Sample Chapter from Italian Pride: 101 Reasons to be Proud You're Italian
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10. Immigrants (Cont.)
At that time, Italians faced widespread discrimination and found little work outside menial labor. In 1910 a city official spoke candidly of why Italians were so welcome in New York: "We want someone to do the dirty work: the Irish aren't doing it any longer." The propensity of the new immigrants to undertake backbreaking work has led a distinguished American historian to write: "The greatest metropolis in the world rose from the sweat and misery of Italian labor."And yet, of course, there is a silver, even golden, lining to the dark cloud of conditions that greeted the early Italian immigrants. As Italians throughout the twentieth century, became more and more integrated into the cultural quilt that is contemporary America, they deeply influenced its culture and history, as many of the 101 chapters of this book indicate. Our food, our architecture, our music, our art, our education, our law, our politics, our sports, our films-indeed virtually every aspect of contemporary life-has been influenced by the talent, vision, and energy of the Italian immigrant spirit. That spirit is embodied in the lyrics of this anonymous "Song of the Emigrants," first published in 1881:In tatters, in great herds we in pain beyond belief journeyed to the vast and distant land.Some of us did drown.Some of us did die of privation.But for every ten that perished a thousand survived and endured.All of us who are descendants of those who died, as well as those who survived and endured, take great pride in the indomitable will and courage of the Italian immigrants.
