain Anglo-American newspaper labeling Italians the Chinese of the East, justifed its desire for immigration restriction fromItalybycitingtheChineseexclusionlaws.41TeItalianlanguage pressfoundcommonalityinrestrictionlawstargetingspecifcgroups for exclusion, and this became a crucial factor in informing a divergent 7071immigrants,RooseveltsperceptionoftheJapaneseracewasgenerally positive,butinformedaswellbytheirstatusasarisinginternational power.Attemptingtoavoidaninternationalincident,Rooseveltand SecretaryofStateElihuRootbrokeredwithJapanwhatcommonly became known as the Gentlemens Agreement. In efect, the agreement consisted of six notes exchanged over 1907 and 1908 outlining that the Japanesegovernmentwouldnotissuepassportsforlaborersheaded tothecontinentalUnitedStates.Underthreatofalawsuit,Roosevelt pushedtheleadersfromCaliforniaslegislatureandSanFranciscos schoolboardtodiscontinuethepolicyofsegregationwithrespectto Japanese schoolchildren. On paper the Gentlemens Agreement barred further Japanese immigration to the United States; in practice, however, variousloopholes,suchastheimmigrationofpicturebrides,allowed theJapanesepopulationtoexpand.Forexample,theU.S.Censusof 1900 listed 24,788 people of Japanese origin, but that number increased to 67,744 in 1910 and 81,502 in 1920.45For radical papers such as Il Proletario, Asian Americans, particularly JapaneseAmericanslivinginCalifornia,ftnicelywithinaworking-class narrative that never properly suited Native Americans. According to Il Proletario, exclusionary legislation aimed at Asian Americans sim-plyrefectedthecapitalistclasssattempttoscapegoatChineseimmi-grantsfortheeconomicproblemsfacingthenation.Tecapitalists liedtoAmericansandtradeunionsalikeinaneforttomanipulate theAmericanpublicandconcealtheirownactions,claimingthatthe Chinese,whomtheydescribedasaninferiorrace,dressedinflthy Chineseclothes,andeconomizedtheirwagesinordertosenditback to China.46 Il Proletario targeted capitalisms pernicious exploitation of theworkerastherootoftheseinjustices.Terefore,evenimmigrants whoallowedthemselvestobeusedasreplacementworkersdeserved criticismfortheirshortsightedeconomicoutlook.AccordingtoIl Proletario,Wehavescabsfromeverynationality.Tescabdoesnot recognize a country and the exploitation of capitalism has no national-ity.47 Te Italian Socialist Federation maintained that part of the reason that most unions and newspapers, such as the Masons and Bricklayers UnioninPittsburgh,Pennsylvania,supportedChineseexclusionwas directlyrelatedtothestrongcompetitiontheChineseposedtoman-ual labor in the United States. Pressing for a class-based, transnational 7273Franz Sigel, in an apartment on West Forty-Eighth Street in Manhattan. Miss Sigel was found stufed into a trunk with a rope tightened around herneck.TeNewYorkTimesreportedthatLungLin(alsoknown asWilliamLeon)andChungSin,theChinamenwhooccupiedthe apartment,hadvanishedandcouldnotbefoundbypolice.54Sigel,a nineteen-year-oldwhitewomanwhohailedfromamiddle-classNew Yorkfamily,wasdescribedbytheTimesasamissionaryworkeron the east side who was lured to the home of the Chinamen.55 Trough letters recovered by the New York City Police Department, it appeared that Miss Sigel may have been involved in a love triangle with Mr. Leon and Chi Gain, a manager of a nearby Mott Street restaurant. Unlike most of the New York press, which latched onto Sigels mur-der in a sensational manner that refected, in part, the publics obsession andferceconcernwithinterracialrelationshipsduringthisperiod,Il ProgressoremarkedthatthistypeofhybridunionbetweenChinese and Americans was not something entirely new in Brooklyn.56 In fact, marriages between members of the la razza gialla and Americans, usu-ally in the form of missionary Sunday school instructors marrying their Chinesestudents,hadoccurredsincethelate1880s.57Instead,IlPro-gressoexpressedgreatsurprisethathybridunionsofthissortcould stilloccurintheUnitedStates,whereracialprejudiceisasdeeply rootedasanywhereintheworld.Furtherastonishingwasthatthese unions occurred across class lines as these schools had been frequented not by wealthy Chinese men but predominantly by men from humble andmodesteconomicbackgroundsworkinginlaundries,orasser-vants and cooks.58 Il Progressos interpretation of the Sigel case is a clear example of