The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times July 2014 | Page 98

under lava, thereby forcing a wave of
immigration to America.
Along with poverty, the heritage of
Sicilians also assaulted their reputation.
In 831 AD the Moors, dark-skinned
Arabs, entered and dominated Palermo,
and other major cities on the island. The
Moorish reign lasted for 230 years.
During that time there was much racial
mixing that occurred. As a result,
Northern Italians tend to look upon
Sicilians as people of color. If being
perceived as poor, dirty, and being
treated inferior because of race isn’t
enough, Sicilians are also suspected of
being criminals. La Cosa Nostra, or the
Mafia, was born in Palermo in the mid
19th Century. Still today, some areas of
Sicily are not under the full control of the
legal government, but are run by the
Mafia. The belief that all Sicilian
families, whether they live in the U.S. or
in their native land, must be in some
way related to the mob, continues to live
on in the thinking of some. During the
early 1900s, a wave of Italian and Sicilian
immigrants entered the U.S. There was a
cost to admission though, because the
immigrant had to declare the amount of
money they were bringing with them
into the country. Those without funds
were turned away. The average Northern
Italian’s declaration was $23.53 while
Sicilian’s averaged only $8.67. Those
without funds were known to attempt to
sneak into the country without proper
documentation.
Immigrants without papers became
known by their initials “WOP.” The
terms Wop, Dago (refers to dirty), and
Guinea (derived from “Guinea Negro”)
were labels assigned to Sicilians because
of their dark complexion by those who

considered themselves to be Anglos,
such as Northern Italians. Other ethnic
slurs for both Italians and Sicilians have
entered the American lexicon. Goombah
(a thug or Mafioso), and Guido or
Guidette (Northern term referring to
Italians who try to portray a mafia
mentality) are once Sicilian and Italian
heritage. Discrimination in any form has
never made much sense to me, so it is
difficult to say exactly why some Italians
might want to carry a bias against
Sicilians, other than the fact that they
were historically conditioned to do so. It
is always difficult to justify the
oppression of a group of people unless
you can find a few reasons to feel as
though you are superior to them, and I
am certain the Italians have their
reasons.
Sources:http://www.italiamerica.org/id
49.htmhttp://www.gentracer.com/histo
ry.html - See more at:
http://www.usaonrace.com/stickywicket-questions/2313/why-are-italiansprejudiced-againstsicilians#sthash.hrUXaJ22.dpuf