Southern Italian Immigration Analysis

Southern Italians, upon receiving political, cultural, and social discrimination and mistreatment in their own home nation sought out a better life in the United States beginning in the early 1860s after Italy 's unification. Spurned by their own government, they came to America hoping that life would turn around for them. Unfortunately, this would prove not to be the case because until the end of the Second World War Southern Italian immigrants would face extreme discrimination by the American government and its citizens. The largest questions one should ask when attempting to understand this complicated history are: What factors led Southern Italians to feel it necessary to immigrate to America and why was the experience of Northern Italians so different? How were Southern Italian immigrants treated/discriminated against upon their arrival in the United States? Up until now, Italian American immigrant history has not been a particularly popular subject, studied by only a small handful of dedicated scholars. Most of the general population’s understanding of Italian immigration comes in the form of mafia themed media, such as popular films like The Godfather which depicts a …show more content…
He learned about most of this history through his research for his novel. He brings to attention some of the far darker examples of the treatment of Italians in America, such as lynching and mass arrests of Italian immigrants. He explains that information was critical to his research for his work and the piece overall does a good job of explaining the history while also getting readers involved in a sort of discussion on the often forgotten history of Italian discrimination in