how themainstreamand,toalesserextent,theradicalpressperceiveda changingraciallandscapewithintheUnitedStatesduringtheperiod of 1910 through 1920. Il Progressos surprise that hybrid unions could still occur in New York City, despite their presence since the 1880s, indi-catesareworkingoftherace/colorhierarchy.Insodoing,IlProgresso refectedthepresssownprogressiontowardalessnuancedandmore simplisticconstructionofraceandcolorwhereonesrace(American, Chinese,Italian)becameevenmoreintimatelyfastenedtoonescolor (white,yellow,swarthy).Surprisedthatasocietysodeeplyrootedin racial prejudice would allow a union between Americans and Chinese, 7475immigration laws requiring certain qualifcations of the Japanese and ChinesewereracespecifcdoctrinesappliedtomembersoftheAsi-atic(yellow)raceandnotaskedofthoseEuropeansoftheCaucasian race. Unlike mainstream newspapers, Giovannittis indictment of capi-talism and the U.S. government did not abate. Yet incorporated within thiscritiqueGiovannittiplacedsomeblameonAsiansfortheirown exclusion. According to Giovannitti, the Japanese in the West are com-pletelysegregatedbecausethereistoomuchdiferencebetweentheir race and the yankee race. Tis owed mostly to the fact that Asians did not have the faculty and the willingness to assimilate to the host culture due to racial diferences.59 Tis rhetorical approach spoke to the radi-cal tendency to privilege class, but it ofen indirectly acknowledged that categories of race and color remained equal obstacles to full inclusion. Moreover, Giovannitti clearly links Europeans to Caucasian/white and Asianstoyellow,furthercementingtheintimateconnectionbetween race and color during this period. Conversely,themainstreampresspracticedacautiousapproach towardAsianimmigrationrestrictionthatrefectedtheincreasingly rigidrace/colorparadigminwhichChineseandJapaneseremained marked as the yellow race. Mainstream newspapers such as Il Progresso expressedconcernthatlawssinglingoutChineselaborerscould,if passed,givetheimpressionthatweareagainstChineseofallclasses andthattheguidingimpulseofthebillisracialprejudice.Tenews-paperacknowledgedthediversityofracesandculturesarrivingfrom various parts of the globe and stated that the immigration laws should be applied with fexible methods so as not to damage or ofend the sen-sibilities of any one people. However, despite a rather tepid warning in 1908 that exclusionary laws governing Chinese immigration to Ameri-can territories were in open opposition to the principles of the republic andthespiritofourinstitutions,themainstreampresssoondiscov-ered the difculty in maintaining full-throated racial support for Asian inclusion.60 ConcernedwithAmericanassaultsonItalianracialsuitability,the mainstreamItalianlanguagepressremainedreluctanttoextollthe virtues of Japanese and Chinese civilization as a qualifcation for their inclusion.ProminentiopposedCaliforniasproposedAsianrestric-tion laws in a superfcial, self-interested manner as any hints of a racial 7677in American society.66 More to the point, Bolletino della Sera quoted a report from the Times of London that exonerated California exclusion-ists of racial profling by stating that these tendencies are not provoked by race hate, but rather by the instinct of self-preservation. Te paper perspicaciouslyobservedwithsomeconfdencethatalthoughJapan wantedtobetreatedthesameaswesternnations,thepeopleofthe white race have no intention of recognizing these rights.67 Despiterationalizationspointingtoself-preservationratherthan race hate as the motivating factor behind the Alien Land Bill, it became increasinglyapparentthatwhiteness,anditsperceivedboundaries, playedtheprimaryrole.ForItalianAmericanmainstreamnewspa-perspromotingtheItalianraceascivilizedandwhite,racialdefenses insupportoflarazzagiallawouldbecomeimpossibletomaintain. AstherhetoricsurroundingAsianexclusionheatedupbetween1910 and 1920, Bolletino della Sera chose to highlight the words of Anthony Caminetti,anItalianAmericanstatesenatorfromCalifornia.Cami-nettiwasnotjustanotherstatesenatorbuthadbeenonlythesecond Italian American to serve in Congress (18911895) in the United States, and the frst from outside New York. Although many in New York City maynothaveheardofCaminetti,Bolletinosdecisiontocitehisviews probably owed much to prominenti pride in Caminett