A few months ago, I saw this video called, "How Italians became White" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naQiJtBZF1Q&t=2s It was about how the early Italian immigrants were not all viewed the same- arrivals from Ellis Island were given a category for "Italy - South" and "Italy - North" because the southerners were viewed less favorably. My roots are half-Calabrese (South) and half from L'Aquila (Central Italy), so knowing that Southern Italians were viewed the same as those from a place like Morocco, and irritating "native" WASP Louisianans by treating all citizens/residents - black and white, the same, (unlike Southerners in the U.S.) gave me a little pride. My grandfather had blue eyes on one side, and my other grandfather, brown on the other. Since blue eyes are a recessive trait, I am more or less Southern, without the tan.
I’ll also share that one of my most bizarre experiences early in my time in Iowa involved a university meeting in which I was aggressively silenced for mentioning that blond haired blue eyed Jews exist: the silencer was an otherwise lovely person who had tremendous power over my pre-tenure self so there wasn’t much more I could say than “I have known many Jewish people with blue eyes or blond hair,” and then endure a stare that combined disbelief, disappointment and disgust.
Very grateful for this post! Just now discovering your posts because of great comments you made elsewhere here. But after a breathtakingly Judeophobic letter from a literary org I’ve admired for a long time, it means so much. Thank you!
Wow, that was both very kind and hard to read! Thanks.
A few months ago, I saw this video called, "How Italians became White" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naQiJtBZF1Q&t=2s It was about how the early Italian immigrants were not all viewed the same- arrivals from Ellis Island were given a category for "Italy - South" and "Italy - North" because the southerners were viewed less favorably. My roots are half-Calabrese (South) and half from L'Aquila (Central Italy), so knowing that Southern Italians were viewed the same as those from a place like Morocco, and irritating "native" WASP Louisianans by treating all citizens/residents - black and white, the same, (unlike Southerners in the U.S.) gave me a little pride. My grandfather had blue eyes on one side, and my other grandfather, brown on the other. Since blue eyes are a recessive trait, I am more or less Southern, without the tan.
This was something I sort-of mentioned in last year’s christmahanukkah post: https://open.substack.com/pub/amyletter/p/merry-christmahannukah?r=88zn9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I’ll also share that one of my most bizarre experiences early in my time in Iowa involved a university meeting in which I was aggressively silenced for mentioning that blond haired blue eyed Jews exist: the silencer was an otherwise lovely person who had tremendous power over my pre-tenure self so there wasn’t much more I could say than “I have known many Jewish people with blue eyes or blond hair,” and then endure a stare that combined disbelief, disappointment and disgust.
People get weird about that shit.
Thank you for these words, Amy. 🫂💜
Very grateful for this post! Just now discovering your posts because of great comments you made elsewhere here. But after a breathtakingly Judeophobic letter from a literary org I’ve admired for a long time, it means so much. Thank you!