Sociology concepts and applications

¶ … Blood of My Blood: The Dilemma of the Italian-Americans," by Richard Gambino. Specifically, it will identify and discuss several important themes in the book, and how the author presented his arguments.

BLOOD OF MY BLOOD: A STUDY

Ethnicity is made of a community that is cultural and psychological, not necessarily geographic."

With his book, "Blood of my Blood," Gambino attempts to change the publics' perception of Italian-Americans, and encourage more empathy with their problems and their culture. It was first written in 1975, but is still extremely relevant and topical today. "Richard Gambino, an Italian-American scholar, complained that 'the white elite has shown little understanding of Italian-American history, culture, or problems and less empathy with them'" (Feagin 108). Gambino covers every aspect of Italian-American life, from sex, family, and Italian culture, to what its like to be an Italian-American in the U.S. today. He tries to break up existing stereotypes, and show Italian-Americans in a different light.

The book is partly a study of Gambino's own life, growing up in Red Hook, Brooklyn in a "typical" Italian-American family, and partly a study of Italian-Americans as a whole. Gambino speaks of how Italian-Americans tend to cluster together in their own sections of a city, called "Little Italies." Gambino gives us figures and numbers, but more than that, he gives us an intimate look at the family, the culture, and the strong ties to home that each Italian-American carry with them. "At least 85% of the total of Italians who immigrated to the United States, and perhaps 90% of those who came in the great flood of immigration from 1875 to 1920 were from areas south and east of Rome" (Gambino 3).

Family life was one of the most important traditions to these people, and their retained their strong sense of family when they immigrated to the United States. These family ties extended to distant cousins, aunts, uncles, and others, all of whom made up the extended family and members were referred to as "blood of my blood." Most of these immigrants had been peasants in Italy, and continued their culture much has they had in the old country. "(The southern Italian peasant] despised as a scomunicato (pariah) anyone in any family who broke the ordine della famiglia or otherwise violated the onore (honor, solidarity, tradition, 'face') of the family" (Gambino, 4). Gambino sees three layers of family commitment, which are shown here:

From top to bottom: 1. family members, "blood of my blood," 2. compari and padrini and their female equivalents, commare and madrine ("godparents," a relationship that was by no means limited to those who were godparents in the Catholic religious rites... And which would better translate as "intimate friends" and "venerated elders"), 3. amici or amici di cappello (friends to whom one tipped one's hat or said "hello"), meaning those whose family status demanded respect, and 4. stranieri (strangers), a designation for all others (Gambino 20-21).

Religion also plays an extremely important part in these immigrants' lives, and continues to be extremely important today. These people were deeply religious, but not as deeply devout to their Catholic Church. Gambino says they show their disapproval of the Church as "attitudes of familiar contempt" (Gambino 229), and that "The parish priest appeared to be regarded as a functionary who performed the necessary rites of baptism, marriages, and funerals" (Gambino 229). Because of this, the traditional Catholic Churches in America did not accept many immigrants, and they petitioned for their own churches, run by Italian priests. Soon, these Italian-American Catholic churches existed in most areas heavily populated by immigrants, especially New York City.

One of the biggest stereotypes Gambino sets out to break is the stereotype of the almost exclusive Italian connection to the Mafia family and organized crime. While the Italian and Sicilian Mafias do exist in the United States, Gambino insists they are not any larger or more involved in crime than any other ethnic group. Author Joe Feagin quotes Gambino on the Mafia and crime rates among Italian-Americans. "To put the matter simply, there is no evidence that current Italian-American crime rates are higher than those of other major ethnic groups. With far less than 1% of Italian-Americans falling into the 'gangster' category, the ludicrousness of that stereotype is evident. Crime in the United States, organized or otherwise, remains a multi-ethnic phenomenon" (Feagin 115)

In the past few years the Mafioso rivals the cowboy as the chief figure in American folklore, and the Mafia rivals the old American frontier as a resource for popular entertainment. The problems presented by the image of a monolithic, criminal Italian subculture called the Mafia, among the most severe and persistent difficulties which Italian-Americans have had to face, now overshadow all other obstacles to Italian-Americans in overcoming their predicament in the United States (Gambino 274).

Gambino sees this stereotype, made so popular in "The Godfather," by Mario Puzo, as a serious slander on all Italian-Americans. Sadly, most Americans seem to think this is the only occupation for the head of any Italian or Sicilian family. While the stereotype is lingering, Gambino tries hard to dispel it, and show that the Italian love of family does not always translate into a Mafia-style family; in fact, the percentage of Mafia families among Italian-Americans is very small. His straightforward comments about this stereotype and its origins can do a lot to dispel the "Mafia myth," and make people more aware of the danger and unfairness of using stereotypes to identify any ethnic group.

Does Gambino succeed in his goal of changing the perceptions of Americans about Italian-Americans? In a word, yes. His book has become a "Bible" on ethnic history and relations, and is often quoted by scholars and reviewers. He has given and intimate and personal account of what it is like to be an Italian-American in the U.S., and how these immigrants can mold to their new surroundings, while holding on to their very special culture and traditions. He sees the opportunities in the United States as varied and growing all the time.