Your response is greater than what’s done to you
Jersey City: Voicer Jamie Geiger is “sick and tired” of hearing about the trials and tribulations that the immigrant ancestors of “upper-class neighbors” experienced. Geiger concludes the absurd rant by asking if our ancestors pulled themselves up under the same conditions that Black Americans have experienced. Geiger is in dire need of a history lesson. Italian immigrants suffered immensely, including being lynched. For example, on March 11, 1891, 11 Italian-Americans and immigrants in New Orleans were murdered by a mob for their alleged role in the killing of police chief David Hennessy. This was one of the largest single mass-lynchings in American history. Two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco (far right) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (near right), were wrongly accused, jailed and executed for murdering a security guard and a paymaster during a robbery. While Joe DiMaggio thrilled New York with his hitting streak in 1941, his parents were classified as “enemy aliens.” They were required to carry photo ID booklets at all times and were not allowed to travel outside a five-mile radius from their home without a permit. Joltin’ Joe’s father was barred from San Francisco Bay, where he had fished for decades, and the U.S. government confiscated his boat.
The discrimination and deformation of those of us with Italian ethnicity continue to this very day. Hollywood still takes liberties by portraying Italians as gangsters and Mafiosi. Perhaps Geiger is “upset” that the ancestors of upper-class neighbors overcame adversity and they actually made something of their lives instead of simply whining and complaining.